Dataviz Roundup 03
There’s so much going on in the world of data visualization this week: Makeover Monday says goodbye, Chart Chat Round 24 is just around the corner, and the Data Visualization Society’s Data Visualization: State of the Industry 2021 survey closes tomorrow.
#MakeoverMonday bids the #DataFam Adieu👋🏼
On Monday, Andy Kriebel announced the indefinite hiatus of #MakeoverMonday, a Tableau community project now in its 300th❣️ week, in a tweet. Recently having extolled its virtues in my post “Want to dataviz better? Participate in #MakeoverMonday!” on September 10th that was featured in Tableau’s DataFam Roundup: September 13–17, 2021 (Why do I feel like I won a Pulitzer or something? 😂), I was saddened by the news, but I understand. Eva Murray stepped away from the project after 4 and a half years back on 🗓 June 1, so Andy had become its sole leader fairly recently. It’s a massive undertaking! Both Andy and Eva have impactful (and demanding, I imagine) full-time data jobs at The Data School (UK) and Snowflake, respectively. I can barely do my full-time job and participate in #MakeoverMonday every week, let alone lead a project so massive. (I actually miss weeks all the time. A silver lining is now I have time to go back and do them. I am not alone, though. According to the Submissions Tracker, only 4️⃣ people have completed every week in 2021.)
While I will miss #MakeoverMonday, the Tableau #DataFam has many community projects, some that I have wanted to participate in more often and some that I avoid (Ahem, WORKOUT WEDNESDAY. I’m going to be vulnerable here🤢🤮 — I hope my therapist is reading — and admit I am scared 😳 it will reveal my every shortcoming as a data analyst and information designer. Time to chuck that fear out the window.)
However, the very best advice I’ve read regarding how to move forward in a world without #MakeoverMonday was in a Twitter 🧵thread from Eva, who is such a thoughtful writer. She says,
I want to encourage you to not think of this as #MakeoverMonday ending but as a space opening up for you to do new and different things. You don’t have to run a project, but you could. Why not try something completely new? There are many projects out there with different topics, different leaders and different focus areas. That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you to start something you’ve been thinking about…Just because *we* stopped running the project you have been part of, doesn’t mean you’re not part of something and it doesn’t mean you can’t create something that stems from your own ideas. I want to invite you to think about what you can do *for yourself* that will give you the same sense of satisfaction and opportunity for practice on a regular basis. And take your time to find something you enjoy. I’m excited to see what’s next for this community.
And she’s right! We don’t need to be Tableau Zen Masters to start a project of our own. If you have an idea, go for it! The #DataFam is so supportive. Even if you fail miserably, they’ll be there to help you dust yourself off and try again.
I’ve decided to do one non-work data visualization every week incorporating a topic, technique, or dataset I know nothing about. (Which means I will indeed be confronting my fear of #WOW at least some weeks.) What will you do? (That’s not a rhetorical question. Respond in the comments.)
Chart 📊 Chat, Data Visualization: State of the Industry 2021 Survey 📉
Whew. That was emotional to write. I think I want to end here after I quickly highlight a few other dataviz goings-on. (I had planned to write about each in more detail.)
- Chart Chat Round 24 is happening on 10/13/21 at 11 a.m. EST. Jeffrey Shaffer, Steve Wexler, Amanda Makulec, and Andy Cotgreave will be joined by guest John Burn-Murdoch, Chief data reporter for The Financial Times. Chart Chat NEVER disappoints.
- Please participate in the Data Visualization Society’s Data Visualization: State of the Industry 2021 survey! It closes TOMORROW (10/1/21), so do it now!
