Maximizing Possibilities at CityCampMN

From amazing metaphors involving adorable puppies to reflections about how data can transform generalities into actions, I was fortunate to attend the first CityCamp held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 12, 2011. This un-conference is designed to be more of an open exchange of ideas than the traditional professional conference that most of us are use to – whatever profession you work in.

Prior to the actual un-conference day, we could submit ideas about what kind of breakout sessions we would like to see. The organizers of the conference did this via email, website, and social media streams. When I got to the conference, I was shown the big board of ideas and asked to indicate which I might be interested in participating in.

As a data guy, I tended toward those topics because I am always trying to learn about what others are doing with data, how to visual data, and really how to tell better stories with data to help my own company (GovDelivery), but more generally, to help citizens and governmental agencies "informatively" engage with data and the wisdom that comes from understanding that data...