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Episode #130: A Tribute to Michael Cristiani
167 Plays6 years ago
Michael Cristiani passed away at the end of May of this year. Michael was a well-known and well-loved member of the Tableau community. I didn’t know him well–I only met him in person once. But we communicated via Twitter and...
The post Episode #130: A Tribute to Michael Cristiani appeared first on PolicyViz.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Episode
00:00:11
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Policy Vis podcast. I'm your host, John Schwabisch. On this week's episode, we're going to remember Michael Cristiani, who passed away at the age of 66 in late May. Michael was a well-loved and well-known member of the Tableau community, having helped lots of different people do a better job visualizing and communicating their data. I didn't know Michael well. I only met him once, but we did communicate a lot on social media. And I always found his Twitter feed to be very positive.
00:00:38
Speaker
very sharing and very open. So I reached out to a few people in the Tableau community and asked them to send me their messages, remembrances of Michael. And so I'm happy to share six of those with you today. And so on this week's episode of the podcast, Remember Michael Cristiani.
Impactful Memories of Michael Cristiani
00:01:05
Speaker
Hi, this is Andy Cottgrieve, tech evangelist at Tableau. And yeah, I'd just like to say a few words on the very sad passing of Mike. So I first met Mike at my first Tableau conference 2010. I randomly sat at a table with Mike Cristiani, Dan Murray, Joe Mako, and other of the early community builders of Tableau. How would I know then that
00:01:32
Speaker
that relationship with those people would flourish and grow into something that would change my career and impact my life in a really big way. Mike Cristiani was a really fundamental early community builder. I remember in those first few years, he was tweeting everything about Tableau. He was the one man Tableau and Dataviz curation feed.
00:01:55
Speaker
If there was anything going on online about Dataviz or Tableau, Mike would be tweeting about it. So you could just follow his Twitter feed and find out everything you needed to know. We met every year at each of the conferences and at Tapestry conference as well. And the thing about Michael was that he was, I don't know, I'd say that the quiet supporter. He didn't have the extra version that many of the Dataviz community people do. He wouldn't be out shouting about his own content or write the blogging's own tips and tricks. He was always.
00:02:25
Speaker
the person who would observe from the background and then amplify others' skills and talents and work in a really very positive way. I think over the years, he pulled back on Twitter, but what's become apparent since he died and what was apparent to us at Tableau was that he would be the quiet supporter in the background. So many people would be getting encouragement and direct messages or in Facebook Messenger.
00:02:53
Speaker
Just from Michael saying, do what you're doing, keep going, you're doing a great job, or had he seen something that somebody might enjoy, he would have many more direct conversations. I think over the years, he had a huge influence on the Tableau community. He set the tone for it and helped create a community of kindness, sharing, and modesty, humility, and a desire for everybody to help each other get better. I don't think
00:03:22
Speaker
the Tableau community would be what it is without Michael's contribution. So it's a very great loss. We're very sad, but it's a really nice opportunity for us to reflect on the contributions of this great man. Thank you.
Michael's Influence in the Community
00:03:41
Speaker
This is Ben Jones. I first met Michael Cristiani back in 2012 in San Diego. There was a Tableau customer conference there at that time and I was attending. This is before I worked for Tableau. I was participating in the Iron Vis competition.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I was pretty nervous, obviously, that event as I was going to be on stage in front of a lot of people. And I remember meeting him and he was a very calming influence. He just came up to me while I was sitting on a couch, kind of going over my materials and just said hello and started chatting. And just remember just having a really cool chat with him and leaving that experience feeling a little more relaxed than I was at the beginning.
00:04:23
Speaker
And so I think that's sort of what he's most well known for within the community is someone who interacted with people in a really authentic and genuine and kind and compassionate way and that he was able to connect with people and make them feel welcome and make them feel at ease.
00:04:40
Speaker
and make them feel like who they are is valuable and a meaningful contribution to his own experience and that's a beautiful thing. I think in community that's really important because it takes us beyond just the ideas and concepts themselves but maybe more importantly it takes us beyond any notion of ego or
00:05:02
Speaker
of self, right, where, you know, the value is in the interaction and the people as opposed to value being what I'm extracting from the community or the situation. So I think that that's something that will leave a mark on us going forward for many, many years. I know that, you know, as I talked to other people after his passing, that was sort of what everyone, that was a common thread that everyone said is that here's an individual who
00:05:28
Speaker
just really cared about people more than anything and that shone through and how he interacted with all of us and that there was just great support there and that he would reach out when he saw something that he thought you'd benefit from, he'd send it to you and he'd mention those kinds of really one-on-one interactivity with a lot of people.
00:05:50
Speaker
in ways that they felt really supported them. So that's a beautiful thing. I think that every community has to have not just individual members like that, like Michael, but also just a pervading spirit of support and value on the individuals in the community over any other individual thing.
00:06:10
Speaker
So that's what I'll carry forward, you know, I hope others do too Certainly a very gentle spirit certainly someone who never put himself first or made other people feel insignificant or Quite the opposite. He made people feel sick very significant and very welcome. I
00:06:26
Speaker
and it was okay for them to be here in this space with him and with these people that they found in the community. So I really love that about Michael and I hope that others continue to put forward that same kind of a face to each other, people that are going to allow others to have their own voice and encourage others to find and share their own voice. That was certainly what I think just made him incredibly special to many, many people.
00:06:57
Speaker
So I certainly hope that Michael rests in peace, that the rest of us can remember what was very special about him and try to find ways to emulate that.
Connecting and Encouraging the Tableau Community
00:07:13
Speaker
My name is Bridget Cogley and I'm a Tableau Zen Master. I've been using Tableau for about a year when I met Michael Christiani.
00:07:22
Speaker
I joked that it started with Tableau before we had a user group, but it's true. The Columbus area was very late to the market and my company at the time had ties to an LA firm. So I was both excited and nervous to attend the inaugural user group in my area. We had about 40 in attendance that day and we went around the room and did introductions.
00:07:40
Speaker
I was one of the more senior users in which I knew almost nothing. When we got close to the end, Michael stood up and said his name and then ultimately asked a question about mapping that I still don't think we have solved. I believe it ultimately had to do with density mapping. So I made it a point to meet him. Sometimes it's the smallest of actions that change everything.
00:08:02
Speaker
Michael and I changed contact information and he became my go-to for all things Tableau. He encouraged me to sign up for things like Visit the Day and Twitter. He even gave me a list of people to follow. That never changed. No matter where I went, what I did, Michael has had other people in mind for me to contact. It didn't matter where I went.
00:08:21
Speaker
He never stopped encouraging me to reach out to others and find the time. Considering our line of work, he normalized kindness and the value of connecting face to face. He always seemed to know, far better than any algorithm, who would get along with who. In the beginning, I called or emailed him while I learned. He never complained, though I'm certain he had to talk me through window calculations at least ten times. I'd email and he wouldn't hesitate to ask if we could hop on the phone or schedule a call.
00:08:50
Speaker
He was patient, no matter how trying I could surely be. When I finally got approval to take training, it was in the Cincinnati area. Now most people at this time would go on Twitter and arrange a meeting with him. I went old school and texted. Michael was always willing to try new foods, so I convinced him to meet up with me at a vegan restaurant in the area. It was fall and I had warm chili and a sandwich while Mike ordered raw pizza, which he affectionately called from that point on salad and salad.
00:09:19
Speaker
He encouraged me to blog and happily shared whatever I wrote or designed. He took great pride in my success asking how many people were reading or sharing.
00:09:28
Speaker
When I decided to go into consulting, he stumped for me and he was the key reason I was able to make the move. He texted me when I got my first visit of the day. That's how I found out and asked if my head hurt from doing such a smart thing. No matter how large or small, Mike always celebrated every milestone I had. He was keenly aware of what was going on and didn't hesitate to let you know how proud he was.
00:09:49
Speaker
So often we live our lives caught up in a blur. Yet every now and then the light shines a certain way, catches the dust in the air, and we really see the world for a moment.
00:09:59
Speaker
Michael Cristiani saw me and you saw many others. He had the gift of connecting people in a meaningful manner, something that we so rarely do. He used Twitter to knit together a community of people who would not traditionally seek such a connection and gave of himself fully and completely. When I attended his funeral, that was the thing that people continuously mentioned, was his kindness, his ability to connect, and his love for others.
00:10:24
Speaker
It is because of him I found some of my closest friends in the life I have today. Can one person change the world? Yes. Not alone, but touch by touch, moment by moment, in small ways. What Mike gave the Tableau community will live on in all of us.
Mentorship and Generosity
00:10:46
Speaker
I'm Christina Gorga and I'm a data visualization consultant for the Lewin Group.
00:10:51
Speaker
which is a healthcare consulting firm based out in the Washington DC area. I worked with Michael every day since I started at Lewin in April, 2016. We're part of a small Tableau team doing a range of analytics and dashboard work for the state and federal healthcare clients. For a time up until last year, Michael was my direct supervisor, although he worked on various projects without one another. When I joined Lewin,
00:11:21
Speaker
He was extremely helpful with getting me acquainted with all of his favorite Tableau go-to resources. Michael was remote staff, which I understand can be a bit isolating from the majority of our team, but he did a really good job of integrating people onto the team, either through open Webexes that we could float in and out of to share ideas or to collaborate on solving client problems. The thing that really sticks out to me, though, is
00:11:50
Speaker
how this act of sharing at work really carried through his life outside of work within the Tableau community. Someone may have shared this before me, but I really feel like Michael is the emblem of case, which is the saying of create and share everything. For those of you acquainted with the Tableau community or those of you that are just beginning to explore data visualization as a career path, you will notice that the Tableau community is a very supportive bunch
00:12:18
Speaker
willing to share their time and talents to help others with their endless Tableau questions. If you happen to take a look at Michael's Twitter account, which I believe is still up in the Twitterverse, it's full of great inspiration and retweets of great content from Tableau bloggers. Even if he didn't block himself in recent years, there was always the sense of knowing what techniques to implement and which people are leading the community in the right direction. Personally,
00:12:45
Speaker
I valued Michael's ability to connect others with great ideas together in the same virtual space. I've met many Tableau bloggers virtually via Michael's introduction, and I am indebted to him for connecting me with so many wonderful people over the last couple of years. I really felt a personal connection to Michael. His personality was warm, approachable, and calming. For many of you in the consulting world, you know that the word calm is not usually a trait many of us have naturally.
00:13:15
Speaker
I felt like anytime he was on a client call, even if he was not speaking, it was this calming presence that really helped us get through difficult conversations and solving problems. He was also known to try to get to know anybody he worked with better in the way that he knew, which was sharing Tableau public visualizations related to our hobbies and interests. In my case, it was data vis content related to English Premier League craft beer and science fiction.
00:13:43
Speaker
He really did love his work and he loved the people he worked with. I'll really miss him in the special bond we had. Thank you.
00:13:57
Speaker
My name is Jeff Shafer. I am the chief operating officer at Unifund in Cincinnati, Ohio and an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati where I teach data visualization. I knew Michael Cristiani for many years. He was a good friend and was a tremendous support for me in the Tableau and DataVis community. Michael was such a great guy. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but he really was. Over the past two weeks, I have been reflecting back thinking about Michael.
00:14:25
Speaker
At his funeral service, one of his closest friends spoke about the attributes of a person listed in Galatians chapter 5. Some of those attributes are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, modesty, and gentleness.
00:14:43
Speaker
When I heard those traits, I just sat there shaking my head yes. Those were the perfect words to describe Michael. Let me explain. Michael was one of the very few people that had attended every Tableau conference. He started using Tableau back when it was version 2.
00:15:00
Speaker
And at that time, there wasn't a huge community that we have today. The conferences were in a single room with a small group of people. There were not thousands of people reading the forums, asking and answering questions, or posting questions to Twitter. And Michael was among the few that really built that sense of community from the beginning.
00:15:20
Speaker
Reaching out to people, connecting people, having the patience and generosity to help others. Not for recognition of himself or to elevate himself, it was just to genuinely help other people. At my first Tableau conference, Michael was terrific. He was a veteran. He knew everyone. He took the time to take me around and introduce me to so many people. Tableau employees, Zen masters, speakers, up and comers, you name it, Michael knew everyone and he thought it was important to make those connections for you.
00:15:49
Speaker
He never did this to brag or to elevate himself. He was too modest for that. He would simply ask you, have you met Dan Murray? And when you responded, no, he would say, you really should meet him and off you go to meet the next person. And Michael just did that throughout the entire Tableau conference. Michael was very skilled at Tableau and date of his in general, but it wasn't just about his ability. It was his willingness to share that knowledge with other people.
00:16:16
Speaker
He was very generous with his time. He volunteered to speak on a number of occasions at our Cincinnati Tableau user group and many other local events and even other events across the country. One that stands out to me was a talk at our Cincinnati Tug. It's very common for speakers to talk about their work.
00:16:34
Speaker
what they've done, they show their visualizations, what they've built, how they've built them, and those are always fun talks. There's nothing wrong with those, but what stood out to me was when Michael came to talk, his entire talk at our Cincinnati TUG was talking about all of the great visualizations that other people were doing in the community. He didn't show any of his visualizations.
00:16:56
Speaker
He showed dozens of visualizations that other people had created. He would bring each vis up. He would talk about why he loved the vis so much, what was great about it, and explain how it was built. Again, elevating other people in the community, not himself.
00:17:12
Speaker
One of the first times i saw michael present was at a local business intelligence conference and he did a demo on tableau using new york city wifi data from open nyc it was such a great demo afterwards i went up and asked him i said hey would you present this at the university of cincinnati to my data visualization class,
00:17:30
Speaker
And sure enough, he was gracious enough to come spend an evening with the students. And in fact, I still use that same demo today in my classes. And I do it for the students. And it's even part of the data visualization course that I created for Tableau. So all from watching Michael do that first demo in Tableau.
00:17:52
Speaker
The last thing that stands out to me is Michael was really a religious man, a very faithful man, and this was something that we shared, I guess. He was never overt about it. He simply showed his love and joy and peace and patience, all those words, kindness, goodness, generosity, faithfulness, modesty, and gentleness. He showed that all through his actions.
00:18:14
Speaker
not preaching to you in any way, but would just be there for you if you needed him. Always there if you ever had a question and always willing to help. I guess I will end with to just say I'll really miss him. I'll miss our time at the conferences together, our lunches together here in Cincinnati. We used to have lunch together.
00:18:34
Speaker
I'll miss his random emails and messages that he would send me with links to articles and visualizations, just things that he knew I would be interested in. And I guess I hope at the end of the day that I can exhibit those same qualities in my work, elevate others and teach others the way that he did, support the work of others to make connections for people in a caring way and to be as generous with his time as he was.
00:19:01
Speaker
So we'll all miss you, Michael, and I'm glad to have known you and thank you for all the work that you did in the Tableau and DataVis community.
Legacy and Continued Passion
00:19:18
Speaker
Hi, I'm Julie J. Kim. I'm a data analytics and visualization expert at Arts & Young. Data is useful only when you use your own intelligence and judgment along
00:19:32
Speaker
Hashtag data wisdom. That was Michael's last message to me a day before his passing. I think the message sums up Michael's passion and how he loved to share his data wisdom with people. I met Michael back in 2014 when I joined the Lewin group. So we worked together for about over 10 months. So we talked to each other every day.
00:20:02
Speaker
That's when he taught me how to think like Tableau and introduced me to the Tableau community. We solved problems together. We looked up blogs together. I have to admit that my experience at the Lewing Group is the one of the, you know, best work experience I've ever had. You know, Michael shared a lot of his data knowledge and also life experience with me. Michael was the kindest and smartest people
00:20:33
Speaker
And I'm a very humble person that I got to know in my life. I really feel lucky that I had the chance to work with him and became friends. He influenced me. He was a tableau influencer to me and shaped my career. I miss him a lot. I'm going to miss him a lot, especially this October in New Orleans. I want to say this to Michael.
00:21:06
Speaker
Thank you so much for all of your support and love for data and friendship and mentorship. I really like to continue your passion as part of my passion and I will remember you every day when I open Tableau and when I teach Tableau to other people and share your love and passion. Thank you, Michael.
Invitation to Remembering Michael
00:21:41
Speaker
Hi everyone, that's all we have for this week's episode of the Policy Vis podcast. If you would like to share your memories or stories about Michael, please feel free to do so in the comment areas on the show notes page. So until next time, this has been the Policy Vis podcast. Thanks so much for listening.