Alter.Nation
Community news, customer stories, and more!
The Story
In August 2012, our team sought out user-friendly software to facilitate heavy ETL work with minimal IT intervention. Our ideal solution would allow us to install it on our laptops, link it to data sources, and perform massive amounts of data manipulation independently. Our search led us to Alteryx, discovered via a quick Google search for "fast data processing software for a desktop".
Within a few years of our initial purchase of a Designer license, we recognized the value and invested in several additional licenses, including a Server license. Alteryx transformed our data manipulation capabilities and dramatically expedited our data analysis. As a result of the nature of my work, I became proficient in many of Alteryx's advanced features, mainly through self-teaching, since there was no Alteryx Academy at the time.
I frequently communicated with my Alteryx representative and other Alteryx personnel regarding my work on complex use cases, and we discovered innovative ways to leverage Alteryx's capabilities to meet my needs. Over time, my proficiency with Alteryx grew, and in 2015, I was invited to join the ACE program, which had been launched a few years prior. I eagerly accepted the offer, and the ACE program helped me develop my presentation skills and taught me how to share my knowledge through the newly-formed Alteryx Community, User Groups, and Inspire presentations.
Me and other ACEs at Inspire in Nashville
Moving ahead, after attending Inspire 2018 in Anaheim, I received a message from a recruiter at a prominent online technical training company that offers high-quality video courses on various software and topics. They did not offer any courses on Alteryx and were interested in expanding their offerings. The recruiter noticed me at Inspire, where I gave a presentation, as well as on the Alteryx Community, and believed I would be a great fit for the project.
After my "audition," in which I had to present for five minutes, I was offered a contract as an Author, which I accepted after negotiating and agreeing on an initial payment and ongoing royalties. I spent several months creating an outline for my course, familiarizing myself with the guidelines, standards, and publishing procedures, and finally recording and editing the course before publishing it.
On March 14, 2019, my first course, "Alteryx Designer: Getting Started," was released to great acclaim, boosting my confidence and motivating me to produce a second course, "Building Alteryx Apps and Macros," which was published on September 13, 2019.
The Impact
Initially, it would be disingenuous if I didn't admit that the monetary compensation was my primary incentive for collaborating with this publisher. It has provided me with an exceptional stream of passive income over the past several years.
However, shortly after my first course was made available, I began to receive something far more valuable than just financial compensation - positive feedback from users! I cannot adequately convey how fulfilling it is to be aware that my efforts are making a difference in someone's career and educational journey.
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to receive numerous heartwarming comments from users all around the world who have taken my courses. It's an indescribable feeling to know that my work may have played even a small role in helping someone progress in their career, tackle a challenging problem that had stumped them for weeks, or conquer the learning curve that inevitably comes with any new software. And for my Building Alteryx Apps and Macros course, I received perhaps the greatest feedback I could hope for - an Alteryx user who credited it with aiding them in passing the Alteryx Advanced Certification exam!
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I cannot adequately convey how fulfilling it is to be aware that my efforts are making a difference in someone's career and educational journey.
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If Alteryx has been a game-changer for you, pitch us your story! You can fill out the submission form here.
