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Imagine being given a dataset you've never seen before and having less than 40 minutes to clean and transform it, apply some predictive modelling to it and then build a map and report. If you think that's tough, envisage doing it in a race against nine other competitors, and then imagine having an MC commentating and crowd of a few hundred analysts watching your every move on large screens and shouting "advice" (if that's what it was).
Well if you add to that the pressure of the winner getting a weekends holiday in Vegas and the chance to ride in a Lamborghini, then you're close to what my fellow Alteryx Grand Prix competitors and I went through last year at the Alteryx Inspire conference (though I should add, having just flown in from the UK, I had the added torment of doing it at about 2 am "my time").
Having always watched the Grand Prix from the stands in previous years, I hadn't been sure what to expect as some years have focused on more abstract problems and rewarded creativity and performance (e.g. the solutions that used the least tools got the most points). Thankfully the real-life business problem we solved in last year’s event suited me down to the ground as it was very similar to the work I was doing day in and day out at Experian Marketing Services. The downside of that of course was having to go back to the office and explain I'd done the Grand Prix in about half an hour raised the expectations for any future work I was given!
To cut a long story short it was a very close race, but I was lucky enough to prevail, taking the acclaimed "Alteryx Grand Prix Champion" title, and the enormous trophy, back with me to the UK. Of course with Alteryx being so intuitive and easy to use, what it actually means is that I'm just slightly quicker at dragging and dropping tools on the canvas than anyone else. In fact if I was being particularly corny, I'd say that Alteryx was the winner that day because it showed that, given the range of experience in the competitors, anyone could solve a complex real-life business problem in less than 40 minutes.
Regardless though, if being a quick dragger and dropper wins me a Vegas trip like the one I had in October courtesy of Alteryx, then I'll take it.
This year I'll be back at Inspire and competing again in the Grand Prix (I think my wife expects another holiday in Vegas - so if I don't win I'm going to have to pay for it myself, so plenty of pressure). This time though I'll be back with my new colleagues at The Information Lab, as I changed jobs into an Alteryx / Tableau consultancy role with them at the end of 2013. This has meant lots of experience applying Alteryx and Tableau to a vast array of business problems for our clients; from matching electricity cables one day to building web analytic dashboards the next. So I hope the new batch of Grand Prix contestants are ready for a good workout - I'm currently trying to enforce a new rule that the winner from last year’s Grand Prix sets the time zone for the next one, so if I get my way we'll be competing at a more jet-lag friendly time. Something tells me that it's not going to work, so if you see me nodding off at my screen in the Grand Prix give me a yell and some good "advice".
Be sure to check out my video from my trip to Vegas and also nominate yourself for this year’s Grand Prix competition. I’ll see you there!
