Data Storytelling (November 2018 Meeting)

When:  Nov 6, 2018 from 06:00 PM to 08:00 PM (ET)
Associated with  Columbus Chapter
Join the IMA Columbus Chapter for dinner and an interesting presentation on "Data Storytelling"

Even though it's a big buzzword, data storytelling in business is rare. More often than not, we're stringing together a bunch of facts in a logical order, putting them into charts and calling them a story.

While it may make for a good argument, it fails to draw on the real power of a story: stories work because they exemplify how we experience the world. Narrative theory helps provide us with a basic understanding of what a story really is, and all the things to think about when we tell the story.

Once we understand these pieces, we have a framework that helps us arrange what we've learned from our analyses into something that's much more powerful for our audiences. Then, with careful attention to how we design our visualizations allows our users to piece together the story in ways that are meaningful to them - ultimately, building credibility, engagement, and action.



Speakers include:

  • Erik Rettman: A designer/analyst/story teller with a passion for using visualization to enable data driven decisions. Fascinated with learning how people perceive and consume visual information. Dives deep into the raw data to uncover trends, patterns, and  insights. Understands the value of communication and requirements gathering in order to get to the heart of the data decision quickly and efficiently. Possesses the patience and desire to teach others in order to uplift the analytic capability of the community as a whole.
  • Joshua Smith: Joshua's strengths and skills come from a diverse background. His undergraduate degree is in psychology and economics, and he holds 0.75 master’s degrees from English and biostatistics programs. He's worked as the head of a data visualization consulting practice, a data scientist, and a boxing trainer (simultaneously). He's been published in folkloristics and in poetry, and spoken at conferences, universities, and multiple Fortune 500 companies on data visualization, storytelling, analytics, and joke-telling. He is currently working on the mission to reduce the cost of healthcare and improve patient outcomes as the Visualization Lead at the Midwest Health Collaborative.

Location

Civic Center
200 Civic Center Drive
Suite 1200
Columbus, OH 43215