re: NYC Community Co-Working Session: Dashboard Building in Tessitura Analytics by Jamie O'Brien

Jamie O'Brien — Fri, 22 Apr 2022 16:33:53 GMT

Today's attendees--Thank you for your reporting and dashboard energy this morning!

For those who couldn't make it, here are a few shared ideas from the conversation segments of the co-working time...

A good way in, if you want to start your learning but don't have a data question in mind, is to explore the pre-built "Tessitura Dashboards" (look for a folder by this name). "Performance Sales Dashboard" within Seats and Tickets may be a good first one.
Analytics work does not* write back to the database--you won't break important things while you experiment. (*You can save your results into a List, but that's the only thing your work can send back.)
To reference data not in Analytics, there is the option to embed iFrames as well as other fancier things--open a Support ticket for help starting.
"Interactions" data cube is on deck with v16. (teaser mention only!)
A recommended way to start a data project is to build a Pivot Table widget first (this lets you see detail, which helps immensely with troubleshooting), confirm you have the right set up and well-behaved data, and then set up your graphics and prettier representations of the data.
Book recommendations: Storytelling with Data by Cole Knaflic and Stephen Few's Show Me the Numbers
Consider what sort of audit cycle to have for your dashboards--set a plan for occasion review to ensure your reports continue to deliver info that is correctly filtered, reflects clean data, etc. And try to plan ahead--how will your widgets incorporate new products/seasons/etc?

Attendees, if you want to chime in to share any other takeaways of your own, please do! (Or correct/elaborate on any of my above summary.)

Also, for the community at large--co-working sessions are relatively easy to convene, so would you like more of these? If so, suggest themes and let us know if there's a frequency or time of the week that makes them most accessible to you.

re: NYC Community Co-Working Session: Dashboard Building in Tessitura Analytics by Ben Pfeifer

Ben Pfeifer — Mon, 25 Apr 2022 22:00:52 GMT

Thanks Jamie.
I wanted to add a few notes and answer a few questions that weren't already answered by your notes.

Are payment plans going to be in v16? Unfortunately, Payment Plans will not be included in the initial release of v16. It is an area that the Analytics team knows is being requested by the community and it is on the roadmap, but there is no anticipated release date yet.
Will promotions data be included in v16? Yes. Promotions data will be included in the v16 release as part of the new “Interactions” cube.
Using Lists in Analytics:
1. We had discussed the possibility of saving the data in a widget to a list in Tessitura. The key is to first link the widget in question to the “_Constituents” jump to dashboard. Please follow this link to find out more information on how this is accomplished:
  https://www.tessituranetwork.com/Help_System/Tessitura.htm#Tessitura%20Analytics/Sharing%20and%20Printing/Save%20to%20List.htm
2. For information on how to filter a dashboard with a Tessitura List. Please follow this link to find out more information on how this is accomplished:
  https://www.tessituranetwork.com/Help_System/Tessitura.htm#Tessitura%20Analytics/Designing%20Dashboards/Filter%20by%20List.htm
We chatted about building a dashboard from scratch. Doing so is not very difficult and this link provides a quick video of the basic steps: https://www.tessituranetwork.com/Help_System/Tessitura.htm#Tessitura%20Analytics/Designing%20Dashboards/Creating%20a%20New%20Dashboard.htm
Along those lines the Widget Wizard is an import tool. When you start a new dashboard, the Widget Wizard opens automatically to create the first widget. To add a widget to a dashboard that already has at least one widget, click New Widget in the dashboard header. Please follow this link for additional information on building a widget from scratch. It includes short how-to video as well: https://www.tessituranetwork.com/Help_System/Tessitura.htm#Tessitura%20Analytics/Designing%20Dashboards/Using%20the%20Widget%20Wizard.htm
We also chatted about the Tessitura Analytics Coffee user group. This is a virtual community of analysts, data storytellers & data scientists who help each other’s organizations better understand data to inform decision-making. They meet every other week for virtual Lean Coffee Discussions. Here is their link from the forums: https://community.tessituranetwork.com/topical_groups/analytics-coffee/
Lastly, though we did not chat about it, I did want to mention the Shared Dashboards that you can find on the Tessitura Network website. Right now, there are not many, but we expect this offering to grow. The “Cancellation Impact Tracking Dashboard” .dash file can also be found here:
https://www.tessituranetwork.com/Support/Resources/Shared-Dashboards

Great conversation. Thanks again for letting me sit in with your group.

- Ben Pfeifer, Tessitura Network