Elisa Davis

This year is the year!

Behind the Corkboard: A Viz, A Vibe, and an Interview About Both A conversation about the art and craft of data storytelling, my creative process, and why the messy version is worth sharing.

New blog!
Behind the Corkboard: A Viz, A Vibe, and an Interview About Both open.substack.com/pub/itselisa...

image reads: 100 subscribers. You did it. Viz & Tell by Elisa Davis has reached its first hundred subscribers.

Woooo! After years of 240 chars at a time I'm writing paragraphs. Thanks to everyone who's coming along for the (longform) ride. I appreciate you ❤️

my pleasure! have you ever entered, or are you considering it?

I've entered @tableaupublic.bsky.social's #Ironviz competition three times. Here's the complete judging feedback on my work. Check it out: open.substack.com/pub/itselisa...

Data/Sources Repo | Notion Public Datasets & Resources

For fellow dataviz designers, datajournalists, data science nerds and whatnot, I've created a HUUUUGGGGEEE repository of data sources, public datasets, etc⬇️
pinto-pot-721.notion.site/Data-Sources...

TIL: Incorrect music metadata is a huge problem and is causing artists to lose millions in royalties. This disproportionaly affects independent musicians. But structured NLP can help!

explosion.ai/blog/love-wi...

I'm a @datavizsociety.bsky.social mentor this round, and it's inspiring all sorts of musings. Check it out!

open.substack.com/pub/itselisa...

Thanks Rudy! I was so nervous my first time entering, too. I think I sat on the data for like two weeks stressing out before I started the build. It's kind of like a time trial in sports - what's your best work if you go all out on one crazy project?

Thanks for the shoutout Elisa~ it was a really fun chat! And to anyone else who wanna chat about their #IronViz, just hit me up and we’ll make it happen 😉

Beyond the Build: How Iron Viz Can Level Up Your Presentation Skills Not a finalist? Doesn’t matter. You don’t have to win Iron Viz to win from Iron Viz.

open.substack.com/pub/itselisa...

Beyond the Build: How Iron Viz can level up your presentation skills. Image is words on a white background with a link to itselisadavis.substack.com

191 people entered Iron Viz this year. I wasn’t a finalist, but I’ve still had multiple speaking opportunities because of my submission. The competition might be over, but the real value starts after you hit submit. Read more on my Substack!

I will be passing on this trend, as I couldn't even keep sourdough starter alive last time DIY food raising seemed like a good idea.

Help me write a playbook of best practices for giving data-specific technical workshops or code-heavy talks. This isn't about bashing bad talks, it's about sharing experiences from which we can all learn. We'll all need slightly different things from a learning environment, so let's share. #databs

Data should be transformed as far upstream as possible, and as far downstream as necessary.

🌟Roche’s Maxim of Data Transformation🌟

ssbipolar.com/2021/05/31/r...

#dataBS

Hey #XPNfam, ever wonder what new music @wxpnfm.bsky.social might play in the near future? Well, you can see if @somevelvetblog.bsky.social listens to new album releases in his Album-A-Day music diary before they air on #WXPN. Explore by year or month on #Tableau
public.tableau.com/app/profile/...

The comic shows a screen, it looks like a big smart TV, possibly a Samsung. Anyway, it’s sitting in front of a nice blue background and there’s some pretty average shadowing work that I should really have fixed up. Anyway, above the screen is the title “The Perfect Movie Screen” The screen itself is broken into smaller screens, three along the top, and six along the bottom. It’s very busy, and there’s quite a bit going on, so let’s get stuck in here. Top left box shows The Actual Film (subtitles ON always) the next screen along shows all the actors currently in that scene, and then arrows leading out from them and crisscrossing like a circuit board, eventually linking up with all the other films those people are in on the third section. Now on the bottom row, we start with a map showing all the filming locations, followed by an IMDB trivia section. Next up is the “Personal Life” section of each actors Wikipedia page. Next segment shows a map with your food delivery status. After that is your social media feed and finally in the last bottom right section is Wikipedia articles of things mentioned in the film. And that’s it! The Perfect Movie Screen!

The Perfect Movie Screen…

Hi!

New Yorker Cartoon: Front page of a fictitious newpaper, The Daily Star, with the headline: WALDO and CARMEN SANDIEGO FOUND! Underneath: Shacked up in cozy love nest! Carmen to the world: "LEAVE US ALONE!"

New Yorker #Cartoon by Roz Chast- January 10, 2025
Who knew about Waldo and Carmen? Roz Chast as quirky as ever.

Full voting results per the BBWAA:

Beyond XX and XY: The Extraordinary Complexity of Sex Determination A host of factors figure into whether someone is female, male or somewhere in between

If anyone happens to need it this week for...reasons...this is the best graphic on the complexity of human sex determination I've ever seen. I use it in an undergrad course on gene regulatory mechanisms. Shoutout to @unamandita.bsky.social!

www.scientificamerican.com/article/beyo...

I’m seeing some new folks on this here platform complaining about a lack of engagement & interaction.

Here’s the thing: Without an algorithm shoveling things at you (thank the gods), interaction *is* different and something you have to, well, actively generate.

Here’s what I find works:

I experience joy at the success of others. So, if I was your coworker I would want to give you a high five and also find out what I could pick your brain about.

lmao no, TikTok users are not moving to Bluesky. They would literally rather learn Mandarin than learn how to read a feed of text posts. This is a millennial retirement home.

It’s Friday night. Turn off the news this weekend. Avoid politics. Have dinner with friends and family. Play board games. Go for a nice walk. Watch a romcom. Eat food that’s bad for you and terribly delicious. Ban nonsense from your weekend. Friendly advice. 💜

Latest TUG is youtu.be/XomcdKCboi0

Nir Smilga presents The Beatles - Song Writers per Album

@itselisadavis.bsky.social "Chappell Roan" viz highlights the career of an amazing pop artist

Ojoswi Basu - Community Spotlight Author

LOTS of awesome content @ youtube.com/@TeamDataFam #datafam

@emdepad.bsky.social has one in her iron viz entry this year

Star plot of 7 crime rates in US cities shown by radial spokes proportional to each given crime. Data for 16 cities are shown in a 4 x 4 grid, from Hartford CT in the upper left, smallest in total crime, down to Los Angeles at bottom right, the largest total crime.

#TodayinHistory #dataviz #Onthisday #OTD 📊
💀 Jan 15, 1994 Roger M. Goldwyn died

1971: development of the radial star plot to represent multivariate data (vertices at equally spaced intervals, distance from center ~ value of a variable)
[But first invented by Georg von Mayr, 1877]

Oh yeah! #datafam #databs #tableau @tableaupublic.bsky.social forgot about hashtags. Still getting used to 🦋.

YouTube video by Tableau PublicTUG PublicTUG January Meeting 2025

If you missed it, I talked about design, inspiration and wireframing of my Chappell Roan themed Iron Viz entry at the Tableau Public TUG. (~min 11) Enjoy!

youtu.be/3PSj3Ym5FMA