“i.am.analytics" "i.am.a.deliberate.amateur" - Learn More at Inspire 2016

[JeffreyH]

The Revolutionary War is something we all learn about in school and the outcome of it is celebrated every year on July 4^th. Independence from tyranny and unjust treatment must have felt so sweet to our forefathers, I can only imagine.

On the evening of April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was instructed to ride via horseback to warn that the British were coming. This famous ride is what I picture most when I think of the war that eventually won America its independence. Paul Revere could have been one of the first “data blenders”. He was employed as an express rider to carry news. From the saddle of a horse, he brought multiple points of data to leaders so they could make more informed decisions on how to steer the direction of a new country. Maybe this is a stretch – or too much history if you’re not a history buff – but as I boarded my plane to fly to last year’s Alteryx Inspire Conference in Boston, I pondered the theme, “Analytic Independence,” and couldn’t help but think of Revere’s famous ride and how his information set off a chain of decisions that helped deliver our country’s independence.

I started as an Alteryx Sales Account Executive in late 2014 and I kept hearing what an amazing experience Inspire is – mainly because our customer base is so passionate about the Alteryx platform. Everyone said customers love to share stories about how much time and money they have saved with Alteryx, and I couldn’t wait to hear the tales myself. On day one, I witnessed the inspiration first-hand talking to analysts, managers, and directors. It was immediately apparent that these users had great affection for Alteryx. They finally had a technology that delivered business value - Alteryx wasn’t smoke and mirrors. They felt empowered, inspired, and independent from the tyranny of legacy solutions and processes that stifled their creativity and talent.

I met one analyst who brought his son to the conference because he was attending during his vacation. (That is dedication to attend a user conference while on your vacation!) I worked for a large software provider prior to Alteryx, and suffice it to say they spared no expense when it came to customer conferences - full of people, flash and parties, but lacking substance. Don’t get me wrong, Inspire has flash (read Scott Jones’ blog on the Grand Prix to learn more about Inspire flash), but what sets it apart in my mind is palpable substance.

In CEO Dean Stoecker’s keynote, he called our users “Deliberate Amateurs”. I have to be honest – at first, it sounded like an insult! But as he dove deeper into why he chose this description, it made total sense. He referenced the physicist, Andre Geim, who had a habit of experimenting deliberately outside of his area of expertise, questioning what experts never bothered to ask. This is EXACTLY what Alteryx users do – they’re bright professionals who do AMAZING things with our self-service data analytics platform. They ask the questions the so-called experts never bother to ask! They are stretching Alteryx into realms never dreamt about by our products team. Dean was, and still is on the mark with his description of the Alteryx user community.

Inspire 2016 is coming up June 6-9, and this year’s theme is “i.am.analytics” - a very appropriate description of Alteryx users. They are breaking ground, holding the keys to the future world of analytics. After Inspire, I guarantee they will return to their offices with more use cases and honed skills to continue using Alteryx to solve business problems. I envision them walking the halls of their offices whispering to themselves, “i.am.analytics. i.am.empowered, i.am.essential, i.am.the future!”

I’ve been in analytic software sales for 16 years, and attended many customer conferences. Conferences are opportunities for sales reps to “progress existing sales opportunities.” We book meetings to help us close deals. But Inspire is different. I have never been to a conference where the existing customer base sells the product so passionately for you. I had a few “prospects” in attendance last year who were on the fence about Alteryx, but funded their travel and conference entry fee on their own to come “check-out” what we had to offer. I met with them many times over four days. As a sales rep, you have this nagging sense of urgency to progress them through the sales funnel and think that only you and the sales management team can accomplish this task. But each time I met with these prospects in between keynotes, customer break-out sessions, and training sessions, they told me stories of how they interacted with an existing Alteryx user who really loved what Alteryx was doing for their business and how much that person “sold them on why Alteryx was the greatest technology they have ever interacted with.” It was awesome! I didn’t have to sell them on buying Alteryx by myself…..I actually had a team of sales reps – Alteryx users – who were doing it for me. When all was said and done, you can believe I boarded my flight back to Cincinnati feeling INSPIRED.

Don’t take my word for it. There will be a team of about 1,400 sales reps, I mean Alteryx users, who you’ll hear it from first-hand if you register now and join us for Inspire 2016 in San Diego.