tcplot

You've been collecting data all year. Let's make something out of it.
Join tcplot for a build-a-thon where the dataset is you. Bring a year of your own data — steps, sleep, songs, spending, miles, messages, books, photos — and spend the morning turning it into a visualization worth keeping. Code it, draw it, or build it by hand.
The best personal-data projects aren't about the numbers; they're about the story only you can tell. A year is long enough to hold a season, a habit, a heartbreak, a move. We'll help you find the one thread worth pulling.

What you'll do

• Bring — or pull on the spot — a year of your own personal data
• Pick a question you want it to answer
• Build a visualization (interactive, static, or physical), solo or in a small group
• Share what you made and what it told you

Where to find a year of your data
Most of it is already sitting in an app, waiting for an export: health apps (Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit), your Spotify streaming history, Google Takeout (location, photos, search, YouTube), a year of bank or card transactions, Strava and Garmin, Letterboxd and Goodreads, or Screen Time / Digital Wellbeing. Some exports take a day or two to arrive, so if you can, request yours before the event. Your data stays yours.
https://tcplot.com/year-in-your-data/

What to bring
Your laptop and charger, a year of your data (or be ready to download it), and whatever tools you love — D3, Tableau, ggplot2, Observable, a spreadsheet, or just paper and beads. No tools at all is fine too.

Who it's for
Anyone curious about their own life in data — seasoned coders and total beginners alike. Come build something only you could make.

Join tcplot for data collection and visualization in the park. We'll meet at The Coffee Shop NE, walk over to Audubon Park to collect data by hand, then come back and turn what we gathered into a visualization.
Data collection is usually invisible — by the time most of us see a dataset, someone else has already decided what counts. This is a chance to make those decisions yourself: what to measure, how to tally it, and what gets left out.

How the morning will flow

• Coffee & plan — meet at The Coffee Shop NE for quick intros and to decide what each of us will count
• Collect — walk to Audubon Park and spend about forty minutes gathering data: tallies, timings, sketches, observations
• Visualize — head back and turn raw tallies into something readable, on paper, in code, or in beads and thread
• Share — compare what we made, and how differently we each saw the same park

Things you could count
Birds, squirrels, and dogs; how people pass through (walking, running, biking, strollers); trees by species or the colors of the leaves; dandelions and where they cluster; sounds and how often they interrupt the quiet; how long anyone lingers on a bench. Pick one and go deep, or track a few at once.

What to bring
Something to record with (a notebook or your phone) and shoes for a short walk. A laptop is welcome for the visualizing part but not required — we'll have paper and making supplies on hand. Dress for the weather.
Rain plan: light rain, we'll go anyway. Heavy rain, we'll collect our data right from the coffee shop.

Who it's for
Anyone curious about where data comes from — practitioners and first-timers alike. No tools or experience required, just a willingness to notice things.