The Airtable Community Change Maker Spotlights are a new ongoing series where we will be highlighting inspirational creators across the Airtable Community. We are thrilled to highlight Steve Carlson!
Company: T-Mobile
Role: Leader of News Operations in T-Mobile’s PR team
LM: How would you describe yourself on the back of your autobiography?
SC: Seeking structure, efficiency and predictability in a fluid and nuanced industry.
LM: How long have you been using Airtable?
SC: Almost two years, and I keep finding new use cases for it.
LM: How do you use Airtable? At work? At home?
SC: All at work so far, but I might try some of the templates for personal organization.
LM: What is your favorite Airtable feature?
SC: I love automations; they save me about 45 minutes every workday. It took a little bit of trial-and-error at first but that’s more on me than anything. The set-up process is clear and logical.
LM: How did you learn how to use Airtable?
SC: I had some basic training from our account support team and learned a lot from my peers at T-Mobile. We swap ideas and solutions to help each other out. It’s also very intuitive and I’ve figured out some things by just playing around with it.
LM: If someone is looking to start learning Airtable, what resources would you send them?
SC: The best way to understand it is to see how others are using it. If you don’t know someone, sign up for a demo!
LM: What is your favorite Airtable project you’ve ever worked on?
SC: My first automation pulled data from a project/event calendar, based on predetermined criteria, and sent that data in an organized email to leadership at the end of every workday. It’s pretty simple compared to what some other groups are doing but it was a breakthrough in terms of how I use it.
LM: What is your #1 Airtable product request?
SC: This is really minor: I would like to be able to see more than 3 events per day in the Calendar view. Maybe allow the event boxes to be smaller or show all the events when you hover the mouse over the date.
LM: What is your favorite hobby outside of work?
SC: Running. I’m not fast but I can run for a long time. Love trail runs and small races around the Midwest.
LM: Anything else you’d like to share?
SC: I love the growing interest in Airtable across T-Mobile. It’s fascinating to see how different teams use it.
LM: What impact has Airtable had on your workflow? (ex: saving time)
SC: Saving time is the big one, but it’s also the peace of mind that my work is organized and presented in a way that’s best for me and my team.
