December 2024 Community Member Spotlight: Seyma Tas

becky.leung

As we wrap up 2024, we’re excited to feature @seymatas1 as our final Community Member Spotlight of the year! Seyma has been part of the Anaplan ecosystem since 2020 and has contributed over 120 comments in the Community in the past two years. She became a Certified Master Anaplanner in the last year, and is an active participant in the forums, Community Challenges, and Community events. Seyma’s commitment and contributions have made her an invaluable member of the Community, and we’re thrilled to share more about her journey and work with Anaplan!

About Seyma

We asked Seyma about her background and history with Anaplan. Here's what we learned!

I discovered Anaplan in 2020 through the Anaplan for All program, which provides free training to underrepresented groups. Since then, I’ve worked as a model builder in consulting and moved into my current role as a product owner. I’m currently building a Center of Excellence (CoE) for Caliber Collision, a new Anaplan customer. My work includes further development, training model builders, setting up meeting cadences, and defining Service Level Expectations (SLEs), among other things.

I’m passionate about democratizing tech training, empowering women, and promoting sustainability.

We asked Seyma a few questions to get to know her.

Please share an Anaplan success story you're proud of.

In one of my consulting projects, I worked with a frustrated customer who was about to stop using Anaplan. My role as a solution architect was to turn things around, and I did. The model they were using wasn’t performing well, but more importantly, their team wasn’t trained to use it effectively.

I hosted customized training sessions for their in-house model builders and documented their key processes to build their confidence. They learned how to use dashboards, make enhancements, and try new features without affecting live models. At the same time, I optimized the backend: reducing model open times and simplifying complex structures. By the end, the customer felt confident and saw the value in Anaplan again. Turning that frustration into trust was a great experience.

Please share something you can teach about Anaplan — any tips and tricks you'd like to highlight?

Phil Karlton once said, “There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation and naming things.” The same applies to Anaplan: proper naming can make or break a model.

When building models, it’s important to ask subject matter experts for clear definitions of terms. For example when we say "demand," "forecasted demand," or "adjusted demand" etc., everyone should agree on what they mean.

Consistency is important, not just in Anaplan, but across your whole company. Use the same names for the same concepts in your models, meetings, and documentation. It might seem like a small detail, but getting naming right can save hours of confusion later on.

What do you enjoy about the Anaplan Community?

The Anaplan Community is amazing because people really want to help, even answering questions with few details provided! I love that collaborative spirit.

One thing I’ve learned is how much the quality of your question impacts the answers you get. Here are a few quick tips I’d like to share:

• Search first — your question might already have an answer.
• Explain the issue clearly and share what result you want.
• Use sandbox models and share useful module or line item names.
• Add screenshots of both grid and blueprint views for context.
• Check and format your question to make it simple to read (bold, bullet points, etc.).

And don’t forget to like answers and mark them as solutions, it helps others too!

What’s a hobby or interest of yours that most people might not know about?

I upcycle old T-shirts into home decor items like potholders, rugs, and plant hangers using my (slightly imperfect) crocheting skills. It all started with my kids’ stained, worn-out shirts. I made yarn out of them, crocheted them, and gave the items to friends and family.

Now, I partner with a Texas-based nonprofit that provides affordable housing. They distribute these upcycled items as “welcome home” gifts to new residents.

Did you know that over 85% of discarded clothing ends up in landfills? It’s a small step, but I love knowing that I’m contributing to sustainability in my own way.

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We hope you enjoyed learning more about Seyma in this month’s Community Member Spotlight. Thank you, Seyma, for being an outstanding Community contributor and advocate!

Check out a few of Seyma's contributions to Community:

• August 2024 Builder Community Challenge response
• Seyma's guest speaker participation in the Builder Challenge event
• September 2024 Best Practices Challenge around modeling tips & tricks response

Want to learn more about our Community Member Spotlight series? Check out this post.

Do you know someone in the Community who you think should be featured in a Community Member Spotlight? We want to hear about it — please nominate them here.

GingerAnderson

@SeymaTas You are so helpful in Community — we appreciate all you do!

And I'm very impressed with your craftiness. What a neat project. Thanks for sharing!

JaredDolich

@seymatas1 What an epic story and such a deserving accolade to a brilliant Master Anaplanner. Congratulations.