SF Data Mining

Posting on behalf of the Northeastern team that is organizing this event. Abstract: Our devices and its cloud-based APIs use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to choose for us a set of candidate actions. As users, our routine is influenced by algorithmic recommendations to watch a movie, add someone on a social network, or read the news. If this technology is so useful, then what is the problem with its use at a large scale? Recently, these algorithms have been blamed for encoding bias and stereotypes unveiling potential ethical issues, including that they may be less precise for individuals from under-represented groups. Florez will talk about the Math responsible for discriminative power and why it is important that Women, LatinX, Afro-Americans, and LGTB groups get involved in promoting the development of AI technology. About our speaker: Omar Florez is a Senior Research Manager at Capital One working on enabling natural conversations between humans and devices. He was also a Machine Learning Researcher at Intel Research Labs focused on teaching computers to understand user context by discovering patterns in images (visual question answering) and audio (prediction of acoustic events) and is a recipient of the IBM Innovation Award on Large-Scale Analytics. He used deep learning for accurate predictions and Bayesian models for discovering interpretable hypotheses. He holds a Ph.D. in CS from Utah State University.

In this workshop, you will to learn to become a stronger presenter and storyteller. This is an on-your feet workshop, not a lecture. You will play games, do fun storytelling exercises and learn tools to help you connect to your audience. This class is for all skill levels. *Note, expedite check-in and register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/improv-for-technologists-you-are-a-storyteller-tickets-60338812011 Why Improv? Forbes, the New York Times, Harvard Business Review and many other publications have written about how improv training is amazing business and startup training. How does improv help technology workers? Improv helps people: - Listen and be present - Be better communicators - Tap into creativity - Relieve anxiety/stress and release tension - Celebrate making mistakes and be more resilient - Gracefully deal with uncertainty - Make your partners look good and collaborate on teams more effectively - YES AND in addition to being useful, improv is fun! ***Remember, register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/improv-for-technologists-you-are-a-storyteller-tickets-60338812011 What Takeaways to Expect: - Develop deeper listening skills - Hone your audience awareness - Get in touch with your natural presence - Embrace body language that makes you open and flexible to ideas instead of closed off. - Be more comfortable going off-script (i.e. improvising) during presentations, in Q&A, and in life. - Take the focus off yourself and serve your audience by “being interested, instead of being interesting” - Use “yes and” thinking to collaborate more creatively and effectively with your team - Take care of your teammates and notice when team members feel excluded or afraid to contribute their thoughts. Sometimes, great ideas go unspoken. Who Should Attend: - Data Scientists and Engineers who want to improve communication, listening skills, and be more compelling. - Industry professionals and bootcamp students who want to feel more relaxed and confident in job interviews. - Founders and executives leading teams - Product Managers - Designers - Creative Directors, Video Makers, Copywriters, Marketers, who want a creativity boost and new storytelling tools - Teachers, therapists, yoga instructors, health and wellness professionals - All kinds of people from all walks of life! Class Agenda: - 6:30 pm - 7 pm: drinks and snacks (sponsored by Galvanize) - 7 pm - 8 pm: joyful storytelling games to warm up spontaneity, ignite our imaginations, practice being kind to ourselves and practice celebrating mistakes - 8:00 pm - 8:15: bathroom break - 8:15 - 9:15 pm: Additional storytelling games / exercises - 9:15 pm - 10:15 pm: Integration. Here’s where we put it all together and do group scenes games, mock job interviews, improvised presentations, etc. in front of the class. Donations Encouraged: Donations of $30 per person for this three hour workshop are encouraged. Donations enable us to continue offering these workshops to the community. This workshop usually costs $60+ per person. Donation Methods Accepted: - Donorbox: https://donorbox.org/you-are-a-storyteller-sf - Venmo: @jaredpolivka - Cash About the Teachers: Jared and Erica Jared Polivka Jared previously served thousands of students around the world as Director of the School of AI at Udacity.com. With a background in product, design thinking, developer evangelism, storytelling and improvisation, Jared has found that improv skills are incredibly useful in working at organizations (i.e. startups) dealing with uncertainty and change. Erica Anderson Erica is a graduate of BATS improv and Upright Citizen Brigade; and trains weekly with, improvisor, Tim Orr. Erica is involved in an all-women’s improv troupe - Smarty Pants. Erica is deeply inspired to spread the joy of improv to help others discover the masterful storyteller that they are. *RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/improv-for-technologists-you-are-a-storyteller-tickets-60338812011