Wednesday, March 5

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Pre-conference Workshop: Introduction to Creating Visuals in R - Steven Perry
Location: BRC Event/Exhibition Hall

Thursday, March 6

8:00 am - 9:00 am

Registration and breakfast

9:00 am - 9:15 am

Opening Remarks

9:15 am - 10:15 am

Data Storytelling: From Spreadsheets to Real-World Conversations with Ann K Emery
In an era where data is ubiquitous, the challenge isn't in gathering information but in making it resonate with people. In this keynote, we’ll explore the power of data storytelling—a compelling way to transform raw numbers into narratives that are not only insightful but also deeply human. Attendees will learn how to translate technical information for non-technical audiences; weave quantitative and qualitative data; and use icons, photos, and quotes that help audiences see the story behind the statistics. You’ll walk away with actionable strategies to make your data more meaningful and impactful, ensuring that the numbers speak to diverse audiences. This session will empower you make your insights unforgettable and drive results that go beyond the spreadsheet.

10:15 am - 10:45 am

Coffee Break

10:45 am - 11:45 am

AI x Data Visualization: The Future of Human-Data Interaction with Nikita Rokotyan
AI is reshaping how we interact with data, but its role in visualization remains unclear for many. Are we on the verge of a transformation, or is AI merely a productivity tool? This talk explores AI’s current and potential impact on data visualization to automate insights, reveal hidden patterns, and manage complexity at scale. We begin by examining how AI is already impacting our daily lives and work. Next, we demystify how AI works, breaking down key concepts without the hype. We dive into AI’s role in data visualization, from data collection and processing to visualization design and interpretation. Finally, we’ll uncover the challenges preventing AI-powered visualization from reaching its full potential and discuss what it will take to cross the chasm from promise to practical adoption.

11:45 am - 12:30 pm

Lunch

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Data Visualization for Discovery with Zan Armstrong
We often think of “Data Visualization” primarily as a tool for communication. Yet, we create graphs and tables for ourselves and our collaborators *throughout* our analysis process. In this talk, Zan will introduce big picture principles, accompanied by specific, practical techniques, to more intentionally and effectively create data viz for discovery. Beware: applying these techniques might change the course of your research and lead to new discoveries.

1:45 pm - 3:15 pm

Workshop A: Introduction to Data Vis in Excel with Ann K Emery
Location: BRC 1003/10th Floor Conference Room

Workshop B: Creating Engaging and Effective Visuals with ggplot with Kieran Healy
Location: BRC 280

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm

Workshop A: Designing Dashboards in Excel with Ann K Emery
Location: BRC 1003/10th Floor Conference Room

Workshop B: Visualizing Big Data in R with Kieran Healy
Location: BRC 280

Friday, March 7

8:30 am - 9:15 am

Breakfast

9:15 am - 10:15 am

Interactive Information Visualization: Unleashing the Power of Visual Data Exploration with John Alexis Guerra Gómez
In this talk, I'll explore the power of interactive information visualization to unlock insights hidden within public data. Using examples from my own work—including visualizations of MoMA's collection, US election results, Senate voting patterns, and conference papers— I'll demonstrate how interactive visualizations empower both citizens and scientists to understand complex datasets. Finally, I'll show you how to create your own interactive visualizations using reactive widgets, enabling you to explore data through advanced multivariate, temporal, tree, network, and AI-powered techniques.

10:15 am - 10:30 am

Coffee break

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Honest Data Visualization with Kieran Healy
Data visualization has never been more generally popular, more technically powerful, or more potentially misleading. This talk explores why some visualizations are better than others, why good ones are so useful, and why honest work and fidelity to the data isn’t something you can tell just by looking.

11:30 am - 12:15 pm

Lunch

12:15 pm - 1:15 pm

Data Visualization and Activism in the Age of AI with Rodrigo Ferriera
While AI today holds the promise for increased productivity and creativity in data visualization, the ethical and social implications of AI are far from simple. On the one hand, as Darrell Huff famously put it in How to Lie with Statistics, data visualization is one of many tools that interest have used to “sensationalize, inflate, confuse, and oversimplify” public information. On the other hand, data visualization is also one of the tools that social activists have most effectively used to portray historically-marginalized viewpoints and to promote social and environmental justice. In the context of this tension, this talk will explore recent examples of the way that AI is currently pushing data visualization along these two opposite fronts: through recommendation algorithms, fake news, and deep fakes, helping to fuel competition and disinformation, and, through critical storytelling and generative art, helping to develop visual narratives that challenge the social and political status quo.

1:15 pm - 1:25 pm

Closing remarks and book giveaways

1:45 om - 3:15 pm

Workshop A: Introduction to Tableau with John Alexis Guerra Gómez
Location: BRC 1003/10th Floor Conference Room

Workshop B: AI in Data Vis with Nikita Rokotyan
Location: BRC 280

3:30 pm - 4:45 pm

Workshop A: Introduction to Interactive Reactive Widgets in Observable with John Alexis Guerra Gómez
Location: BRC 1003/10th Floor Conference Room