Podcasts about interworks

In this episode of Manager Minute, host Carol Pankow welcomes Dr. Chaz Compton and Dr. Meera Adya, co-directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center (NVRTAC). They discuss how the Center builds on decades of innovation in vocational rehabilitation (VR) to unify training, evaluation, and technology that strengthen state VR agencies across the nation. Partnering with The George Washington University, the National Disability Institute, CSAVR, YesLMS, Case Review Solutions, SaraWorks, and Intellitech, the NVRTAC delivers comprehensive technical assistance to enhance performance, fiscal management, and employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Key initiatives include AI-driven tools such as SaraWorks and Case Amplify, designed to reduce administrative burdens and capture real-world impact. The team is also launching leadership and fiscal talent development programs, expanding recruitment and retention efforts, and embedding continuous evaluation across all initiatives. Their goal is to achieve measurable outcomes, real change, and a stronger, more efficient VR system serving individuals with disabilities.   Listen Here   Full Transcript:   {Music} Chaz: Right now, not ten years from now, but right today, we have the capacity to. Turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden.   Meera: Input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star.   Chaz: And having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. How about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it.   {Music} Intro Voice: Manager Minute, brought to you by the Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center. Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time, one minute at a time. Here is your host, Carol Pankow.   Carol: Well, welcome to the Manager Minute. Joining me in the studio today are my close colleagues, doctor Chaz Compton and Doctor Meera Adya, Co-project directors of the new National Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Center, or VRTAC for short. So woohoo you guys! I'm so excited to have you here. How are things going Chaz?   Chaz: Wonderful. Very busy and very happy to be here. Thank you.   Carol: Excellent. How about you, Meera? How's it going?   Meera: Pretty good.   Carol: Awesome. Well, glad to have you both. I just want to give a little bit of history for our listeners. The Vocational Rehabilitation Technical Assistance Centers have a long and rich history rooted in the Rehabilitation Act itself. And from the very beginning, the act recognized that helping individuals with disabilities achieve meaningful employment requires more than just funding. It requires a system of continuous learning, innovation and improvement. And that's why the Rehabilitation Services Administration has long invested in national technical assistance centers to strengthen state VR agencies, build staff capacity and ensure programs stay aligned with evolving regulations, Relations, research and best practices, and over the years, these centers from the early TACE centers to WINTAC and the QM and QE and AIVR TAC and all the things, and now the new NBR tech have become the backbone of progress in our field, helping translate policy into practice and ensuring that the promise of the Rehabilitation Act remains strong for the next generation. So let's dig in. Gang, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourselves and your journey into VR? And, Chaz, I'm going to kick it to you first.   Chaz: Okay. Gosh, it's been 40 years now. Hard to believe. I started with a community rehab program 40 years ago this year.   Carol: Wow.   Chaz: A few years later, I moved into the public VR program in California. I was a counselor, a supervisor, and then a district administrator and got my doctorate degree at San Diego State University and moved over and directed the TA Center 15 years ago, and then the WINTAC and then the VRTAC-QM and now the what we call the VR TAC, the national VRTAC.   Carol: That is awesome. I did not realize it was 40 whole years. Chaz, I think we're pretty close in age to each other.   Chaz: It's been a while.   Carol: Meera, how about you? How'd you get your journey into this world?   Meera: Well, my work has always been at the intersection of empiricism and law and policy. So I'm a researcher and evaluator. I've done projects looking at how people with disabilities can be successful in workplaces and communities, thinking about inter work and the VR system. More specifically, I became engaged first as a partner, leading the program evaluation for Interworks Wintech centre. And then Chaz convinced me to come to Interworks continue doing what I was doing by taking the lead on the program evaluation for the VR, QM, and then our portfolio at Interworks has grown. Now there are several disability innovation grants and customized employment projects in addition to the TAC that we are leading the evaluation on. And Chaz then offered me the opportunity to continue growing my work, and here I am as the co-director of the center as a whole, and I'm honored and thrilled to support Chaz and our team. Take the work with VR and its partners forward to improve outcomes for people with disabilities.   Carol: I love it Meera, and you're a good addition, and we're really happy to have you as the Co-project director, too. So what is the overarching purpose of our new VR TAC?   Chaz: It is to provide technical assistance and training that will help VR agencies and their partners improve service delivery and increase the quantity and quality of employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities being served by VR program and their partners. Our major focus areas include helping agencies effectively manage the program, the performance of the program, the fiscal side of the program and their resources, and helping them identify and implement effective employment strategies and practices that accomplish the overarching goal of helping improve outcomes and service delivery. That's the big picture.   Carol: It is cool because it's like soup to nuts. I think sometimes, you know, the previous TAC, you know, they had very kind of more specific focus. And then with the QM and like QE too, you know, it expanded. But now we've got the whole shebang in one place.   Chaz: Mhm.   Carol: Very fun. Meera do you have anything you wanted to add to that?   Meera: Sure. I was just thinking about all the work that Chaz has been doing, the messages he sends us and how we've come together and so far trying to put it into an encapsulation. I've been coming up with one team or his words, but I think just such a good representation and you'll see that now in our messaging going forward, but also a yes. And we don't say no. We find a way to work together and is so what, what is the measurable change that's going to result from the work we do? I think you're going to see that over the next five years constantly coming up.   Carol: Yeah, I like that, Meera. You got to keep us grounded in that. About the so what? So what we can do lots of activities. But so what about them? And I see, Chaz, you're smiling at me because, you know, I'm an activity person. And it's like, but what's the benefit from what we did? So how does the new TAC build on the work in the lessons that were learned from all the previous work?   Chaz: Well, to say we've learned some lessons along the way, especially in the last ten years, would be an understatement. There have been the implementation of WIOA and all of the requirements associated with that, living through all of the implementation with agencies, helping them respond to that effectively, looking at the demographic shift in the field to youth, where now the majority of the people we serve are 24 years of age or younger. Looking at going into and out of Covid and how that changed service delivery, how the fiscal landscape of the program changed accordingly, how we have seen the pendulum shift fiscally from one side to the other and now back again. All of that has helped inform, I think, the development of our technical assistance and the training and the way we go into this new center. So we have just a bunch of lived experience, if you will, along with agencies. So what they have gone through, we have gone through with them, and I think we can help them successfully navigate the future. And while at the same time responding to the challenges that they face right now. So all of that, I think, really has laid an important foundation for the VRTAC and the work we're going to be doing with agencies.   Carol: I think you hit the nail with that. I think about all the last five years, even the work I've done and our team has done and how deep we got in with agencies like it felt like we were part. I often talk when I'm in at agency, I talk about we like I'm part of them because you're enmeshed in everything they're doing and their systems and their people and their meetings and all of their things. You become so ingrained with them. It really helped you to get such a clear picture of what was happening and helps really get maybe at the root of some of the issues and to develop that work fundamentally so that the seeds we laid could really grow and germinate and keep going forever and keep growing and growing and growing. So it isn't just a one shot. We did a little quick training and we're out of there. It really became such a deep lesson. Meera, how about for you with that lessons learned? I'm sure evaluation wise there are things you were thinking about as well.   Meera: Oh, absolutely. We have all of our past evaluation reports and findings, and we can keep looking at those. And I certainly keep bringing them up whenever it strikes me that there's a relevant point that comes forward again. And you can see with the way that Chaz has put together these innovative partners and projects, a continuation of the successful approaches and partnerships as well, and just a laser focus on measurable change that evolution and improvement and lessons learned is just baked into the center. As a research and evaluator, I know firsthand how the knowledge translation pipeline takes time, but it can take less time when you work directly with stakeholders from the beginning, and that's what's happening with us. Chaz has always taken evaluation seriously, woven it into the very fabric of the work. Stakeholders are the partners. They hold us accountable. We continuously are learning what's working. Pivot when needs must.   Carol: Well said Meera. Thank you for that. What current challenges do you guys see in the VR system that make a unified national TA center so important right now?   Chaz: To say that efficiency, accountability and improved outcomes are important would be an understatement. And this is not a new focus, of course. I mean, you have to go back to the movement of the Rehabilitation Act under the Workforce Investment Act of 1988, which was really an attempt to improve efficiency and refrain from duplication of services and improve outcomes and all that stuff. And that focus has just grown and grown,   Carol: right.   Chaz: and so a unified center is I mean, it really is helpful to ensure that everything is administrated under one center that we're focused on, you know, whether it's focused on improving performance, like on the performance measures, like improving an agency's ability to manage their fiscal resources or implement employment strategies like, say, customized employment, a unified center can address all of these aspects together, holistically, understand how they interact with each other and an agency. Instead of having 2 or 3 different entities trying to work together with a VR program differently, with different ways of doing business, ways of interacting all that. So it just is a very efficient, I hope. Anyway, an enhanced holistic way of working with an agency. Ultimately, I believe that will contribute to increasing the likelihood of positive outcomes.   Carol: I like the part with the employment being in with us now. Not that employment wasn't in our mind, but it was distant because we'd always put it like we, you know, we're referring folks over to the Q2E, but now with it all integrated, it really does kind of front and center. You're thinking about the fiscal things that my group is working at and how our impact is helping the program, maybe for stability or whatever may be going on, does impact the employment outcomes in the end, and the funds that are available and whether people go on an order or not, you know, all those kind of things. So I like that having it all together, it's a little closer, at least in my head. Meera, did you have any thoughts about that one as well?   Meera: I echo everything you both have said. The unified voice. Central voice. This center has always been a supportive voice. It is always on, always available, and that continues to be really needed. That is something we've heard in the evaluation interviews and feedback that we've received is that folks really appreciate being able to just call, get someone on the other end, get an answer right away, send an email, hear back right away. The responsiveness and the targeted information that they need has been phenomenal. And so looking forward to that continuing. And now across the whole range and spectrum of what technical assistance is needed. As you both have said, It's a time of, you know, as was said, significant change requirements may be shifting again, a laser focus on efficiency and effectiveness of work, which is right. And, you know, in the broader context, we're seeing significant disruption in the work world. And the future of work has been talked about. The future of work is here today. It's the today of how we work. And agencies need help navigating all of that with their customers. There's a lot for our stakeholders and our partners to navigate. I think we've seen from the evaluation feedback, this is where our team under Chaz really excels. It just brings together the many. It brings together the a lot. It goes to the heart of it and meets it on the grant.   Carol: Yeah. You lead into my next question about the partners on the grant because we have a deep bench. I mean, I felt like we had really phenomenal folks on the QM grant. But when I look at the partners you all have brought together for this, and we're on our first meetings and you've got, you know, 30 people in the Hollywood Squares instead of a dozen or so. It's a cool bunch, and people with such interesting expertise. So Chaz, who are the partners on our grant?   Chaz: Our biggest and primary partner is the George Washington University. We've been partners with them for really since national centers were funded. They were part of the WINTAC, part of the QM, and now we'll be a obviously a critical part of the VR TAC Every single one of them is a doer. Their hands are have their hands have gotten dirty and providing like literally in the trenches to just like our own staff at work Institute at San Diego State. We just have been, practically speaking, teammates for a very long time. We know each other well, we work together well, and we're very confident in each other's work. GW a big, huge partner of ours. Then there's the National Disability Institute, which is also a longtime partner of ours. They'll be helping with the employment strategies component of things and just are a very well respected, nationally known institute that is really has some super interesting and helpful information and resources and knowledge along with the rest of the team. Of course, many of our listeners will know. Yes LMS, we're working with Linda and her team this time around, expanding our available training resources to users out there. CSAVR of course, is another long time partner. Everybody knows them. Sara Works is a partner of ours as well. Sara Works has been a partner again since the WINTAC days and, you know, has done all kinds of work with us in terms of developing Sara, the AI program to help act as an assistant to VR programs, communication tool and so on. Then we have Case Review Solutions. It's just a new partner of ours this time around focused on quality assurance, case reviews, contract monitoring. So another use of software and technology to basically provide solutions to VR programs. And another new partner this time around in Intellitech, which has created a program called Case Amplify, which is an AI driven system, which we'll talk about here in a few minutes, but we're really excited about this one as well, because it provides an opportunity for agencies to see how things could potentially be different and more effective into the future. So those are our primary partners, yeah.   Carol: yeah. It's exciting. It's a cool group of people I really was thrilled to see in the very secret proposal that you would not share with us before we went in, and then you see what all the things are that are going to happen. You are always known, though, Chaz, for being the guy. You have those little fun projects that become part of the grant that you know, live on and people are able to carry out and they've created really cool things. This proposal with the exciting AI initiatives, can you share what tools like Case, Amplify and Sara Works are going to mean for state VR agencies?   Chaz: Absolutely. And I think it's important for folks to understand the why. Right. Like, why are these it's not just because they're fun and they are super fun. You're right. But there really is a reason behind developing these projects. And the primary reason is as agencies have implemented Wioa and this kind of goes back to lessons learned, right? We know that the data elements for, for instance, for the 911 and just the recording processes and all of the administrative responsibilities associated with being in compliance with the law and the regulations is a burden. It's a struggle, and especially in a period of time where recruitment and retention has been a challenge across the country. You know, when you lose people and they're the ones responsible for gathering and reporting this data, IT becomes a real challenge on everybody else. And I honestly, in my heart of hearts, believe that embracing advanced technology is the way out of this. It's the way to effectively respond to it. It's not by hiring more people to do administrative stuff, although that would be wonderful. But, you know, we're in this situation for a reason. And now we have right now, not ten years from now, but right today we have the capacity to turn our administrative burden into an AI driven function that alleviates that burden from VR staff. And that's what the why is behind this? Why are we doing this? Because we want agencies to see and participate. If you know, if they're able and willing in these projects to see what the impact could be. Now, of course, we don't know, for instance, what the impact will fully be. We have a vision for it. But part of what this is is an experiment, right? It's a pilot, if you will, to make sure that we can see how it works. So the idea is that and I'll take Sara because Sara's been around for a while now. A lot of agencies know Sara. They know what's possible. Several of them use the program. Now, in our case, like under the VR tech, we're going to be using Sara to do something for pre-employment transition services that we haven't done yet. Now we're ten years. 11 years. Well, I guess ten years really post implementation 2016 was the full implementation. So we're approaching the ten year mark. And while we focused on implementing projects and tracking and reporting and down to the individual consumer level and all that good stuff. Making sure costs are allowable, that people are spending their 15%, all that good stuff. What we haven't done a very good job of yet is evaluating the impact of those services on individuals themselves. Like how has it impacted them? What does it mean in terms of their future employability or future involvement in post-secondary Ed or whatever it is we're trying to determine? And so using Sara specifically to communicate and gather information with students or former students on the impact of periods, and then analyzing that data and showing the impact, that's really where we're zeroed in on this project for Sara Works. Case Amplify, well let me go to CRS. So Case Review Solutions is a new software program developed by two of our former colleagues in the WINTAC and the QM, Rachel Anderson and Brittany McIvor. So they know right? Like what is it about the review system, the case review process, the process, the quality assurance process that is lacking the internal control process, right? How do we fix that or help fix it anyway? Or help states analyze where the deficiencies are and then give them information real time quickly along multiple levels to help them address it so that it's not a consistent finding and monitoring reviews so that they're on top of the changes that they need to make. So again, it's another technology solution to a challenge facing agencies. And they're also developing a contract monitoring tool that's going to be available later on in the project. That will help states monitor another big one. Right. We hear all the time is we're not sure like whether those contracts are doing what they should be doing and the quality of service delivery and all that stuff. So that's going to help with that. Case Amplify is a AI program that Intellitech has developed. It's so exciting to talk about how this could potentially change. And I mean really change the way that VR staff are gathering and populating information into the case through case management system. Ultimately, it has the capacity ultimately to make the process hands free. That is, you can talk to an individual, and this system is listening and gathering information and populating all over into the CMS important data elements, summarizing meetings. And believe it or not, like if it does what we really want it to do, it's going to actually fill in the 911 data elements automatically based on these conversations at critical points along the pathway.   Carol: That's a game changer for people that alone with those what, 400 elements like that is a game changer.   Chaz: Yeah, I could not be more excited about this one than I am. I just think it's going to be revolutionary. You know, it's still in its development phase fully. It's still going to be kind of an experiment with agencies and how it integrates into their existing CMS. But that's part of why we call it a pilot, because it's supposed to be a way to kind of see if things work the way we want it to work.   Carol: It's so cool. I am really excited. I'm also excited about the whole evaluation part of projects because I long thought, you know, when I was back in Minnesota blind and we were getting all those funds spent on students and I'm like, we're getting at these kids earlier. I just knew in my heart of hearts like, this is going to make such a difference in their trajectory is going forward and employment, they're going to start better. They're going to start better in college because they're going to have all this exposure to things they had not had any exposure to. Finally, the time we get at being able to measure, is that really coming true? I mean, I believe it to be true, but it'll be nice to actually quantify it and go, yeah, this is what's happening for people. And we can see the real difference. And that investment that Congress had said all those years ago, we're going to invest in these kids. And they did it for a reason. And now the proof is going to be in the pudding with the results. I love it. So, Chaz, one of your goals was to strengthen the workforce. So tell us a little bit about the VR Fiscal Talent Accelerator and NRLI, the National Rehabilitation Leadership Institute.   Chaz: Yeah. Great. So most people know NRLI. They've heard about it in the past and or even many participated. I remember at one point a few years ago at a conference, Steve Wooderson said, hey, how many people here have gone to NRLI. And I swear, three quarters of the room raised their hand. So it's over 20 years old now, and it's a training program specifically targeted at the executive leadership level, staff of the VR program and preparing them over a year long process where we meet in person for a week, four weeks out of the year, three times in San Diego, one time in Washington, DC. And there's coaching and training contacts that go on throughout the course of the year in a cohort model. So that is supported by the VRTAC this time around. So that's kind of our primary executive leadership training tool. Then we're developing something new this time around. For those of you who are listening, who are familiar with the management concepts training that was part of the QM, that was the VR grants management certificate program that we developed as part of that center. This time around, we are specifically zeroing in on the fiscal folks in VR and preparing a kind of like, nearly like program for them, where we'll use the same cohort model. I'm not certain of all the details yet, but obviously, Carol, you'll be a super important part of that one. And we'll provide an opportunity for fiscal staff in VR agencies who some obviously like every other position turnover at times. And when they do turnover, if they take the knowledge with them and nobody's coming behind them, it can be really challenging. So the Fiscal Talent Accelerator program will be a way to help them understand all of the responsibilities right under fiscal responsibilities in the VR grant, helping them really manage those resources and effectively so that the agency has both not just in compliance, but has the resources available to serve as many folks as possible.   Carol: Absolutely. Yeah. I'm super excited about all of these projects. We've got a lot of work ahead. I know also, we had started spending some time under the QM addressing, you know, the recruitment and retention issues and leadership development and such. So how do you see that kind of expanding in the new grant?   Chaz: Well, it's definitely expanding. And so we're very excited about that because we know clearly that recruitment and retention especially was a just a real, real issue in the last five years. So we had a recruitment and retention pilot under the QM that worked with four states. And we have some really helpful tools and toolkits developed as a result of that. That's on the QM site now, will be brought forward under the VRTAC, but more importantly will be going into phase two from that process under the VRTAC, looking again at implementing those strategies and practices for recruitment and retention with other agencies, tracking the impact of that over time, and expanding the scope of that. John Walsh was really helpful in leading that effort under the QM, and he'll be doing that again. Also, we're developing onboarding resources for VR programs this time around, helping agencies kind of identify both what to include and giving them actual stuff and resources to include in an onboarding program for VR staff. We're moving beyond just the executive level of training for nearly into mid-level management and supervisory training. Training specifically targeted at those groups, which I think will be really helpful and certainly very needed and engaging in succession planning processes with agencies, both strategic planning and succession planning understanding the two of them are clearly linked, but giving agencies some real strategies and practices on how to develop a succession plan and implement that, so that we're not faced with this sort of mass exodus of institutional knowledge. When people both retire or resign and we're like, oh no, what do we do now? Right. So hopefully we're intending to create resources, training tools to help agencies address that proactively.   Carol: And we have some really awesome staff on this grant. This time around too, that can help. Our bench is deeper. You know, even in this area that are going to be able to help do that. So definitely. Meera, you have something you want to throw in there. I didn't forget you.   Meera: Oh I don't think so. Chaz covered all the practices and new projects really well.   Carol: Okay, Meera, I want you to tackle this one about the evaluation and data driving that ongoing improvement coming forward. Do you have thoughts about that? How's that going to look?   Meera: Sure. I think I spoke to this a little bit earlier, but to pick up from that thread, I mean, that is something we are consistently doing. We have multiple channels and approaches that monitor the work and the change that are taking place. We have custom built apps and tools that our IT group has created, so we can make sure that we're setting up plans and staying on track with the agencies and the work that we're doing with them. And we have stakeholders, partners, customers, all of whom can provide feedback in different ways. We meet regularly to discuss what we are hearing and what we are seeing. Formally speaking, we have two reports that are compiled and shared broadly, internally and with stakeholders. We hold meetings, review the findings, and consider recommendations by taking that report apart and into little bite, but continuously throughout the year. We're not waiting for those big report moments. Evaluation Group has been woven into the work we do. They are a part of all the regular meetings that are taking place for the center, and input is getting provided at the beginning and the middle at the end, all over again. It really is that measurable and real change and ongoing calibration towards that is our North star. That will continue to be so.   Carol: Led by the awesome you, which will be great.   Chaz: Exactly.   Carol: My final question to you too what will success look like for the VRTAC over the next five years. And Chaz, I'll ask you first.   Chaz: Well, it will be demonstrably changing for the better outcomes in the VR program and service delivery. It will be serving individuals with the kind of commitment to meeting their individual needs and wants and desires and employment factors, and agencies operating efficiently and effectively and having actual measurable outcome improvements. So simple as that.   Carol: That sounds good. Meera, how about you? What do you think?   Meera: Nothing to add. He stole it right there at the end. Measurable outcomes. Real change. Drop the mic.   Carol: Boom! I love it. So, how do people find you?   Chaz: Our website will be VRTAC or just VRTAC.org. We have the site kind of really in its shell form right now. We're developing it. Give us a couple of months to get it fully going, but if you need to reach us, you can certainly contact any of us through the channels that you would normally reach us through the VRTAC-QM. Can send an email to me or to you or anybody else on the team. And at this point, I think most agencies are able to reach us in whatever way they want. But soon the website will be up and running and they can get us there or any number of ways.   Carol: Awesome. Well, I sure appreciate both joining me this morning. It was super cool. And we can check back in in a couple years too and go like, woo, where are things now? It'll be fun to report on some more successes. So thank you both. Have a great day.   Chaz: Thanks, Carol. Appreciate you having us.   Meera: Thank you.   Outro Voice: Conversations powered by VR. One manager at a time. One minute at a time. Brought to you by the VRTAC. Catch all of our podcast episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

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Behfar Jahanshahi shares his insights into building one of the most awarded data consulting companies in the world and how they hire differently. Connect with Behfar: LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/behfar/ TWITTER: https://twitter.com/behfarj COMPANY WEBSITE: https://interworks.com/ Learn data skills at our academy and elevate your career. Start for free at https://ftdacademy.com/pod --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ftdacademy/message

I'm a long-time reader of the great blog posts at Interworks.com. One of those writers is Dan Murray who is their Director of Strategic Innovation. I was so lucky in getting to meet Dan at a Quantrix conference a few years ago - that friendship has continued and led to this conversation about data extraction, ETL strategies, data infrastructure, and BI tools such as Tableau.

I get asked the same question a lot: "Tell me the name of an organization you think really has achieved Predictable Success." I always answer the same way: "OK, but you'll likely never have heard of them." That's because the most exciting, innovative, focussed, joyous organizations that get into (and stay in) Predictable Success aren't the behemoths that we all know. Instead, they're organizations - businesses, not-for-profits, cause-based NGO's - who, unless you live in geographical proximity to them or operate in the same market as them, you'd never know they existed. It's one of the undiluted delights of what I do that I get to meet and work with these organizations, and the outstanding people who lead them, every single day. I met one such leader, and his outstanding business, when I stepped of the airplane (yes, this was in the before times) in Stillwater, Oklahoma, where I spent two eye-opening days with Behfar Jahanshahi, CEO and founder of Interworks, as he led his outstanding, global team through their annual conference. As soon as I heard Behfar deliver his keynote I knew I wanted to bring his personal story, his leadership philosophy, and the remarkable growth principles behind Interworks to the Predictable Success tribe, and last week, I was able to sit down with him and explore all of that, and more. Enjoy and learn from a truly remarkable Predictable Success leader. p.s. Behfar's closing explanation of how and why he has built Interwork's 'giving back' program is particularly outstanding. Don't miss it.

Today's guest is Behfar Jahanshahi, CEO of InterWorks. Join Jonathan Udoka and Sharyl Pickens as we learn from Behfar about growing up in Stillwater, turning curiosity into a passion, and then into a highly successful global technology business. You'll also hear about the people of Interworks and why Stillwater is home.

Adjusting to change is one thing, but what does it take to be a champion and initiator of that change? Listen in as Global Marketing Manager, Jenny Parnell, talks with analytics consultants Rachel Kurtzand Dave Sireyabout what it looks like to be an analytics champion and how you can become one. Hear how to advocate for change with Tableau in your organization, as well as how to overcome challenges in the face of the new and unfamiliar. Our bonus Quantified segment features Communications Manager Garrett Saulsin conversation with the first champion of Tableau at InterWorks and author of Tableau Your Data!, Dan Murray.

In this special episode of Podcast Your Data, InterWorks’ leadership reflects on the last decade and makes predictions for the next. Hear InterWorks Data Practice Lead Brian Bickelltalk with CEO, Behfar Jahanshahi, and Director of Strategic Innovation, Dan Murray, about some of the most rewarding moments from the last 10 years, how working in tech is changing and InterWorks’ own transformation. Plus, get a bonus segment on the most influential tech breakthroughs our team has encountered.

New Business Radio deed dinsdag 28 januari tussen 11:00 en 17:00 uur live verslag van het Compliance & Risk Congres. In het Planetarium in Amsterdam spraken Fabienne de Vries en Ron Lemmens met verschillende sprekers en gasten op het event. Innovatie, data, technologie, digitalisering, internationalisering: onze samenleving verandert continu en razendsnel. Hierdoor worden we gedwongen tot creativiteit om relevant te blijven of te worden en compliance en risk moeten hierop worden afgestemd. We worden immers continu met nieuwe aspecten en risico’s geconfronteerd en wet- en regelgeving verandert mee. Tijdens het Compliance & Risk Congres 2020 gaat men op zoek naar het antwoord op de vraag: hoe borgen we een toekomstbestendige compliance- en riskfunctie zodat onze organisatie kan omgaan met deze ontwikkelingen en we blijvend in control zijn? Onder de vakkundige leiding van dagvoorzitter Ronnie Overgoor komen in een interactief programma met keynotes, interviews en parallelsessies, alle facetten van compliance en risk aan bod. Meer weten over het evenement? Kijk dan hier. Ron Lemmens en Fabienne de Vries ontvangen in de studio verschillende sprekers en top gasten. Zo zullen onder meer Petra van Kan van Google, Maarten Hoekstra van ABN AMRO en Raoul Heertje te gast zijn. Daarnaast zal Fabienne de Vries ook de vloer op gaan om te praten met bezoekers van het evenement. New Business Radio zendt tussen 11:00 en 17:00 uur live uit vanaf het congres, met een onderbreking van een live uitzending vanuit Hilversum tussen 15:00 en 16:00 uur. Luister live mee via de player of kijk mee via de onderstaande videoplayer.

Will Joyce, a proud CAS alumnus, is a Stillwater native who became mayor in 2018. He is also General Counsel at InterWorks, a Stillwater-based technology consulting firm. He joined us to talk about how CAS has helped him succeed.

Will Joyce, a proud CAS alumnus, is a Stillwater native who became mayor in 2018. He is also General Counsel at InterWorks, a Stillwater-based technology consulting firm. He joined us to talk about how CAS has helped him succeed.

What does Optimus Prime have to do with hiring? Well - Optimus is a good guy and a great leader... just like our guest, Behfar Jahanshahi. In this episode we discuss hiring, servant leadership, consulting, and growth. Behfar also shares one of his secrets to success. Spoiler alert; it's simple, but most companies are totally missing the mark. Behfar Jahanshahi - Founder and CEO of Interworks Detailed show notes available at signal.cafe/10

On this episode of Podcast Your Data, host Ben Bausilisits down with Global BI Practice Director, James Wright, and Solutions Architect Derrick Austinto talk all things Tableau 2019.3. Tune in to hear them discuss the new features and functionalities we’re most excited about at InterWorks, including the Tableau Server Management Add-on.

This week join Michael Treadwellin welcoming analytics consultants Rachel Kurtz and Stephanie Kennedy to the PYD stage. Rachel and Stephanie review their experience at the 2019 Alteryx Inspire in Nashville. They talk on the event overall, favorite booths and breakout sessions as well as new features announced and what they might mean for users. 

In the world of tech, possibilities are endless, and there are lots of considerations when it comes to charting a course. So how do you make all those choices? In this episode of PYD, David Pireshas a conversation with InterWorks Global BI Practice Director, James Wright, about what it means to have a global practice, how to stay flexible in the constantly changing landscape of tech and why InterWorks chooses the markets, partners and products we do.

What’s better—asking someone else about your data or asking the data itself? Why not both? In this episode of Podcast Your Data, InterWorks analytics consultant Katie Bridges welcomes Ruhaab Markas from Tableau to discuss the new software feature, Ask Data. Listen in as Ruhaab shares how to begin this data dialogue.

The release of Tableau 2019.2 is right around the corner, and today, we are talking to the brains behind the latest update. In this episode, InterWorks analytics consultant Robert Rouse welcomes Tableau engineers Samantha Lin and Phil Naranjo as they give us some insight into the features we've got coming our way.

Develop. Evolve. Improve. PYD 80 is all about what it looks like to go through the creative process of new-feature generation. Host David Pires welcomes Tableau developer Filippos Lymperopoulos for a discussion on Tableau's latest and greatest MVP, set actions, and what users can expect in the future.

Join Garrett Sauls andKatie Wagneras they talk about the basics of data and tackle important baseline questions about a career in data during this special preview of our new podcast, Quantified.

The post Episode 17 – Asset Tracking & Cyber Security ft. Caston Thomas of InterWorks appeared first on Loss Prevention Research Council. The post Episode 17 – Asset Tracking & Cyber Security ft. Caston Thomas of InterWorks appeared first on LPRC.

The post Episode 17 – Asset Tracking & Cyber Security ft. Caston Thomas of InterWorks appeared first on Loss Prevention Research Council.

This week’s podcast takes it back to Tableau Conference 2018. InterWorks analytics practice lead Ben Bausiliinterviews Katie Wagner, a lead Tableau trainer, about the week in her beloved home state of Louisiana. She unpacks her TC18 experience, including Brain Dates with data experts, some of her favorite sessions, like Fanalytics, and shares her excitement about TC19 in Las Vegas. If you want to hear someone talk about New Orleans and its goodness, Katie is that person. Trust us.

Who doesn’t love a little magic? Many of us at InterWorks are HUGE fans of Disney. So when we heard about Disney Data and Analytics Conference, we knew it was one we had to check out. Ben and Robert graciously and humbly volunteered to be our warthogs guinea pigs and they had a blast. Of course, Disney can’t just put on a conference. No. They made it a whole experience. Listen in as you get to live vicariously through Ben and Robert and hear all about how to make your data roar!

First-time host and InterWorks’ representation in Singapore Jia Liu stomps around with Datasaurus Rex David Murphy. David is from England but seized the opportunity to travel the world and ended up in Singapore, where he works and co-leads the Singapore Tableau User Group. Find out what motivates him, what are some similarities and differences being in Singapore’s thriving data community, and the history of the “Datasaurus Rex” name (as well as some hidden meanings…shhhhh).

Tableau Conference Europe 2018 is next week! Besides making last minute preparations, David Pires finishes up talking to some fantastic people in the data community that you can meet at TC18Europe – Simon Beaumont, Rebecca Roland, Tristan Guillevin, and Tableau’s Sara Fernandes. We hope to see you in London; stop by our booth and say “hello” to David and the rest of the InterWorks team. We love making new friends.

We were joined by Michelle from Comcast Xfinity to talk about their expansion into Highland Park, and Caston to talk about the latest fun with security and more... IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit

Let's talk security, breaches, tech updates, what's going on at Comcast and more for episode 221 as we're joined by Caston from Interworks and Michelle from Comcast Xfinity... Interworks is at: https://iworkstech.com/ Comcast is at: https://www.xfinity.com/ LinkedIn Learning is at: http://linkedin.com/detroit AppRiver is at: http://appriver.com/it Eero is at: https://eero.com/ IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit  

Today’s episode reaches across the pond as David Pires from our EU team sits down with EXASOL’s Head of BI and Tableau Evangelist, Eva Murray. Four years ago, while working for one of the largest banks in Australia, she became introduced to Tableau. Fast forward to today, she’s living in Germany and working for one of InterWorks’ partners, EXASOL. She also gives a recap of her recent Monday Makeover webinar about vis design tips and tricks. It’s all happening on this week’s Podcast Your Data! Subscribe to Podcast Your Data through iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcasting app.

This week’s Podcast Your Data! is all about Alteryx! Take a listen as Michael Treadwell, InterWorks’ own Alteryx Ace, speaks with fellow Aces Ken Black and Cathy Bridges. Hear their thoughts on this year’s Alteryx Inspire Conference as well as tips on how you can get the very most out of an Alteryx conference or any tech conference you attend. They also discuss how data game-changers like Alteryx Connect and Alteryx for Good are making waves in the data community. Get the inside scoop on all of this and more from Ken and Cathy in this week’s episode. Subscribe to Podcast Your Data through iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcasting app.

We talked to David Pires, of Interworks, hot off the stage after winning the inaugural Iron Iron Viz Europe.

As we prep for Saturday's live broadcasts from Falling Down Beer Company's 4th anniversary party, it was only fitting that we have Mark in to talk about what they've been up to lately.  We were also joined by Jer from Daily Detroit and Caston from Interworks... Falling Down Beer Company is at: https://www.facebook.com/fallingdownbeer/ Their 4th anniversary party this Saturday is at: https://www.facebook.com/events/271222903313657/ Interworks is at: https://iworkstech.com/ Daily Detroit is at: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailyDetroit/ Thanks to this week's sponsors... Audible: http://www.Audible.com/ITintheD/ Fellowes: http://www.Fellowes.com MeUndies: http://www.MeUndies.com/ITintheD [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/315345869" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit

For episode 172, we were joined by two repeat guests, Patrick Rugiero of the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan to chat about their upcoming Kidney Ball event on December 3rd, and Caston Thomas of Interworks to talk a little about security and tech as he always does, but also some new things going on with the company's offerings and direction... The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan is at: http://nkfm.org/ The Kidney Ball is at: http://www.nkfm.org/events/kidney-ball-0 Interworks is at: https://iworkstech.com/ As always, thanks to our advertisers.  This episode was brought to you by Indeed... Indeed Prime is a premium talent platform that matches elite tech talent to top companies. Indeed Prime helps software engineers simplify their job search and land their dream job. Candidates get immediate exposure to the best tech companies with just one simple application. And when you are hired, Indeed Prime gives you a $2,000 bonus to say thanks for using Prime, but if you use our link, you'll get a $5,000 bonus instead! Sign up now at indeed.com/it Indeed Prime is 100% free for candidates and helps hiring managers discover available, high-quality talent. Again, learn more at indeed.com/it And Lenovo: Lenovo systems can even integrate with legacy software platforms to help get your cloud solution up and running quickly. - Learn more about how Lenovo is transforming the data center at www.lenovo.com/datacenter [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/294519371" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit

Ever wonder what it takes to get 35+ people from all over the world into one place all while designing a booth and collateral at the biggest conference for this Terabyte sponsor? In this episode, you’ll go behind the scenes with members of the Marketing and Operations teams to see how they pull it off. Subscribe to Podcast Your Data through iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcasting app.

InterWorks consultants Ben Bausili, James Wright, and Mat Hughes preview Tableau 10, which was released today. They talk about their favorite new features in both Desktop and Server editions and where they believe Tableau is headed in the future. Subscribe to Podcast Your Data through iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcasting app.

On our tenth show, InterWorks’ own Derrick Austin joins Tim and reminisces about always being an early adopter of internet technologies, gets excited about the Internet of Things and the Quantified Office, and explains how bees aren’t that scary. Subscribe to Podcast Your Data through iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or your favorite podcasting app.

Carlo Ratti joins InterWorks’ own Dan Murray to talk about his MIT research, the internet of things, design, and how we can get more feedback from our environments.

Episode 140 featured some great conversations about machine learning, security, the metro Detroit area, how Detroit stacks up...and doesn't...against other cities around the area.  Where Detroit is falling down, even in the midst of the resurgence underway, and what absolutely, positively has to change if things are every going to really get any better... Interworks can be found at http://iworkstech.com/ Daily Detroit can be found at http://www.dailydetroit.com/ Thursday's networking event is at https://www.facebook.com/events/651264421642851/ Sunday's meetup at Detroit Pub is at https://www.facebook.com/events/158619864528959/ Penguicon is at https://www.facebook.com/events/159206487792469/ The Metro Detroit Podcaster Meetup is at https://www.facebook.com/events/794028940729613/ [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/259948780" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit

Amber Smart joins InterWorks own Ben Bausili to talk about her journey into full-time problem solving, running a Tableau User Group, and data in the church.

Michael Treadwell, Analytics Consultant and former train engineer talks about Alteryx, Python, R, and life on the open railroad tracks.

Tableau Zen Master Robert Rouse joins Tim Costello to talk about our perceptions and the way we view data. Tables in the East? Before you fire that manager, maybe take a second look.

IT in the D - Episode 115 - Interworks, Digerati Girls, Capuchin Fundraiser covered everything from getting kids (not just girls) involved in coding and development...and how you can get your local schools involved...to a fundraiser taking place Thursday night that you're going to want to be at, and then some fun security talk that'll make your head hurt and want to unplug everything you own... Digerati Girls can be found at https://www.facebook.com/DigeratiGirls/ Caston from Interworks can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/castonthomas Information on the Capuchin Fundraiser can be found at http://www.cskdetroit.org/events/capuchin_school_night_out [soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/230362086" params="color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%" height="166" iframe="true" /] IT in the D On the web: http://www.ITinTheD.com On Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/ITintheD/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/IT-in-D-91763 On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ITintheD On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ITintheD Podcast Detroit is at: On the web: http://www.podcastdetroit.com/ On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PodcastDetroit On Twitter: https://twitter.com/PodcastDetroit On Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/podcastdetroit