Date: Thursday, July 28 - Sunday, August 1, 2021

Register

Attendee: bit.ly/vizathon-attendee 

Workshop Host: bit.ly/vizathon-workshop

Mentor: bit.ly/vizathon-mentor

Judge: bit.ly/vizathon-judge

Check out our primary site here: https://vizathon.understandcovid.org/.

About the Event

Data visualization is a powerful tool - it can reveal patterns we didn’t see before, present  information in innovative ways, and help us better understand the world. To aid more students in accessing this power, the Coronavirus Visualization Team is excited to host Vizathon 2021. This free, 4-day event will bring together a global community of students to produce and present data-driven insights.

Teams of students will select one of three tracks, analyze a data set, and present their findings through captivating visualizations. Attendees will also have the opportunity to show their work to partnering and sponsoring organizations. We hope that attendees use this event to inspire community change through data. 

Attendees at this event will have access to a wide network of opportunities and activities, including:

• Informative workshops from people with real-life experience making vizzes
• Panels focused on the uses and potential of data visualization
• Prizes that will launch attendees' knowledge and opportunities within data visualization forward
• Fun socials and networking sessions that will create a community of passionate student visualizers
• Office hours for all attendees, giving you the chance to form personal connections with those experienced in data analysis and visualization

This event is open to all high school and college students. Students will enhance their data science skills, explore various career paths in data science, and take advantage of our resources and mentors to create a visualization they are proud of. Don’t have any experience in data science? Not a problem! We designed this event to be accessible to people with no experience.

Tracks/Challenges

Public Health

With the adverse effects of COVID-19 still lingering in several countries, analyzing public health has never been more crucial. This track will focus on crunching and visualizing data from hospitals, medical organizations and the public health community, with the aim of inferring or predicting meaningful results either quantitatively, qualitatively or visually. Some examples can include studying patient data (in keeping with confidentiality terms), morbidity and mortality rates, public health infrastructure versus COVID-19 response, vaccination rates, non-COVID related public health analysis, etc.     

Social Justice

The social justice track delves into all domains related to social good, justice, politics, law, etc. Some examples could include analyzing and visualizing the political climate in war-stricken countries, leveraging AI for social good, picking a social cause and extracting meaningful insights from relevant datasets, analyzing intriguing legal chapters of history, etc.  

Economics

The economics track will deal with all domains concerned with finance, economics and their consequent effects on the world. Some sample topics which are presently relevant include cryptocurrency (Bitcoin), Wall Street versus Reddit: The GameStop phenomena, the COVID-19 economic downfall and resurrection after vaccinations, etc. 
 

Full challenge details and prize information will be released to attendees closer to the start of the event

FAQs

What is a vizathon?

Vizathons are all about applying our knowledge of data visualization! Much like a hackathon, we’ll provide you with learning opportunities, workshops, and networking events that will help you better understand how to visualize data well, how to extract insights from your data, and give you some information about best tools and practices in the field! Then, you’ll apply those skills through a practical challenge where you’ll be asked to take data and present some insights or findings from it through a visualization. Attendees with the best visualizatoins will win prizes and be recognized for their talent.

When is the event?

We’ll be hosting various workshops and sessions from Thursday, July 28, 2021 to Sunday, August 1, 2021. A more detailed schedule will be released in the future.

Do I have to pay to attend?

No. This event is free!

Where is the event taking place?

This event will be hosted online (platform TBA).  Attendees will receive further information about attending the event once they have registered.  

Who is the event open to?

Vizathon 2021 is open to all high school and college students. If you are not a high school or college student, you are welcome to register as a workshop host, mentor, or judge.

What if I don’t have any experience?

That is totally ok! We designed this event to be novice-friendly. We’ll have a team of experienced advisors on hand to help you out and ensure this experience works for everyone. 

What are the team size restrictions and how do I find teammates?

Teams can be anywhere between 1-4 members. Attendees will have the opportunity to find teammates through our Discord server and potential team formation activities.

When can I start to work on my visualizations?

You may start on your visualizations after the Vizathon 2021 opening ceremony (more details on the opening ceremony will be released to all attendees closer to the event start date). Any visualizations or work related to submitted visualizations will be disqualified from judging.

Will I receive a certificate for my participation?

Yes! All attendees who submit to Vizathon 2021 will be able to request a certificate for their participation post-event.

Who do I talk to if I have more questions?

Please email vizathon@understandcovid.org with any questions.

Sponsors

Event Collaborators