Learn to build an analytics community in your organization from scratch How to Build a Data Community shows readers how to create analytics and data communities within their organizations. Celebrated author Eva Murray relies on intuitive and practical advice structured as step-by-step guidance to demonstrate the creation of new data communities. How to Build a Data Community uses concrete insights gleaned from real-world case studies to describe, in full detail, all the critical components of a data community. Readers will discover: What analytics communities are and what they look like Why data-driven organizations need analytics communities How selected businesses and nonprofits have applied these concepts successfully and what their journey to a data-driven culture looked like. How they can establish their own communities and what they can do to ensure their community grows and flourishes Perfect for analytics professionals who are responsible for making policy-level decisions about data in their firms, the book is also a must-have for data practitioners and consultants who wish to make positive changes in the organizations with which they work.

Explore different perspectives and approaches to create more effective visualizations #MakeoverMonday offers inspiration and a giant dose of perspective for those who communicate data. Originally a small project in the data visualization community, #MakeoverMonday features a weekly chart or graph and a dataset that community members reimagine in order to make it more effective. The results have been astounding; hundreds of people have contributed thousands of makeovers, perfectly illustrating the highly variable nature of data visualization. Different takes on the same data showed a wide variation of theme, focus, content, and design, with side-by-side comparisons throwing more- and less-effective techniques into sharp relief. This book is an extension of that project, featuring a variety of makeovers that showcase various approaches to data communication and a focus on the analytical, design and storytelling skills that have been developed through #MakeoverMonday. Paging through the makeovers ignites immediate inspiration for your own work, provides insight into different perspectives, and highlights the techniques that truly make an impact. Explore the many approaches to visual data communication Think beyond the data and consider audience, stakeholders, and message Design your graphs to be intuitive and more communicative Assess the impact of layout, color, font, chart type, and other design choices Creating visual representation of complex datasets is tricky. There's the mandate to include all relevant data in a clean, readable format that best illustrates what the data is saying--but there is also the designer's impetus to showcase a command of the complexity and create multidimensional visualizations that "look cool." #MakeoverMonday shows you the many ways to walk the line between simple reporting and design artistry to create exactly the visualization the situation requires.

Eva Murray moved to Matinicus in 1987 to teach in its one-room school. She married an island man and stayed to raise their family there. Over the years she's written a number of lively columns and articles for mainland publications. But, as she says, she doesn't do lobster wars:"If you're looking for a rabid, swashbuckling tell-all account of maritime outlaws or cut-throat lobstermen, you won't be very impressed. Yes, a rough side of this community exists, but in order to live here happily, I avoid cultivating fear. The same boys who might sprinkle roofing nails in a man's driveway, if they get mad enough, will rush to the same fellow's aid when he's in real danger, and that's the truth. Likewise, if you hope to relive an idyllic summer vacation or read an escape-to-Maine fantasy with the call of the loon and long walks on the beach, you might feel a bit short-changed. Astonishing natural beauty certainly exists on Matinicus Island, but I'm not working too hard to promote this place to visitors. The rare treat of an outer-island sunrise is a privilege for the deserving, which means for those who have endured the six months of gales or the six weeks of fog or the six days of waiting for the weather to break so the airplane can fly and they can get here. In the twenty-three years I have lived here, it's true there have been bullets. One, I think, flew right over my head a few years back. There has been vandalism, drunk driving, sabotage, theft, abuse of power, and people just acting like general-purpose jerks. Those things happen everywhere. There have also been heroic rescues, valiant searches for lost mariners, hospice care, fires fought, electricity restored, boats rescued, spontaneous celebrations and heartfelt acts of support, and graves dug by hand. In those things, we may be different from most places, and here's why: It is not strictly the certified professionals who fight the fires or care for the sick or save the drowning. It's just us."These are the stories of that unique community, of an interdependence that is all too rare these days but necessary for this island's survival. Murray writes with a keen eye and sharp wit, sharing stories that are sometimes poignant, sometimes mind-boggling, and often hilarious. She lives in a place where, "You love it, absolutely love it here, 51 percent of the time. That is enough to make you stay."

2nd Ed. 2015. Edited by Michelle Richmond, New York Times best-selling author. THE ODYSSEY OF IZZY traces the roots of American punk rock across the American West and over the underground as Izzy O'Hara tries to find her brother Tommy who ran off with a rockabilly band in the 80s. A lovable misfit, quirky and tender, Izzy suffers a nervous tic that's twice misdiagnosed, and it's her peculiar vision that reveals the mystery of her brother's disappearance and their troubled past. Her odyssey takes her on the road with Ray Z. Omaha and the Twelve Steppers, a band Tommy admired. Can she survive another last call and track her brother down? Ray and the boys surprise her--but in a good way, not "Hi, we're Rockabilly Vampires." The character Ray Z. Omaha is based on Charlie Burton of Nebraska, and 10 of Charlie's songs are included.