Announcing the 2015 Class of Alteryx ACEs

[LDuane]

Inspire is a celebration of the data analysts and business leaders who are making significant contributions to their organizations through data blending and advanced analytics in Alteryx. At last year's Inspire conference we announced our Alteryx Analytics Certified Expert (ACE) program to recognize a few of the most influential and supportive Alteryx users. The ACE program is designed to enable their sharing of unique insights, brainstorm with other users on what is possible and provide guidance based on their top-notch skills with Alteryx.

The program has been so successful that this year we've decided to triple the roster of Alteryx ACEs to 12. I've had the pleasure of getting to know each of these users firsthand, and I'm truly excited as they engage with the analytics community on their experiences and successes to deliver insights that are changing the way their companies do business.

	Ken Black Senior Analytics Researcher, General Motors Ken uses Alteryx to strategically extract demographic and business data, prepare data for more advanced analytical modeling, and output data for visualization in Tableau. Alteryx in Ken's own words: "I plan on expanding my usage of Alteryx by connecting to the extensive number of Teradata Aster files that reside in the GM electronic data warehouse. When I develop specialized techniques and approaches that require some time to research and implement, I plan on documenting these methods in my blog."
	John Colgan Data Artisan, Walmart Stores John uses Alteryx primarily for geospatial analytics and ETL, and is just starting to develop analytic apps. Alteryx in John's own words: "I really enjoy providing other Alteryx users with ideas about how they can use Alteryx to deliver possible solutions to all of their requests."
	Dan Compton Integration Analyst, The Boeing Company Dan uses Alteryx for high-speed, automated connectivity to data. He values the data blending and custom analytics capabilities in Alteryx, plus the visualization capabilities of Tableau, to generate business insight in 2.5 seconds or less. Alteryx in Dan's own words: "Alteryx enables analytics across formerly insurmountable boundaries. Competing analytic approaches can be modeled and simulated side-by-side within Alteryx workflows, thus providing multiple concurrent perspectives. Learning is accelerated through understanding the differences in the results from alternative perspectives."
	Mandy Gray GeoAnalytics Analyst, Delhaize America Mandy uses Alteryx to support retail site location research, including map & trade area creation, building custom models to predict store performance, blending varied data sources from transaction data, customer behavior, demographics and competitive intelligence. Her analysis supports diverse business functions, including M&A analysis, marketing, supply chain, real estate, strategy and more. Alteryx in Mandy's own words: "Alteryx is fun. I love how Alteryx allows me to merge the worlds of Big Data and GIS to make the impossible possible."
	John Hollingsworth GIS Manager, Clear Channel Outdoor John has been using Alteryx for over 10 years as his go-to tool for data manipulation. He uses Alteryx to process spatial data to create market-level extracts, scrape online data, and schedule automated nightly reports in a variety of different spatial data formats and executive reports. Alteryx in John's own words: "As data becomes less constrained by the box in which it is stored, Alteryx will continue its integration into the online world. Currently, there are innumerable examples of online 'mashups' that take data from multiple sources and create a new product, analysis, or visualization. Alteryx has recently expanded its capabilities to handle these online data sources – enabling data analysts to create their own mashups. "
	Andy Moncla Chief Operating Officer, B. I. Spatial Andy has been using Alteryx for more than 10 years to help his clients blend data, perform spatial modeling, and generate sophisticated reports. His specific uses of Alteryx include customer segmentation, point of sale data analysis, sales forecasting and logic articulation. Alteryx in Andy's own words: "My advocacy of Alteryx led me to being an active contributor to the local Alteryx Users Group, where I am a resource to those considering, or already using, Alteryx."
	Michael Renwick Analyst Developer, Schroders Investment Management Michael is responsible for data provisioning and data cleansing for distribution insights, predictive and spatial analytics, and any general data wrangling goodness. Alteryx in Michael's own words: "Alteryx can make any data manipulation exercise incredibly efficient, agile and yet creative and fun. Alteryx goes well beyond established tools for typical enterprise concerns – agility, testability and repeatability."
	Jarrod Thuener Data Artisan, Kristalytics Jarrod uses over seven years of Alteryx experience to clean clients' unstructured and inaccurate databases, perform geospatial site selection, analyze marketing techniques and channel optimization, and develop apps for clients to use as a service. Alteryx in Jarrod's own words: "Alteryx can be utilized in many unique ways, including app/macro creation. Plus, I'm always looking for opportunities to use existing tools in innovative, new ways."

This new set of Alteryx ACEs will join the existing ACE members to provide Alteryx expertise, engage the global analytic community, and generate ideas and facilitate discussions around enabling data analysts to deliver greater business insights through data blending and advanced analytics.

For more details on the Alteryx ACE program and the full list of the Alteryx ACE members, visit the ACE program web page at http://www.alteryx.com/ace-program