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The city of New York is rich with open data. From housing, air quality, SAT scores, water consumption, movie filming locations, and even squirrel census data. There are many stories that can be told and problems that can be solved with a basic grasp of data analytics.
The Alteryx “Spark Your Interest: Datathon” is designed to take even the most novice data analytics learners and provide the training, software, and skill development needed to become competitive and employable at top companies.
The task is simple: Find a New York City topic that “sparks your interest”, work through a problem you’d like to solve, and be creative with how you convey your solution or insights. Showcase your findings in Round 1 by following the guidelines below. If your submission is selected, you will be invited to compete in Round 2 at the Alteryx office in downtown NYC for your chance to win a share of $20,000 in prizes!
ROUND 1 – THE VIRTUAL QUALIFYING CHALLENGE
- You will be asked to submit your insights using Alteryx Designer and leveraging datasets from the NYC OpenData Website. A good place to start is to ask yourself, “What problem would I like to solve? How am I going to solve it? What insights can I gain from having access to this data?”
- Round 1 will begin at 12PM ET on February 1 and you will have until 11:59PM ET on March 13 to submit your solution. Round 1 is an individual challenge and the top seventy-five (75) individuals to earn the most points will be eligible to move on to Round 2.
- This submission is designed to be fun and a way for you to showcase some of your analytical and communication skills. Plan on spending no more than 3-4 hours designing your solution.
GUIDELINES:
- Pick one topic from the list below that you are most curious about:
- NYC Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting
- NYC Transportation
- NYC Education
- NYC Housing
- NYC Parks and Recreation
- NYC Sanitation
- NYC Environmental Protection
- Identify datasets you’d like to include to tell your story using data.
- Present your findings in a short presentation (3-5 slides) by following the rubric below. You can use PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, or any other presentation aid you need to communicate your insight and findings.
- All dataset(s) used in your analysis must come from the NYC OpenData Website.
- It's an Alteryx Datathon! You MUST use Alteryx Designer and build at least one workflow to find your insights. If you are new to Alteryx Designer, participate in one of our trainings or get started on your own.
- Be creative and let your personality shine through!
- Fill out the submission form before 11:59PM ET on March 13.
- And HAVE FUN!
JUDGING:
- Your submissions will be graded based off the Judging Rubric below by a Judging Panel (also detailed in the official rules)
- The three judging sections are Storytelling, Data Analysis, and Alteryx Workflow. There are 30 points available.
- Round 2 Finalists will be notified via email by 5 PM ET on March 20.
To qualify for the in-person Datathon (Round 2) on Friday, March 22nd at the Alteryx New York City Office you must participate and pass Round 1 – The Virtual Qualifying Challenge.
RUBRIC
Section 1: Storytelling
| 5 | 4-3 | 2-1 | Total |
Organization of presentation | Presentation is exceptionally well-organized, with a logical structure that guides the audience from question to insight. | Presentation is organized, with a somewhat logical structure. | Presentation is unorganized, with little structure and poor flow. | /5 |
Creativity | Story includes a unique perspective and maintains interest throughout analysis. | Story was unique and somewhat engaging. | Story was sometimes or rarely interesting and engaging. | /5 |
Section 2: Data Analysis
| 5 | 4-3 | 2-1 | Total |
Data Used | All data clearly relates to the main topic, adds new information, and demonstrates creativity (i.e. blending data sets). | Data relates to main topic, occasionally adds new information and shows some creativity. | Data has little or nothing to do with topic. | /5 |
Charts/graphs are helpful in portraying information | All visualizations support conclusion/answer to question. Visualizations are correctly constructed and appropriate for the question asked and the data used. | Strong visualizations with minimal errors present. One or more instances where more effective/appropriate display(s) would improve the presentation or better address the question. | Substantial errors in the visualizations and lack of connection to question. | /5 |
Insights are valuable for the stated problem | Insights, logical arguments, and key patterns are developed with a clear and strong point of view that supports the solution for the stated problem. | Insights, logical arguments, and key patterns are developed with a somewhat clear and strong point of view that supports the solution for the stated problem. | Insights, logical arguments, and key patterns are unclear with a weakly supported point of view for the stated problem. | /5 |
Section 3: Alteryx Workflow
| 5 | 4-3 | 2-1 | Total |
Ease of implementation | Alteryx workflow is well organized, documented, and easy to follow. | Alteryx workflow is mostly well organized, documented, and easy to follow.
| Alteryx workflow is unorganized, poorly documented, and hard to follow. | /5 |
