WOW! It's been an AMAZING week in San Diego! This was my first EVER DGIQ Conference as an attendee, as well as I was selected to speak in the Stewardship track. It was a Who's Who in Data of celebrities and I was truly honored to be included in this Top Gun of data speakers!
First, I have to thank Tony Shaw, Shannon Kempe, Natalie Raymond, MFA, Cassandra Riendeau-Blosser, Mark Horseman and ALL the DATAVERSITY staff for curating such a wonderful event and giving this rookie attendee a shot at a speaking title! The hotel and accommodations at the Catamaran Resort Hotel & Spa were also quite outstanding.
The aviary, ducks, and ducklings, and fish on the property were such a delight. The property is like a little slice of Hawaii on the mainland. And they held conference sessions on the river boat Bahia Belle!
So how did my session go?
It's a great session, plenty of details, standing room only, and some folks had to choose another session as the room was more than full. Navigating the Data Governance Maze From Risk Management Through Process Excellence is no small feat for any person, let alone a new Data Steward. I gave this presentation earlier in the year, at a much higher level, to the Women in Tech Global Conference virtually and it seemed to be about right. Narrowing it down to just Data Stewardship may have still been too large of a bite, I'd like to become less notes dependent and more stories reliant. More to come on that as I seek the silver medal when I submit to speak at DGIQ East (submissions open Wednesday, June 12 HERE.) I have to thank Valerie Bonventre Calvo and Victoria Stasiewicz for attending, taking some photos of me, and providing some valuable constructive criticism.
Peter Aiken, DAMA International President and Data GOAT, also attended and gave me some valuable feedback. I fan-girled out later in the morning to learn that #masterdatamanagement #goddess Donna Burbank attended my session while I was catching up with another revered fellow Colorado-based speaker John O'Brien. John will be speaking at our upcoming DAMA Rocky Mountain Chapter on Friday, July 19 (shameless plug number 1.) And I ran into another fellow Coloradoan Len Silverston talking to Karen Lopez in between sessions (Karen spoke at our first DAMA RMC in person event this year.) I also had the pleasure of catching the closing conference keynote with Beth Myers, Ph.D. where she shared University of Colorado's story of executive sponsorship from the sponsor's perspective. This all begs the question, why can I only actually see my fellow Coloradoans at conferences out of state?
I had the distinct pleasure of having lunch with Andrew Andrews where we discussed how to support and encourage more collaboration between Dama International chapters. The HAWK and the FOX were finally spotted, and tagged, in the wild together (we hope you enjoy Fred Lardaro!) And I met my new data sissies from another missy, Mindy Becker, MBA and Cindy Lou (Schler) Vogel (we were mistaken for sisters at one point during the exhibitor reception!)
One of the things I really enjoy most at conferences is speaker comradery. I met so many great speakers and their encouragement and support was much appreciated. We have so much to learn from each other, about our topics and on our speaking styles. I am so glad I met Robert S. Seiner (I mention him in my presentation), Erik Lee , C. Lwanga Yonke, Mathias Vercauteren, Dan Everett, Rob Jackson Jones, Sebastien Fleurant, Nicole Janeway Bills, Data Dave Wilkinson, Abhimanyuu (Abhi) Ahuja, Monika Kapoor, David Kowalski, Nicole Raphan and Curtis Mischler. And thank you to Alan Missroon for a dinner opportunity of a lifetime where I heard the origin story of how, and when in her career, Gwen Thomas started The Data Governance Institute (DGI).
So what were some of my favorite sessions?
Malcolm Hawker demystified data products by explaining why Data Product Management (DPM) should be our primary focus.
Brenden McGlinchey shared how to use emotional intelligence tools to assemble a remarkable Data Governance Steering Committee.
Laura Harder, CISSP, CIPM, another fellow Coloradoan, spent one entire day providing an introduction to AI Governance, and explained the ethical challenges in AI, strategies for ethical AI implementation, case studies and best practices, as well as future predictions for AI Governance. Her extensive background in cybersecurity and the government brought fresh new information and perspectives to the DGIQ conference this year. Laura reminds us we cannot have AI governance without first having data governance, this just isn't a hurdle we can avoid to more quickly implement the hot new technology. She will also be speaking at our upcoming DAMA Rocky Mountain Chapter on Friday, July 19 (shameless plug number 2.)
AI Governance was a HOT topic at the conference this year. Everyone wants it, no one is prepared for it, implementing Generative AI, or governing it, as of yet that is. Data Quality is the top roadblock, bad data is WAY worse than no data. An organization wide data quality initiative is just what this conference ordered (and Fox Consulting can help!)
Lastly, congratulations to all the new CDMPs who bravely took the test in a conference room full of other hopefuls and passed. The testing rooms were full at every opportunity and everyone I talked to passed. I can't imagine taking the test under those conditions, so kudos to you ALL!
Anyone can still purchase a 𝑵𝑶𝑵-𝑨𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑬 package including DGIQ 2024 West recorded sessions, F2F recordings from previous events, and more HERE.
I hope to see you all again this winter in Washington D.C. or next year in San Diego!
Comments