Tableau Conference Registration Is Open. Here’s How I Think About Whether It’s Worth It.
What years of attending Tableau Conference taught me about connection, community, and where the value really is.
Tableau Conference registration is open, and the same questions are already showing up in my feed.
Is it worth the cost?
Should I finally go this year?
What do you actually get from TC that you can’t get by watching sessions online?
I’ve been going to Tableau Conference for years now, early in my career, later as a leader, and now as a Tableau Ambassador. My perspective has changed over time, but the way I think about its value has stayed pretty consistent.
Registration is now open
Registration for Tableau Conference is now open.
If you’re planning to go, this is usually when pricing tiers and trainings start to fill up, so it’s worth looking sooner rather than later.
This year’s conference is happening in San Diego from May 5–7 and includes:
300+ sessions
150+ hands-on trainings
Iron Viz
Tableau Doctor
Data Night Out
TC26 Hackathon
Community Meetups
Tableau Public Viz Gallery
And a lot more across data, analytics, and AI
You can register here:
https://www.salesforce.com/tableau-conference/register/
What Tableau Conference actually gives you
Yes, there are product announcements.
Yes, there are technical sessions.
Yes, you’ll learn new things.
But the real value of Tableau Conference depends on why you’re going.
If your goal is purely feature training, you can get a lot of that without traveling. Sessions are recorded. Demos get shared. Slides make the rounds.
If your goal is context, perspective, and connection, TC becomes something else entirely.
Some of the most valuable things I’ve taken away from TC didn’t come from a slide deck. They came from conversations in hallways, between sessions, at coffee shops, and at community events happening around the conference.
That’s where people talk honestly about what’s working, what’s breaking, and how they’re actually using Tableau in the real world.
The conference starts before the conference
One of the most common mistakes I see is people treating Tableau Conference as something that starts on Day 1 and ends with the closing keynote.
In reality, TC starts before the conference doors open.
Community-led events play a huge role in shaping the week, and they’re often where the most meaningful connections happen, especially if it’s your first time attending.
A lot of people in the community do a great job sharing practical advice around TC. Sarah Bartlett’s annual guides are a standout, and they’re some of the most useful resources for planning the week. I’ll be linking directly to this year’s version once it’s published.
Data+Women
Data+Women is one of the most important pre-conference community events around Tableau Conference.
It exists to amplify women’s voices in data, create space for connection, and build a more inclusive data community. It’s open to everyone and intentionally designed to be welcoming, supportive, and community-driven.
It’s also important to know that Data+Women doesn’t happen automatically. It’s made possible through sponsorships and individual donations.
If you’re attending TC and care about the health of the community, this is absolutely something to prioritize and support.
You can donate directly here: https://givebutter.com/owFT45.
Registration for Data+Women typically opens about a month before the conference. I’ll share details on social media when it goes live.
Registration for Data+Women is now open. You can register here: https://www.moxyfoundation.org/events-1/data-women-pre-game-tc26-1
Data+Tacos
Data+Tacos is another pre-conference event to plan for early. This will be its third year, and it’s grown into a tradition focused on connection, not content.
Full disclosure: I help organize Data+Tacos with the San Diego Tableau User Group. We host it the afternoon before TC officially starts, with street tacos, drinks, and a chance to connect without the pressure of a packed conference schedule.
These events are intentionally informal and inclusive. They’re designed to help people reconnect, meet new folks, and start the week on a high note.
Like most community events, Data+Tacos runs on sponsorships. The goal isn’t promotion. It’s making space for the community to come together. If your company is interested in supporting that, I’m always happy to talk.
Registration for Data+Tacos will open about a month before TC. I’ll post updates on social media as details are finalized.
Can’t-miss moments at Tableau Conference
There are a lot of great sessions at Tableau Conference, but a few shared moments tend to stand out every year, regardless of role or experience level. These are the things people still talk about long after the week is over.
Iron Viz sits at the top of that list. It’s not just a competition. It’s storytelling, creativity, and technical skill all on one stage. Even if you never plan to compete, watching people push the limits of what’s possible in Tableau is inspiring in a way no slide deck can replicate.
Devs on Stage is another one I always recommend. It’s where you get a glimpse into what’s coming, what’s possible, and how people are extending the platform in real ways. It’s technical, creative, and tends to spark conversations that continue throughout the conference.
Data Village is worth carving out some time for. It’s one of the central hubs of the conference, with partner booths, Tableau Doctors, small theater presentations, community meetups, and plenty of opportunities to bump into people you know or meet someone new. You don’t have to plan a long block or stay for hours. Even a quick walk through can lead to a good conversation, a useful tip, or a new perspective.
Data Night Out is loud and high energy. There’s music, food, and a lot of people in one place, and it can be a lot for some people. That said, it’s usually well done and consistently fun. You don’t have to make it your whole night. Even stopping by briefly can be a nice way to unwind, see familiar faces, and experience a different side of the conference.
The Vizzies are the Tableau Community Awards, and they’re one of the best snapshots of what the community has been building and contributing over the past year.
What makes The Vizzies special is that they’re community-driven. Nominations and voting come from the community itself, which means the work and people being recognized reflect what peers actually find meaningful, useful, and inspiring in practice.
There are typically a wide range of categories, covering everything from visual design and data storytelling to content creation, community leadership, and growth. You’ll see enterprise dashboards alongside passion projects, experimental work next to polished production reporting. That range is part of the appeal. It shows how broad the Tableau ecosystem really is and how many different ways there are to contribute.
One award that carries particular weight is the Michael W. Cristiani Community Leadership Award, which recognizes sustained contribution and service to the community. It’s not about a single viz or a single year. It’s about showing up consistently to help others, share knowledge, and make the community stronger. I was honored to be a co-winner with Omokehinde Ayodeji last year, and it reinforced for me how much of the Tableau community is built on people quietly doing that work.
The Vizzies are organized by Matt Francis and Emily Kund, and they exist because of the time and care they put into running a truly community-led awards program. A lot of that effort happens behind the scenes, and it deserves recognition in its own right.
If you’re looking for inspiration, perspective, or a reminder of what people are doing with Tableau today, The Vizzies are absolutely worth making time for during Tableau Conference.
If you only block time for a few shared moments during the week, these are the ones I’d recommend building your schedule around.
How I decide if TC is worth it
Here’s the mental checklist I run through.
If you’re early in your Tableau journey, TC can accelerate your learning fast. You get exposure to ideas, patterns, and people that would normally take years to encounter organically.
If you’re more experienced, TC becomes less about learning features and more about learning from peers. How others structure teams. How they scale governance. How they handle trust, adoption, and messy data realities.
If you’re involved in the Tableau community, TC is where online relationships turn into real ones. Slack names become people. Conversations continue year over year. That continuity matters more than any single session.
My honest take
Tableau Conference is my favorite event of the year.
It’s changed my career. It’s helped me find my voice in this community. And it’s led to friendships that go well beyond Tableau, people I genuinely look forward to seeing every year.
If someone has the means to go, I absolutely think they should.
Budget is real. Life happens. Not every year is the right year.
But if you can make it work, I believe it’s worth experiencing at least once.
Sessions get recorded. Connections don’t.
What to do now
If you’re thinking about going this year:
Register early. Registration is live, and early pricing usually makes a meaningful difference.
Plan beyond the agenda. Look at what’s happening before and around TC, not just the session catalog.
Support community events. Data+Women and other community-led efforts only happen because people show up and support them.
Don’t wait for everything to be announced. Sarah Bartlett publishes an excellent “Know Before You Go” guide every year, and it’s one of the most practical resources for planning TC. You can find her work at https://sarahlovesdata.co.uk/.
I’ll update this post with a direct link once this year’s guide is live.
A note on San Diego
Tableau Conference is back in San Diego at the Convention Center starting May 5th. It’s right next to the Gaslamp Quarter, the weather in May is great, and there’s no shortage of good coffee before sessions start.
I live in Oceanside, which is part of San Diego County, and I help lead the local Tableau community. If you’re coming to TC and have questions about the conference, the city, or how to navigate the week, feel free to reach out. I’ve been offering help every year TC has been here, and I’m genuinely happy to do it again.
If you’re coming, please come up and say hello.