A few days ago I commented on the phenomenon of Beast Mode [1], and I accidentally neglected to comment upon the use of Beast Mode by Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who is famous for his short and on-point messages at press conferences [2]. As it happens, after lunch today, he gave a humorous and awkward interview at Domopalooza where he answered all of the questions with the one sentence response, “I’m just here because I love data.” It was awesome; he even threw some footballs but as I was in the third row, all of them were well back of me. That said, everyone cheered him on, he got a standing ovation, and he seemed to smile and enjoy himself despite the fact that a conference of data scientists and executives of data-driven companies would not be the first place one would expect to see an NFL running back serve as a comedian. I also got to see Ken Jennings, famous Jeopardy champion, in a skit showing the superiority of Domo to traditional and inefficient (and often obsolete) means of reporting.

In listening to the various talks and seminars, which I did throughout the day today, a theme was consistent within them and within my own experience and mindset. Domopalooza is all about using data, credible data, in association with intuition and skills of judgment and dealing with people, in order to effect change and make better decisions. Cheryl Sandberg, for example, spoke on the need to use data to effect social change in providing better opportunities for success and advancement for women, and I got a sympathetic hand on the shoulder from one of Domo’s Board members after being one of only a couple guys in the audience who had been called bossy as a kid, which is much more common for girls growing up. I have witnessed myself the drive and desire to get solid data and to use it to help effect change in the world around me. Does this sort of thing make me a rabble-rouser or an insurgent or a revolutionary? At any rate, it has made me an agent of change and disruption wherever I have been my entire life. I suppose much has needed to be shaken up, both within myself and in the world around me.

In looking at the attributes of Domo and the people who use it, I was able to draw a few interesting conclusions. For one, Domo was developed out of a desire for transparency, for real-time data knowledge, for beautiful and easy-to-use graphics that were both aesthetically pleasing and supported by robust and reliable data. One of the speakers commented on the fact that in order to be an effective data scientist and reporting analyst, one needed to be a detective, an artist, a jazz musician, and a storyteller, someone capable of being both an artist and a scientist, capable of bridging the divides that commonly exist in our world, to be committed to breaking down barriers that prevent communication and transparency. I tend to feel like an odd bird, and someone who does not find many places where I feel comfortable, but this is one of the places where I do, where the odd and complicated aspects of my life and experience do not feel merely out of place, but appear to be part of a coherent whole as someone who tells a story, who has a rigorous grasp on reality, and someone who wants to help use data and knowledge to make the world better to the greatest extent possible, in such areas where I can influence others by my example.

Of course, such an event as this is full of great networking, and I have apparently made an impression on my fellow conference goers, at least some of them, with my bubbly and outgoing personality, and with my willingness to ask questions and speak up and raise my hand and be involved in what is going on around me. I have met some people, traded business cards, gotten even more swag (a couple of pairs of Stance socks and a curious pine box labeled olive & cocoa). I made dinner plans, hiked around the hotel, and even had the maid at the hotel wish for a restful time with me, which is not always a possible task. But even if I am a person in a great deal of motion, I feel comfortable and at ease around others of my kind, even if I do not palooza (that is party) to the extent that most of them do. Still, I have fun in my own gentle way.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/04/07/beast-mode/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2015/03/27/you-know-why-im-here/