Get Ready for the 2024 IIB Awards

Submissions opens on December 15

Calling all data viz creators! The Information is Beautiful (IIB) Awards will open submissions on December 15. Data visualizations published between September 1, 2023 and December 31, 2024 are eligible for submission. Visit the 2024 Awards page to learn about eligibility, submissions, categories and prizes.

The IIB Awards has been celebrating excellence & beauty in data visualization, infographics, interactives & information art since 2012. Every year, hundreds of visualizations are submitted to the Awards which are judged by a panel of experts and a public vote. 

The Awards are open to creators from across the spectrum — rising stars, students, individual practitioners, established studios, media brands, NGOs and more. Visit the 2023 Showcase to browse last year’s winners.

Support the Awards as a volunteer

Want to get involved in this year’s Awards? We have operational and marketing roles open to support events, communications, judging, and submissions. Volunteer applications are open until November 17.

Judge the IIB Awards submissions

We are seeking knowledgeable and passionate individuals to serve as judges for the 2024 IIB Awards. This is a fantastic opportunity to lend your expertise in assessing groundbreaking projects that push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. We are seeking judges from diverse linguistic and geographic backgrounds to ensure a broad and inclusive evaluation of submissions. Judging applications are open until December 31.

Kalp Patel Joins DVS as the Operations Director

We are delighted to share that Kalp Patel has joined the DVS Board as our new Operations Director, ready to steer and enhance our operational capabilities and efficiency.

Kalp is a seasoned analytics professional with a passion for transforming data into strategic insights. With experience in Amazon’s Last Mile operations, Kalp specializes in building data-driven solutions and leveraging visualization tools to improve decision-making processes. His background includes data modeling, visualization, and reporting, which he combines with a collaborative approach to drive impactful projects. As a dedicated member of the data visualization community, Kalp is committed to advancing data literacy and supporting a diverse network of practitioners.

“Joining DVS is a fantastic opportunity, and I am committed to developing operational strategies that will deliver even greater value to our members and the data viz community,” Kalp stated.

We are eager to see the fresh ideas and strategies that Kalp will bring to our operations, and we are excited for the journey ahead.

November Future Fridays: Navigating the (emotional) complexities of Work-Life Balance

November registration for #FutureFridays are open through November 4, 2024. In partnership with infogr8, you will learn how to create data viz solutions that address societal challenges. 

Alessia Musìo, November’s luminary, will delve into the concept of work-life balance, which refers to the equilibrium between professional duties and personal life, ensuring that neither overwhelms the other. Participants will engage with data that highlights the prevalence and challenges of achieving this balance, while also reflecting on the personal and emotional dimensions. Through impactful data visualizations, we'll shed light on the importance of this phenomenon and inspire meaningful conversations about sustainable work practices.

Note: If you signed up for Future Fridays before, you need to register again for November.

Join this exciting opportunity to connect with the community and practice your design skills! More details on how to join here.

Welcoming Zane Wolf and Simran Parwani to their new board roles

We’re delighted to welcome Zane Wolf as our new Programs Director and Simran Parwani as our interim Early Career Director. During Zane’s tenure as the Early Career Director, she has launched several events to support emerging data visualizers, such as DVS Readers’ Club, Q&A with an Expert, and Coworking sessions. We are confident that Zane will bring the same level of dedication and leadership to her new role as the Programs Director on initiatives such as the Information is Beautiful Awards and State of the Industry Survey.

“It's been a true privilege to have the opportunity to be the Early Career Director,” shared Zane. “I'm proud of everything that we've accomplished together since I joined the Board in March.”

In light of this transition, we’re thrilled to welcome Simran Parwani back as our interim Early Career Director. She served in the same role from 2021-2023 and launched the Early Career Tea Time event for members to connect and engaged with the community through weekly Slack discussions.

During this transition, Zane and Simran jointly established the Early Career Committee, which will be dedicated to building engagement, curating resources, and designing programming that brings together the early career data viz community.

“I'm excited to formally announce the kick-off of the Early Career Committee, a group of volunteers interested in contributing to the early career data viz community. They will be helping us to expand both the types of events and the time zones in which we can offer events, collect and share resources, and engage our community across slack and social media platforms,” stated Simran.

We can’t wait to see what Zane and Simran have in store for DVS as they settle into their roles. Learn more about them and the rest of the Board on our About page. In the meantime, check out our upcoming events geared towards early career members and join our Slack community to connect or ask questions.

25% off Practical Charts On Demand

Globally recognized instructor, best-selling author, and DVS partner Nick Desbarats is making his Practical Charts On Demand course available to DVS Plus members for 25% off!

Practical Charts On Demand features data visualization training that Nick has delivered to thousands of data professionals in over a dozen countries at organizations such as NASA, Visa, Bloomberg, the U.N., Shopify and many others, at an affordable price and that you can watch on your own schedule.

Claim offer here.

Direct the future of DVS: Board applications open

Past and current DVS Board Directors in Chicago for Outlier 2024

Each year, half of the seats on our 12-person board open for applications, which open this week for two-year terms that span from 2025-2026.

This year, we’re opening applications for the following roles:

Separate from the roles listed above, we are still in search of an Operations Director to join through the end of 2025.

As a Board member, you have an opportunity to shape DVS’s priorities and activities  and help us continue to build an engaged community of data visualization practitioners and enthusiasts from around the world. Board service is also a great way to connect with people across the data viz field and work with some fantastic team members!

Apply by October 1st to be considered for any of the roles above.

Learn more about the application process and FAQs on our applications page

2024 Information is Beautiful Awards Update

Our team has been listening to community feedback around the timing both for the Information is Beautiful (IIB) Awards submissions and the Awards Ceremony and are making some changes for 2024.

In the past, IIB Awards submissions represented works from September of the previous year through August of the submission year. The offset timeline not aligned to a calendar year was a cause for some confusion, and the November/December Awards Ceremony was in the midst of end of year tasks and holiday celebrations.

For the 2024 IIB Awards;

  • Submissions will open in December 2024 and run through January 2025.

  • Eligible works will include any works published from September 1, 2023-December 31, 2024. In the future, submission windows will align to the calendar year.

  • We are opening submissions in December to account for those who budgeted for Awards submission fees and need those dollars spent in this calendar year.

  • Award winners will be announced in a virtual presentation of Awards in the spring.

  • All award winners and shortlistees will be recognized as part of an evening IIB Awards celebration at Outlier 2025.

By combining the in-person IIB Awards Ceremony, talks, and Outlier, we can continue to build one flagship event for the data viz community, recognizing that for many folks event travel is only feasible for one event a year. Throughout the year, we’ll continue to work with local groups and community members to host distributed and virtual events.

If you have any questions or feedback about these logistical changes, get in touch.

DVS Mentorship Applications Open - October to December 2024

🚀 The Mentorship Program returns! Apply now for the October - December cohort.

This is one of our most popular programs at DVS, offering mentees early in their visualization career an opportunity to work with a mentor who has 5+ years of professional experience in the field. Many mentors and mentees have shared how beneficial this program has been for their growth, some continued to stay in touch even after their cohort ended!

  • Mentee applications are open now through Sept. 8. To be eligible as a mentee, you must be a DVS Plus member.

  • Mentor applications are open year-round, anyone can apply to be one. Mentors support data visualization learning and help their mentee navigate their career options.

Learn more about how our Mentorship Program works. If you're DVS Plus member and are interested in becoming one, check out our membership page.

10% off IEEE VIS 2024

IEEE VIS 2024 is back this year from October 13-18 in Florida and they're offering DVS Plus members 10% off any full-week registration. Register by September 1, 2024 to take advantage of early registration rates.

This annual conference is the premier forum for advances in theory, methods, and applications of visualization and visual analytics. The conference will convene an international community of researchers and practitioners from universities, government, and industry to exchange recent findings on the design and use of visualization tools.

Claim discount code here and register on the conference registration page.

Become a Data Literacy Trainer

We partnered with Be Data Lit to offer an exclusive 20% off of their Data Literacy: Train the Trainer course for DVS Plus members.

This 6-week course is designed for data professionals who are eager to spread their knowledge and advocate for data within their organizations. You will learn how to adapt your understanding of data to meet learners where they are, effectively manage a classroom, guide students, and create engaging learning materials. Plus, you will also receive 1-on-1 coaching sessions with your instructor.

There are only eight spots available in the upcoming Fall 2024 cohort, so sign up today to reserve your seat. Enroll on this page and enter the discount code listed here to claim 20% off the course.

Catch up on Outlier 2024!

You can now catch up on Outlier 2024 with 34 recorded talks and 2 panel discussions. We know it’s a big list to process, so we suggest starting with keynote talks: 

You can also browse our beautiful gallery of 100+ photos taken during the conference. 

Happy viewing!