Deconstructing Big Data
Hack.Chat 2.0 with Comlinkdata
“This year was my first Hack.Diversity event, but I hope won’t be my last. The Hack.Chat was a great platform to represent our company and share my perspective on career development.” ~Maggie Wilson, Data Scientist at Comlinkdata
We have been working with our partners to adapt formerly in-person events for new remote environments — and were pleased to work with Comlinkdata, a familiar ally of Hack.Diversity, to start out our 2020 Hack.Chat series with a highly engaging virtual session on Deconstructing Big Data. This is Comlinkdata’s second Hack.Chat; catch up on what you missed in 2019.
Comlinkdata, a leading provider of data-driven business insights for the telecommunications market, is a local employer with offices in Boston and Victoria, Canada, and about 100 employees. According to Clara Easter (Talent Acquisition and Development), the company wanted to stay involved not only to support Fellows, but also just as importantly, because of the impact that Fellows have on their organization.
About 50 Hack.Diversity Fellows joined to hear the Comlinkdata team discuss big data, what information can be derived from data, and the many challenges associated with big data. Throughout the presentation, attendees had a lively conversation via Zoom chat, and the breakout Q&A sessions at the end of the event were so enthusiastic and thoughtful that Comlinkdata graciously opted to offer a follow up Office Hour for further time to connect with the Fellows.
Fellows like Mickey Martinez, an incoming intern at Echobind, said after this first Hack.Chat, he’s looking forward to future Hack.Chats because he loves opportunities to meet people from all different industries. As he transitions from communications/marketing to software engineering, he said the session provided helpful insight into how software engineering plays a crucial role in building the tools to analyze big data. An added bonus? He shared, “Brendon Puntin (Senior Data Engineer) was cool enough to hold a 1-on-1 session with me — where he further explained his work responsibilities, and what l can do as a Jr. developer to become proficient in full-stack development.”
From Puntin’s point of view, he was happy to be part of his second Hack.Chat because “it’s important for [Fellows] to get exposure to real world requirements and systems so they can think about how what they’ve learned applies to industry. Hack.Diversity provides the opportunity to create relationships with industries that otherwise do not exist, connecting us with valuable candidate pools as well as giving back to those students.”
For David Corporan, a current Product Design Intern at WordStream, what stood out most about the Comlinkdata Hack.Chat was their commitment to getting to know Hack.Diversity Fellows. David shared that prior to the Hack.Chat, he was curious about the company’s mission and their approach to COVID-19. He was grateful for the chance to hear senior leaders answer these questions with transparency and an eye toward the future. After attending the first session and joining the follow up, he said:
It was interesting seeing how 2 weeks had changed a company. This was now 2 weeks worth of more COVID information that the company had to reflect on and decide how they will continue to move forward. The team at Comlinkdata is extremely giving of their time and it really made an impression on me that they cared enough to dedicate that time to any questions that we had, not once, but twice!
We thank the Comlinkdata team for sharing their data science expertise with us, and we look forward to hosting future events together!
“It’s rewarding, especially as someone early in my own career, to have a chance to share advice and hopefully make a small positive impact on the Fellows’ career plans and professional networks. They brought so much enthusiasm, engagement, and curiosity to the event and really made it an enjoyable and worthwhile two-way exchange.” ~Maggie Wilson
Presenters and Guests: Jacky Cheng, Kyle Cornetta, Clara Easter, Conor Eckert, Lisa Fiorenzo, Rick Katz, Madison McCormack, Iain Murray, Eyasha Pandey, Brendon Puntin, and Maggie Wilson
A Hack.Chat is an event led by industry leaders, usually in-person at the organization’s headquarters, that takes our Fellows and Alumni into a deeper discussion around hot topics or skill sets related to the tech and innovation ecosystem. They can involve current applications of an emerging technology, demonstration of a company’s impact to date, or thoughts on where the field is going. These monthly events are designed to bring local experts together with our Fellows and Alumni to help share knowledge as well as build mutually beneficial networks.
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