(Updated 3/26/24)
Event Schedule
Wednesday, February 21
Tuesday, February 27
- Optional Team Formation #2: 4:30-5:30 pm (Pomerene 140)
Monday, March 4 (New Addition)
- Optional Team Formation #3: 4:30-5:30pm (Pomerene 140)
Wednesday. March 20
- Optional Workshop Short Course Intro to R: 5:00-6:00 pm (Zoom)
Thursday, March 21
- Optional Workshop Short Course Advanced R: 5:00-6:00 pm (Zoom)
Wednesday. March 27
- Optional Workshop Short Course Data Visualization in R: 5:00-6:00 pm (Zoom)
Monday, April 1
- Deadline for sign-ups! Be sure to register by today!
Friday, April 5
- 6:30pm - Opening Kickoff and data source reveal; at least one member from each team should attend, but all are welcome. The Opening Kickoff will be held in Pomerene 160 and recorded via Zoom for those who cannot attend live.
Saturday, April 6
- 9:00am - Check-in begins in the Atrium of Pomerene Hall; Breakfast served in Pomerene Atrium
- 10:00am - Data set is released and competition begins. Competition will be on-going from this point until the submission deadline.
- 11:00am – First door prize winner announced.
- 11:30pm - Lunch served in Pomerene Atrium.
- 2:00pm - Second door prize winner announced.
- 4:00pm – Third door prize winner announced.
- 5:30pm - Dinner served in Pomerene Atrium.
- 7:00pm – Fourth door prize winner announced.
- 10:00pm - Evening snack served in Pomerene Atrium.
- Work continues through the night...
Sunday, April 7
- 8:30am - Breakfast served in Pomerene Atrium.
- 12:00 Noon - Project submission deadline; recorded presentations must be uploaded to Carmen.
April 8-16
- Multiple rounds of judging will occur. Three winning teams will be chosen, as well as multiple finalists and honorable mentions. Awards will be given in three categories – Best Insight, Best Visualization, and Best Use of External Data.
Wednesday, April 17
- 6:30pm - Awards Ceremony; winning teams announced and winning presentations shown to all DataFest participants. The Awards Ceremony will be held virtually on Zoom and recorded for those who cannot attend live.
Information and Guidelines
Who can participate?
The competition is open to all undergraduate students currently enrolled at The Ohio State University during the semester the competition takes place.
DataFest Teams
This is a collaborative event, and team work is required. A team can be between 3-5 OSU undergraduate students. We recommend creating an interdisciplinary team with a variety of skills. Find friends who are skilled in different software like R, Tableau, AWS, SAS, Photoshop, ArcGIS, or any other software package that you feel will be helpful. We encourage interdisciplinary educational backgrounds. For example, a team might consist of students studying Data Analytics, Business, Art, Economics, and Geographic Information Science.
You must have a team of at least three students before you will be able to register. If you need help finding a team, please plan to attend a Team Formation Session. We will do our best to put individuals seeking teams in contact with one another.
Data Set
The American Statistical Association (ASA) has secured a large dataset from a well-known company. The details of the dataset and the company providing the data are kept secret until the Opening Kickoff.
Location
This year, DataFest will be held in Pomerene Hall. This is an in-person event.
What You'll Need
Dress comfortably! It will be a long day/night/day.
Every member of each team should have a a laptop/desktop computer, power cord, and water bottle (stay hydrated!).
Make sure the software you will use throughout the weekend is properly installed and running on your computer.
You might also need some statistical or computational reference books if you have them, or bookmark some web pages that you routinely refer to.
Rules
We request that all work be completed with your teammates, and only with your teammates. You are welcome to consult with the professional mentors and utilize online or text resources, but please do not seek assistance from people outside of the DataFest event.
Should members of your team drop out at the last minute, you may choose to merge with another team that is also missing members.
We will hold a few random door prize drawings throughout the event. You will be notified via email if you are a winner.
DataFest is sponsored by the American Statistical Association and is hosted by several universities across the country during the months of March, April, and May. As a hosting institution and as participants, we agree not to share the source of the data set or mention it in any publicity about the event (including social media) until after all DataFest competitions are complete. So, shhh!! We appreciate your help in keeping the source of the data set a secret. Please do not mention the source when Tweeting, posting on Instagram, or in any other form of communication.
Mentors
Mentors will be available throughout the event, and we encourage you to take advantage of their expertise. Feel free to ask anything. This is not an exam, but a collaborative competition. Do not expect the mentors to write code for you or do data management, etc. They are there to help point you in the right direction, but you're responsible for getting there on your own.
Judging/Presentation of Work
Your team will submit a presentation on Sunday to be judged by a panel of faculty and industry professionals. Presentations are limited to 5 minutes. The time limit will be strictly enforced. You may use up to 3 content slides (with a fourth slide that includes your title, team name, and the names of your team members).
After the competition begins, you will be emailed information on how to upload your final presentation. To be considered for judging, your presentation must be uploaded by 12:00 Noon on Sunday.
Awards will be given in three categories – Best Insight, Best Visualization, and Best Statistical Analysis. Additional recognition may be given for Judges' Choice if a presentation is notable or outstanding in some other way.
Workshops
We encourage you to participate in the pre-event workshops, especially if you have not worked with large data sets before. Typical DataFest data sets contain 1-2 GBs of data. You will likely not be able to open the data set in Excel.
ASA Conduct Policy
As an event sponsored by the American Statistical Association, ASA DataFest @ Ohio State is committed to providing an atmosphere that encourages the free expression and exchange of ideas. Consistent with this commitment, it is the policy of the ASA that all participants in ASA activities will enjoy a wecloming environment free from unlawlful discrimination, harassment and retaliation. All participants in DataFest are expected to read and agree to comply with the ASA's full Meeting Conduct Policy.