A common theme of Data Governance and Data Quality pros is that it can be lonely work. Back at the office, few people really understand what we do. Much less what we go through. And, when we are very, very clever, we often have to be quiet about it, for many reasons. Here's our chance to be ourselves, unabashedly proud of what we've accomplished, and how we got there.

This highly interactive session will be kicked off by the presenter, who will share a few stories from her decades-long Data Governance career. (Spoiler: she once used the "Tom Sawyer Technique" to get a dozen busy executives to self-volunteer to do Data Governance work they were much too busy for. And, she once had to tell a room full of the most powerful people on earth they were flat-out wrong about how they intended to address an economic crisis using data.)

She'll then interview attendees, who can share the activities they're proudest of, or most frustrated by. Hopefully, attendees will see themselves in others, connect with kindred spirits, make some new friends, and collect a few soundbites they can use back home.

Speaker: Gwen Thomas

As the primary author of the DGI framework and guidance materials published at DataGovernance.com, Gwen has influenced hundreds of data programs around the globe. She spent 20 years working in IT shops and providing data management and data governance consulting servicers, before spending 10 years as an in-house data strategist for the World Bank Group's private sector arm. Much of her time there focused on translating between executives, program leaders, data governance teams, lawyers, architects, modelers, policy writers, auditors, and data quality teams. While she is a technician, her special focus is on helping non-technical teams become stronger advocates for their own needs.