Analytics Community Program
Built a regional data and analytics community from scratch — 10+ events, 100+ attendees, and a network that became a talent pipeline and professional amplifier.
Technologies Used
Key Features
Project Overview
When I moved to St. Augustine, the local data community was sparse. The nearest active data meetup scene was in Tampa or Jacksonville. Rather than commute, I started building something locally — a recurring technical event series for data practitioners and curious business people in Northeast Florida.
What It Became
The format evolved based on what resonated: short technical talks, live demos, open Q&A, and time for people to actually talk to each other. Topics ranged from practical SQL performance tips to Python pipeline walkthroughs to career path discussions for analysts wanting to move into engineering.
The audience was deliberately mixed — I wanted analysts, engineers, product managers, and founders in the same room. Some of the most useful conversations happened between a data engineer explaining how a pipeline worked and a business stakeholder explaining why the data never seemed right.
Outcome
The program ran for two years, grew consistently, and produced real outcomes: hiring referrals, collaborative projects, and — more than anything — a group of people who could pick up the phone and get a useful answer. That network is one of the most durable things I built during the Root Labs years.