Insight 2 Action: Lena Groeger of ProPublica & Bliksem Tobey of McKinsey Digital

Hello, DataViz NY!!! As promised, we've rescheduled a couple wonderful speakers we originally lost to the snowy maelstrom back in January. They represent all the power of Data Visualization to provide insight and impetus; using art, technology and contextual savvy to reveal what would otherwise be hidden, and allow activists and entrepreneurs of all kinds to raise their game and improve their environment. Don't miss it!

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Lena Groeger is a science journalist and designer/developer. She currently works at ProPublica (http://www.propublica.org/), making "news apps" and interactive graphics. Before that, she was at Scientific American (http://www.scientificamerican.com/author.cfm?id=2697), where she wrote about neuroscience and the odd quirks of the human mind. Even before that, she was at Wired (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/author/lenagroeger/), where she reported on technology and the Defense Department's latest sci-fi projects. She designs posters, blogs occasionally (http://lenagroeger.github.io/blog/), and likes running (a lot).

Lena will review some of her work (http://lenagroeger.github.io/#work) and talk about how ProPublica tells visual data stories. She'll especially attempt to explain the thinking behind the somewhat ambiguous term of "news application".

ProPublica is: "an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Our work focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with “moral force.” We do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them."

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Bliksem Tobey is a geek, a gamer, a technologist, and a dreamer. Bliksem is also the global head of design and user experience at McKinsey Digital Labs (http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/mckinsey_digital_labs). His group designs custom software solutions that extend the impact of McKinsey consulting engagements by operationalizing the transformation of data into insights and insights into action.

Bliksem will share his perspective on designing application interfaces that rely heavily on living, dynamic data visualizations to enable effective decision-making. He'll relate that perspective to his experience 'bringing insight to life' in the varied industries of McKinsey's clients, and discuss his approach to building rich interactive experiences that engage users, add WOW-factor, and deliver impact for business.

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About the Event

As usual, we'll start refreshments at 6:30pm with time to network, catch up and meet new people with interests in data visualization. The formal presentations will begin around 7:00pm and there will be time for Q&A afterwards. So please join us for these excellent presentations, the best DataViz networking in New York, and some light refreshments.

Please note: only those with confirmed RSVP's will be able to attend, because of security requirements at the space that generously hosts & sponsors us. Reservations will close at 4:00pm the day of the event. If you aren't able to get a slot by then, we apologize, but you won't be able to enter the building. For this reason, we've expanded the number of RSVP's we accept, to account for no-shows and to make sure we fill as many of our seats as possible. But, please cancel as early as possible to make room for other attendees. Thanks for understanding, and see you there!

-Christian & Paul