January 12, 2012 6:00 PM - 60 attended
Hacker Show & Tell: Data Visualizations with Fusion Tables
Update: Hacks/Hackers Chicago will take place as scheduled tonight at 6. We still have some folks on the waiting list, however, so if you think the weather will keep you from attending, please change your RSVP to "no" so we can accommodate as many people as possible. Safe travels.
Also, Matilda has an age requirement of 23. We've contacted management, which has graciously agreed to waive that requirement for Hacks/Hackers but they would like a list of those individuals to check at the door.If you are underage, please send a note to mkiefer at tribune.com to spare yourself the awkwardness of carding.
Finally, you can find a detailed agenda of tonight's presentation here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RznVJEipkpKpM3om39RUDYyC7qrpGBIklqWBxN6PZyI/edit?hl=en_US We'll use this hashtag: #hhchi Looking forward to it!
Data can enhance your reporting and help readers better understand stories. But how do you go about presenting it on the web?
Show up for the first Hacks/Hackers Chicago meetup of 2012 to learn all about Google Fusion Tables, which our friends at HHNYC describe as "a spreadsheet on steroids with souped-up visualization capabilities."
Local H/H members will walk through examples of their work, taking spreadsheets of public records and turning them into tables, maps and charts. If you want to learn more about it, start here.
We'll start with the basics: uploading your spreadsheet to the cloud, push-button geocoding and simple visualization options. We'll also touch on Google Refine and how you can scrub dirty data squeaky clean.
More advanced demos will show you how to harness the Google Maps, Fusion Tables and other APIs to add search interfaces and otherwise fancy up your presentation. Learn how using hosted data and JavaScript tools can help you work around your CMS's limitations.
Leave with ideas, inspiration, and a little know-how to get started on your next data journalism project.
More details to follow. Space is limited to 75 Hacks/Hackers, so please RSVP sooner than later.
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Juan-Pablo Velez
I've used both tools on a number of data journalism projects. Would be happy to share, and to learn.
Posted November 17, 2011 at 12:30 PM -
Chris Keller
Juan-Pablo, Derek... Interested in tag-teaming on a tiered presentation?
Beginner (Me, here's how to upload sheet with address or lat-long, style and map), Intermediate and Advanced (I've only seen Derek's work -- sorry Juan-Pablo -- and I'd say that it's advanced *10.
Posted November 17, 2011 at 12:46 PM | 1 like -
Derek Eder
Chris - I'm up for doing a tiered presentation. Juan has used my FT searchable map template (http://derekeder.com/searchable_map_template/
), so he'd definitely be a good resource for instructing beginners regarding that.Depending on how many are interested, I can discuss how I built the template and some of the advanced uses of their SQL-like API.
Got an idea on the date?
Posted November 17, 2011 at 12:54 PM | 1 like -
Juan-Pablo Velez
I'm definitely intermediate, so that's perfect. And I'd be happy to talk about what role these tools have played in concrete journalism projects, as well as how they integrate into a data workflow in general.
Also, I think Derek and I could also field questions from people - can it do this? How would I do that?
Posted November 17, 2011 at 1:04 PM | 1 like -
Chris Keller
Good question on the date... I like Tuesdays and Thursdays...? I'm used to trying to avoid arranging events between the holidays, but don't know how others feel about that... I like the idea of Dec. 6, but I think location is key... Gonna reach out to Joe and Dan to see how they set the last one up...
Posted November 18, 2011 at 9:42 AM -
Matt Kiefer
This is really coming together nicely!
Just waiting to hear back on a request to get a speaker from Google.
This may work better in January since I haven't heard back from them yet...
Posted November 29, 2011 at 12:18 PM -
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Chris Keller
PS - Finished off a Fusion Tables, maps API and Highcharts demo and walkthrough last week. Code and links can be found here: http://bit.ly/uBJPEj
Posted December 5, 2011 at 7:53 PM -
Matt Kiefer
Woot! I'm gonna learn a lot of JS at this one! Thanks to all the volunteer presenters. H/H will not be disappointed!
Side note: Sent another note to Google but haven't heard back yet. The show will go on with or without them. Maybe we can get them for a follow-up session if they don't come through this time.
Posted December 5, 2011 at 8:42 PM -
Matt Kiefer
Hey, folks. Still nothing from Google. Let's schedule a date. How are Jan. 11, 12, 17 or 18? Chris, you mentioned Tuesdays and Thursdays -- how about the 12th?
Posted December 7, 2011 at 11:58 AM -
Juan-Pablo Velez
All of those work for me, except possibly the 17th.
Posted December 7, 2011 at 1:05 PM | 1 like -
Derek Eder
We may be having an opengov chicago meetup on Jan 11th, but otherwise those all work for me.
Posted December 7, 2011 at 1:24 PM | 1 like -
Chris Keller
Let's steer clear of 1/11 and 1/17 then... Shoot for 1/19? Matt, will you, Erin and Joe handle location too?
Derek, Juan-Pablo, I'll take some time this weekend to list out some bullet points on what I feel I am able to cover from a new to code perspective and send it your way to review/offer suggestions...
Starting to come together, starting to come together...
Posted December 7, 2011 at 3:23 PM | 1 like -
Matt Kiefer
How about the 12th? Derek, let me know if you'd like more time between OpenGov and Hacks/Hackers. Otherwise, I'll post this one ASAP. Erin has scouted out a venue so it's just matter of confirming, setting the agenda, etc. Thanks, guys!
Posted December 7, 2011 at 4:25 PM -
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Derek Eder
The 12th is fine. The opengov meetup hasn't been finalized, but if they're a day apart, thats ok.
Posted December 7, 2011 at 4:32 PM | 1 like -
Matt Kiefer
I changed the date and time to Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Posted December 9, 2011 at 10:01 AM -
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Juan-Pablo Velez
Is there going to be a projector or something there?
Posted December 9, 2011 at 10:51 AM -
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Juan-Pablo Velez
Rad. So, how do we plan this thing? I'm happy to walk people through the basics of Refine, though so can other folks, and even of Fusion Tables, though I think that's really Derek's wheelhouse. I think my value added would be showing folks how I've used refine on stories I've done and how it can integrate into a data reporting workflow.
Posted December 9, 2011 at 11:19 AM -
Matt Kiefer
Request access to this doc and we'll hash out the agenda https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RznVJEipkpKpM3om39RUDY...
Posted December 9, 2011 at 1:10 PM -
Derek Eder
Got a request to record this for people who can't make it. Anyone have equipment we could use?
Posted December 9, 2011 at 6:25 PM -
Chris Keller
Juan-Pablo - I know I'd love to learn more about Refine -- the most I have done is use basic text facets to compare columns, so learning more would be great. Especially how to feed data into Refine from URLs etc.
Some day, would be really cool to have a two-way street between Refine and Fusion Tables, so you can clean up and push data back and forth without import/export.
Chris K.
Posted December 11, 2011 at 1:13 PM -
Chad Pry
Hoping to be a part of this meetup. Can the person running the group send out a message asking for people not attending RSVP "no?"
Posted January 7 at 2:29 PM -
Erin Polgreen
I'll send an email out now, Chad. Thanks for letting us know.
Posted January 7 at 3:04 PM -
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Chris Keller
In the chance anyone is interested in following along during, or getting a leg up before, the presentation -- ahem Casey Cora and Tathagata Dasgupta -- I put my basic outline up with plenty of links to the demo data, examples, resources and more...
It is here: http://post.ly/4nChS
See you all Thursday, and let's hope this fantastic winter weather continues?
Chris K.
Posted January 10 at 11:39 PM | 1 like -
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Julie
What's the seating situation at Matilda? I'm going to be running a bit late coming up from work, and am guessing the weather will cause delays for at least a few others. Should we ask someone to save us seats? :)
Posted January 12 at 11:55 AM -
Matt Kiefer
Matilda's website says it's a private room that seats 80. Might not have a great view of the projector but you should be able to find a seat :)
Posted January 12 at 12:01 PM -
Chris Keller
All -
During the presentations, a couple folks asked about submitting information to Fusion Tables via a form... Google has released a script that makes this available, albeit with some restrictions on functionality. Wrote a little something about it here: http://bit.ly/wVdOo9
Chris K.
Posted January 25 at 10:54 AM | 1 like
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Matt KieferAs an organizer, one of the most challenging (and rewarding) things about H/H is sharing tricks of two different trades -- journalism and development -- in an engaging way. Chris, Derek and Juan-Pablo took a useful tool and did a terrific job showcasing it in a way that both audiences could relate to. But I think the spirit of collaboration really came through from the members, who both asked and answered questions, offered helpful comments and showed genuine interest in real-world applications. I really enjoyed the interactivity. Awesome group and keep the feedback coming.
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JulieI enjoyed the meetup and did learn the basics of how to use Fusion Tables, but I don't think I learned anything that I couldn't have picked up from the walk-throughs that were already provided.Checked-in
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Betcha there are enough people using this now that we could cobble together a panel....?