During the last Qlik meetup in Atlanta, a fellow Qlik Luminary Mark Meersman asked a thought-provoking question to the Luminary panel.

“It’s an honor to be a Qlik Luminary. What advice you can share with those who aspire to become a Qlik Luminary?”

I enjoyed hearing from some of other fellow Qlik Luminaries including Speros, Ralf, Karl, Alex and Konrad.

Then it dawned on me that it would have been great if other Qlik Luminaries can share their candid advice on the traits that make you a Qlik Luminary.

As a Qlik Luminary myself, I couldn’t think of a better title for this inspiring post with nuggets of selfless wisdom from my other fellow Qlik Luminaries.

Who wants to be a Qlik Luminary is an antidote of those who aspire to be on the popular show “Who wants to be a millionaire”.. no pun intended.

Qlik Luminary has to show hallmark of passion and excellence for all things Qlik and to go extra mile to be a Qlik evangelist to make our world a better place to live.

It’s beyond technical excellence and moniker for selfless giving that earns you the badge of honor.

As you read wisdom shared by other Qlik Luminaries, it will not only show their unique traits that stand out but also show common traits that you can embrace to prepare for your journey to become a Qlik Luminary.

These common traits that I find among all Qlik Luminaries are their desire to not only learn and share their knowledge of every nuances of Qlik but also to be a creative critique to ensure that Qlik has the competitive advantage.

DV, another Qlik Luminary, and I are doing our small part to raise money for Qlik charity partner Medair as they do phenomenal work to help Syrian refugees.

Without further ado, let me thank all Qlik Luminaries who took time to send me their thoughts to inspire those who want to become Qlik Luminary.

Stephen Redmond

To be a luminary means to buy into Qlik as a product, but not necessarily as a brand. Support the brilliant work that has been done with the in-memory model and the technical leadership that has been shown over the years, but don’t let them rest on their laurels – hold them to continually innovate and advance.

Externally, wear green. Internally be the critic. Demand the best.

Steve Dark

When I discovered QlikView ten years ago I was blown away by how it could present information and dynamically respond to clicks. Within six months I had quit my job and set up Quick Intelligence so I could work with the product full-time. A decade on and I am still surprised and impressed by the Qlik platform as it continues to evolve and improve.

Something that has been core to the philosophy of Quick Intelligence is to educate our clients how to get the most from their investment in software. This is in stark contrast to how some consultancies work, ensuring that their customers are reliant on booking more consultancy days rather than gaining skills themselves.

This philosophy spills over from direct client interactions to the Qlik blog that I have run for many years and the time that I spend giving assistance on Qlik Community. It’s these interactions that I believe have gained me the honor of being a Qlik Luminary for a number of years.

It’s great to be recognized by Qlik as someone who is a passionate advocate for their software, especially as when I started as a Qlik developer it was something that they were not particularly good at doing. Through the Luminary program I have met many like-minded and brilliant people. Being able to spend time in the company of people I look up to and respect is the greatest benefit the program offers.

Michael Laverick

I’ve been very lucky to be a Qlik Luminary these last 2 years and whilst there are some incredibly bright minds among the group what really stands out is passion and creativity.

Luminaries work hard to keep up to date with developments, share their knowledge and make Qlik fun and accessible to others.

Their hard work is driven by passion for problem solving and to grow data literate cultures around the globe.

Rob Wunderlich

The Luminary program recognizes those who are passionate about Qlik and have communicated that excitement to others.  So the number one requirement is that you feel the passion. Number two, the aspirational part, is to share that passion with others and help them become successful.

Look for opportunities where your particular skills and experience can be used to help others, especially new Qlik users, break through barriers and have their own “aha” moment.

There are many ways to do this.  You can answer questions on Qlik Community, write blogs or books or share tools and code.  You might develop an innovative program such as a center of excellence or training program in your own organization and share the details and your experience with the wider Qlik community.  You might facilitate networking events such as Meetups or presentations.  Above all, your outreach efforts will solve challenges for others and help them become more successful with Qlik.

The Qlik product set and ecosystem has grown considerably.  Don’t strive to become “Luminary level” on all components of Qlik.  It’s ok to specialize. Leverage the knowledge you have acquired in your day to day work and also seek gaps where your efforts might be most valuable.  Is there a shortage of documentation or code examples for a particular component or feature?  Is there a tool that everyone wants but no one has the time to write?

Mark Meersman

At IPC Global, we believe the only measure of success is adoption.

If you say “yes” to one or more of the following questions, then consider applying to become a Qlik Luminary.

1. Have you made a marked improvement in a department regarding data literacy or a measurable outcome with Qlik?

2. Have you presented your data and integration strategy for enterprise intelligence leveraging Qlik?

3. Have you organized a center of excellence or governance team for data and analysis of Qlik?

Nick Webster

The Qlik Luminary program is based on self-nominations, which means anyone can apply and have a real chance of being selected, instead of relying on winning enough votes. So, when life gives you lemons, apply to be a Qlik Luminary.

I find the application process incredibly difficult; as I measure many others do as well. Talking about yourself and all the great things you’ve done can be a challenge even for the most confident of people but, let’s face it, you are not bragging about yourself to the world, you are telling Qlik about all the wonderful things you do for them and their product. After all, there are a lot of people in the wider Qlik ecosystem and it may just be that your good deeds have gone unnoticed. How very humble indeed.

But no more! You are going to be a Qlik Luminary and all the world will know. So put it down in words, talk about yourself like never before and become a part of a great community of people with access to a whole host of benefits. I like the digital badge the best. It may only be a badge but the Luminary accreditation carries a lot of weight.

Don’t feel bad about the fact that you are making money from all the things you do with Qlik, we all need to make a living, but it just so happens that while doing so, you are also advocating a great product and likely going above and beyond your daily duties to ensure that as many people as possible are exposed to the green, white and grey of the data universe.

Julián Villafuerte Arteaga

What advice you would like to share with others who aspire to become a Luminary? My favorite thing about Qlik is the amazing ecosystem that surrounds the platform.

You’ll find lots of people from all over the world sharing, developing, teaching, discussing and enjoying data. You can’t complain about the lack of options: Qlik Community, Qlik Branch, Qlik Dev Group, Qlik Global Meetups, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube or even the Data Literacy Project.

If you want to become a Qlik Luminary, don’t be afraid to get involved in all these forums. You don’t need to be an expert to participate and you’ll surely have a good time. The Qlik ecosystem is very open and your contributions will be well received.

Ralf Becher

First of all, I think to become a Luminary should not be a primary goal. Important instead is to understand how the Qlik products and the outstanding in-memory technology plays well and what the best way is to adopt it at the client site.

For myself, I first started to learn and understand how Qlik works in deep, even in edge cases and by not avoiding the dark corners.

For instance, I tried to solve the most complex or odd problems in QlikCommunity a few years ago, to skill me up. After that, I was able to share my knowledge and help others to successfully deploy the products. That was a goal inner for me: being upfront in knowledge to make it easier to others.

Of course this includes the sharing of knowledge in blog posts, book reviews and speeches but also the development of additional free available tools around the products, like extensions and others.

Karl Pover

I believe that my work helping others in Qlik Community and my book, “Learning QlikView Data Visualization” were the main reasons I was awarded Qlik Luminary status in 2014.

I would also say that owning a business dedicated to giving Qlik-related services in Mexico was a contributing factor. As the years went on, there were other reasons that allowed me to continue as a Qlik Luminary like hosting Qlik Dev Groups, speaking at Qonnections, writing Qlik-related blog posts, and tweeting important Qlik news. This is surely one way to do it, but Shilpan’s post is important because it highlights the paths others have taken to reach this status.

For 2019, I believe you can take Qlik’s own example of being luminary when it comes to promoting data literacy. In this same way, I imagine there are many Qlik users, analysts, developers, and consultants working for all types of organizations that contribute to making the world more data literate through Qlik. If you count yourself among this group then nominate yourself. You have nothing to lose.

Daniel Garcia Mejia

For me, being part of the Luminary group is the greatest person-level recognition that Qlik can give it to me.

It is the prize after a year of effort, perseverance and vocation in what I dedicate a large part of my life: Qlik. On the other hand, being Luminary allows you to know and exchange knowledge with other people, in addition to being as close as possible to the product team, allowing you to feel that you are part of the project.

In conclusion, the Luminary program opens up exclusive possibilities and advantages that you can not miss, giving you the opportunity to do what we most want: be the light of the Qlik lighthouse that illuminated people in their path.

Laura Ashworth

My advice in one sentence would be “Get involved and share your excitement and knowledge of Qlik with anyone that will listen.”

In general this is what I believe a luminary represents and what I strive to do: Luminaries not only believe in the product but they believe in how the product can help everyone improve.

They go above and beyond their daily business activities with Qlik products in 3 ways.

• Continually seeking out opportunities both within their company and without to share their knowledge of Qlik and bring like mined people together. This could be by just continually demonstrating the product, training developers and users, helping others with their ideas, creating/hosting users groups internally and externally for all to share and learn etc..

• A willingness to participate in Qlik events: a contributor in things such as Webinars, local events with Qlik or Qlik vendor partner and providing conference sessions for others to learn from and provide feedback to Qlik themselves

• Enthusiasm and need to learn more about Qlik’s products through whatever means possible. Beyond using Qlik Products every day in their work to improve company analytics, this could be formal or informal training, reading others blogs and articles, trying out their newest products when possible, attending events etc.   While I don’t have the time to participate much in the Qlik Community, blogs and other activities that can assist the broader community these would also be traits of a luminary.

Alexander Nagler

Being passionate about Qlik and seeing things objectively through “green-white-grey” glasses is mandatory. What really helped me a lot was the mentorship of my fellow Co-Luminary Konrad Mattheis.

Learning from his example, I also started to share knowledge and experience with the Qlik Community.

Beyond that I think, that since Qlik has now evolved into a platform, crossing the borders of the Qlikosphere and bridging the gap between the various communities – e.g. BI and AI – becomes a crucial element of being a Qlik Luminary.

 

If you have what it takes to be a Luminary, Qlik is accepting nomination application till November 30th so go ahead and apply. You may find yourself in this incredibly talented group of brilliant Qlik minds in 2019.

https://www.qlik.com/us/solutions/customers/qlik-luminaries

I wanted to end this post with one of my most favorite quotes from Mark Twain with a twist.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Become a Qlik Luminary