May

Data Visualization Workshop with Chad Skelton

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Description

NOTE: This workshop is now over. If you'd like to be alerted about future public workshops, click here. Onsite training is also available.

This two-day, hands-on workshop with award-winning data journalist Chad Skelton will teach you how to analyze data and make interactive maps and charts. The workshop is open to anyone with an interest in learning how to better understand and communicate their data, including journalists, analysts and public relations professionals. Attendance is capped at 15 participants.

Date: Saturday, May 23 - Sunday, May 24, 2015
Time: 10am - 4:30pm each day, with an hour break for lunch
Where: SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings, Vancouver, BC
Price: $395 + GST

NOTE: You must bring your own laptop to the workshop with Tableau Public and Open Refine pre-installed (more details below).

If you're not able to attend this workshop but would like to be alerted when the next one is scheduled, just add your name here.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

How to analyze large volumes of data quickly using Excel Pivot Tables
Data visualization best practices (i.e. why pie charts are evil)
How to make simple interactive charts using Datawrapper
How to make more advanced interactive charts using Tableau Public
How to make interactive maps using Google Fusion Tables
Additional topics may be covered, time permitting

Detailed PDF handouts will be provided for each topic covered, so you'll have something to refer back to after the workshop is over.

TESTIMONIALS

Chad Skelton's first data visualization workshop was held in January 2015. Here is what some of the participants had to say about it

"Coming into this workshop, the idea of data visualization intimidated me. But Chad took all the fear away, keeping things simple and walking us through it step by step. I know I'm going to be able to apply what I learned immediately.”
Erica Bulman, Journalism Instructor, Langara College

“This workshop provides a great introduction to a variety of tools that can help you present information in ways beyond run-of-the-mill charts and graphs.”
Albert Huang, Project Analyst

“Chad's course taught me how to use visualization tools to present data in a way that's meaningful to my readers.”
Jennifer Moreau, Reporter, Burnaby NOW

“If you're looking for an exciting way to draw readers into stories often bogged down by numbers and stats, this is the course for you! I especially enjoyed using my own laptop because now I have all the tools available to me on my own device.
Cayley Dobie, Reporter, New Westminster Record

“Chad did an excellent job of explaining all of the material we covered. I came into this workshop with little to no knowledge of Excel and the use of data, so it was amazing to see how much I learned in the short period of two days. I would definitely recommend this workshop.”
Estefania Duran

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Chad Skelton is an award-winning data journalist at The Vancouver Sun, where he has worked since 1998.

In 2014, Chad won an international Data Journalism Award for his portfolio of work in the previous year. He has also received the Jack Webster Award, B.C.'s top journalism prize, six times, most recently in 2013 for a data project on political donations and lobbyists in B.C.

Chad has taught at Kwantlen Polytechnic University since 2005, where he teaches the popular Citizen Journalism and Data Visualization courses. He receives consistently high marks from his students. Read more about Chad here.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This workshop is designed for beginners with little to no experience in data visualization, analysis or mapping. That said, the workshop assumes a basic familiarity with Microsoft Excel: that you know how to open a spreadsheet and the difference between rows and columns.

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING WITH YOU

Your own PC or Mac laptop and a power cord to plug in. Your computer must also be able to get on the Internet through WiFi.
Tableau Public and Open Refine already installed on your computer. I recommend installing both programs before registering to make sure they work on your machine especially if you have a Mac (Tableau doesn't work with some early versions of OS X). You can find detailed installation instructions here.
A bagged lunch or money for lunch. To keep the price of this workshop down, this event will not be catered. However, there are several food courts downtown close to SFU Harbour Centre.
Recommended: Some raw data that you want to map or visualize. Sample data will be provided for you during the workshop. But you'll get more out of the workshop if you have some data with you that you want to visualize. This will also allow you to leave the workshop with something you've made that's useful to you.

THE FINE PRINT

Cancellation Policy: If this workshop is cancelled due to insufficient demand, or any other reason, participants will be entitled to a full refund. The organizer is not responsible for other costs incurred by participants, such as travel costs.
This workshop is being run personally by Chad Skelton and is not affiliated in any way with The Vancouver Sun or Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
This workshop will be focused on designing maps and charts for the public using free tools like Datawrapper and Tableau Public. Some of these tools may not be appropriate if your data is particularly sensitive or if the visualizations you want to create are only for internal use at your organization. That said, the principles you learn in this workshop will still be applicable and, in the case of Tableau, there is a paid version of the program called Tableau Desktop that is almost identical to Tableau Public but lets you share your charts privately.

Questions? Please feel free to email me at cskeltondata@gmail.com.