Conference Schedule

Watch for updated information about the teachers and speakers who will lead the sessions. (Panel topics and speakers are subject to change.) Click here to view the list of hands-on class only. We are now accepting registration for the Mini-Boot Camp.

Choose to see the schedule for a particular day or scroll down to see the whole schedule:

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Guide to sessions: A = Advanced B= Beginner I = Intermediate E = General interest
Thursday (optional advanced day) Thursday will be devoted to advanced techniques of computer-assisted reporting.
Time	Panels	Room
9-10:10 a.m.	Overview of the year in CAR (B) David Donald, IRE and NICAR	Dezavala
	Social science methods (E) Steve Doig, Arizona State University Stan Ketterer, Oklahoma State University	La Salle A
	Dissecting a Web site (E) and who is running it Chase Davis, Houston Chronicle	Granger Ballroom A
10:20-11:30 am	The Internet: Search methods, engines and indexes (B) Carolyn Edds, St. Petersburg Times Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Dezavala
	Surveys and sampling (E) David Donald, IRE and NICAR Paul Overberg, USA Today	La Salle A
	Programming basics (A) Daniel Lathrop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Derek Willis, The New York Times	Granger Ballroom A
11:40-12:50 pm	Using spreadsheets for daily and long-range stories (B) Aaron Kessler, Sarasota Herald-Tribune MaryJo Webster, Saint Paul Pioneer Press	Dezavala
	Basic statistics (E) Stan Ketterer, Oklahoma State University Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News	La Salle A
	Web development at newsroom speed (A) Aron Pilhofer, The New York Times Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	Granger Ballroom A
Lunch on your own
2-3:10 pm	Using databases for daily and long range stories (B) Griff Palmer, The New York Times John Perry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Dezavala
	Advanced statistics (E) David Donald, IRE and NICAR Jennifer LaFleur, The Dallas Morning News	La Salle A
	The latest in mapping and the Web (A) David Herzog, IRE and NICAR Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	Granger Ballroom B
3:20-4:30 pm	Building up a data library for your beat (B) Jennie Coughlin, The News Leader Matt Wynn, Springfield News-Leader	Dezavala
	Building databases (E) John Maines, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	La Salle A
	Future tools Brian Hamman, The New York Times Tom Torok, The New York Times	Granger Ballroom A
4:40-5:50 pm	Writing, editing and presenting the data-driven story (B) Robert Benincasa, Gannett News Service Doug Haddix, The Columbus Dispatch	Dezavala
	Open source CAR (E) Chase Davis, Houston Chronicle Derek Willis, The New York Times Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	La Salle A
	Web scraping (A) Griff Palmer, The New York Times John Perry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Granger Ballroom A
	Building intranets (A) Rob Gebeloff, The Star-Ledger Jennifer LaFleur, The Dallas Morning News	Granger Ballroom B
Friday There will be ongoing panels and hands-on sessions Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In addition, special small workshops will be held in the Demo Room.
Time	Panels and Hands-on Classes	Room
8:30 a.m.	How to make best use of this conference (B) David Donald, IRE and NICAR David Herzog, IRE and NICAR Mark Horvit, IRE and NICAR	Dezavala
9-10:10 a.m.	Better CAR coverage for insurance Mike Casey, The Kansas City Star David Herzog, IRE and NICAR	Dezavala
	Bridge collapse! Lessons learned (E) Dan Browning, Star Tribune MaryJo Webster, Saint Paul Pioneer Press	Granger Ballroom A
	Using wikis (A) Daneil Lathrop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Matt Wynn, Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader	Granger Ballroom B
	Hands-on class A: When desktops aren't enough: SQL server introduction to setting up databases and importing data. • Janet Roberts, The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Excel 1: Performing simple calculations and sorting • Jennie Coughlin, The News Leader	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Beyond basics: Access string functions for standardizing and cleaning data • Rob Gebeloff, The Star-Ledger	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 1: Displaying data geographically with ArcView9.2 • Mark Greenblatt, KHOU-TV	Austin
	Hands-on class I: Downloading and analysis using American Community Survey data • Paul Overberg, USA Today	Fannin
10:20-11:30 a.m.	Broadcast and CAR: Quick hits and visuals (E) Mark Greenblatt, KHOU-Houston Tisha Thompson, WTTG-Washington, D.C.	Dezavala
	Disasters: From floods to fires (E) Agustin Armendariz, The San Diego Union-Tribune Brad Heath, USA Today Richard Russell, The Times-Picayune	Granger Ballroom A
	Social networking Aaron Kessler, Sarasota Herald-Tribune Asra Nomani, Georgetown University	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Web development at newsroom speed • Aron Pilhofer, The New York Times	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Querying data and working with views in SQL server • Tom Torok, The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Excel 2: Calculating ratios and rates. • David Wethe, Fort Worth Star-Telegram	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Beyond basics: Access functions and other tools for advanced analysis • Ted Mellnik, The Charlotte Observer	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 2: Importing and selecting data by attribute (ArcView9.2) • William Hartnett, The Palm Beach Post	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Web sites and search techniques for reporters • Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Fannin
11:40-12:50 p.m.	Investigations and blogging (B) Bill Allison, The Sunlight Foundation Bill Conroy, Narco News	Dezavala
	Justice: From arrests to death row (E) Megan Clarke, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Janet Roberts, The New York Times	Granger Ballroom A
	The quick CAR investigation (E) Rob Gebeloff, The Star-Ledger Sarah Okeson, Florida Today	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Spycraft for journalists • Steve Doig, Arizona State University	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: When desktops aren't enough: Introducing the basics of MySQL, an open source database server • Daniel Lathrop,Seattle Post-Intelligencer	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Excel 3: Learn pivot tables, filtering and more • Danielle Cervantes, San Diego Union-Tribune	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Beyond basics: Building a database using Access forms to ease the process • Brad Heath, USA Today	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 3: Geocoding to merge databases with street addresses into maps (ArcView9.2) • Andy Lehren, The New York Times	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Backgrounding people on the Internet • Margot Williams, The New York Times	Fannin
Lunch on your own
2-3:10 p.m.	The Internet: The invisible Web (B) Margot Williams, The New York Times Nora Paul, Institute for Media Studies	Dezavala
	Federal contracts: The military and Homeland Security (E) Mike Fabey, Aviation Week & Aerospace Daily John Perry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Granger Ballroom A
	Writing CAR stories so people care (E) Doug Haddix, The Columbus Dispatch Mark Katches, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Displaying databases in iCal, RSS feeds and other formats • Derek Willis, The New York Times	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Intro to Django and frameworks: What a framework does, what happens when a user makes a request and why all this matters to journalism. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Chase Davis, Houston Chronicle • Aron Pilhofer,The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Excel 1: Performing simple calculations and sorting (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Steve Doig, Arizona State University	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Excel 1: Performing simple calculations and sorting (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Sarah Okeson, Florida Today	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 4: How Spatial Analyst can pinpoint places and improve stories. (ArcView9.2) • MaryJo Webster, Saint Paul Pioneer Press	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Backgrounding businesses on the Internet • David Milliron,Caspio, Inc.	Fannin
3:20-4:30 p.m.	Keeping up with the Web: Alerts, RSS feeds, robots and more (B) Daniel Lathrop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Nils Mulvad, Kaas & Mulvad	Dezavala
	CAR for money and politics (E) Bill Allison, The Sunlight Foundation James Grimaldi, The Washington Post David Heath, The Seattle Times	Granger Ballroom A
	Editing the CAR story (E) Mark Horvit, IRE and NICAR David Raziq, KHOU-TV	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room The �Stat Attack� and other blog ideas. • Rob Gebeloff, The Star-Ledger	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Objects, Models and the ORM: The foundations of frameworks, the object, the model and the object relational model, or ORM. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Brian Hamman,The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Excel 2: Calculating ratios and rates (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • David McKie, CBC	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Excel 2: Calculating ratios and rates. (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Jeremy Milarksy, IRE and NICAR	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 5: Nailing down the details — dealing with projections • Jennifer LaFleur, The Dallas Morning News	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Excel and Internet: Importing data from the Web into spreadsheets • David Donald, IRE and NICAR	Fannin
4:40-5:50 p.m.	Google mash-ups on the run (E) Jeremy Milarksy, IRE and NICAR Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	Dezavala
	Investigating subprime lending and foreclosures (E) Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times Tisha Thompson, WTTG-Washington, D.C.	Granger Ballroom A
	Presenting the CAR story: New techniques (E) Mark Greenblatt, KHOU-Houston Nora Paul, Institute for Media Studies Jeremy Rogalski, KHOU-TV	Granger Ballroom B
	Using CrimeStat III to find hotspots • Ted Mellnik, The Charlotte Observer	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Prepping your data: How to turn your data into the foundation of your app. Here we talk about relational data, good model design and putting that data into your models (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Chase Davis, Houston Chronicle	Lamar

	Hands-on class B: Importing data into Excel (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Griff Palmer, The New York Times	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Importing data into Excel (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Matt Carroll, The Boston Globe	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Connecting the dots and statistics with social network analysis • Jaimi Dowdell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Excel and Internet: Importing PDFs from the Web into spreadsheets • Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Fannin
6-7:20pm	Philip Meyer Journalism Awards Reception	La Salle B
Saturday
Time	Panels and Hands-on Classes	Room
9-10:10 a.m.	CAR and consumer reporting (E) Sarah Okeson, Florida Today Mc Nelly Torres, South Florida Sun-Sentinel	Dezavala
	Education: From cheaters to teachers (E) Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News Jill Riepenhoff, The Columbus Dispatch	Granger Ballroom A
	Mining personal Web sites and YouTube (E) Nora Paul, Institute for Media Studies Nanci Wilson, KEYE-Austin, Texas	Granger Ballroom B
	Hands-on class A: Web scraping 1: Programming techniques to mine the Web • John Perry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Access 1: The purifying experience of filtering your data. Learn to select and sort data items you choose. • Ted Mellnik, The Charlotte Observer	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Beyond basics: Using advanced Excel functions to clean and categorize data • MaryJo Webster, Saint Paul Pioneer Press	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: SPSS 1: Navigate SPSS, using descriptive statistics and frequencies. Create basic counts and percentages to help you understand your data. • Doug Haddix, The Columbus Dispatch	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Backgrounding businesses on the Internet • Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Fannin
10:20-11:30 a.m.	Covering fuel: From alternative energy to the gas pump Paula Lavigne, The Des Moines Register Mc Nelly Torres, South Florida Sun-Sentinel	Dezavala
	City Hall CAR: Watchdogging expenses (E) Matt Carroll, The Boston Globe Matt Stiles, Houston Chronicle Darnell Little, The Chicago Tribune	Granger Ballroom A
	Visualizing data (E) Sarah Cohen, The Washington Post Ted Mellnik, The Charlotte Observer	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Uplink Feedback: Current and former readers wanted. Focus group or interview volunteers will receive a thank-you gift. • Rebecca Norris, IRE and NICAR	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Web scraping 2: More programming techniques to mine the Web (attendance from Web scraping 1 required) • John Perry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	Lamar
	Hands-on class I: Access 2: Summarizing databases with counting and summing • Robert Benincasa, Gannett News Service	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Beyond basics: Using Excel functions for advanced analysis • MaryJo Webster, Saint Paul Pioneer Press	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: SPSS 2: Doing crosstabs to show the data in different ways, and statistical tests • Stan Ketterer, Oklahoma State University	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Backgrounding people on the Internet • Kelly Guckian, San Antonio Express-News	Fannin
11:40-12:50 p.m.	Making the most out of census data (B) Ted Mellnik, The Charlotte Observer Paul Overberg, USA Today	Dezavala
	Infrastructure: Dams, levies and roads (E) Jaimi Dowdell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Ben Poston, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel	Granger Ballroom A
	Getting noticed in the newsroom: Battling shrinking budgets and declining resources (E) Mark Katches, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Jennifer LaFleur, The Dallas Morning News	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Mind mapping • Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Google maps: How to build dynamic maps • Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	Lamar
	Hands-on class A: Access 3: How to join tables, matching information from one file to another • David Donald, IRE and NICAR	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Excel 1: Performing simple calculations and sorting. • Matt Carroll, The Boston Globe	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: SPSS 3: Basic linear regression techniques and diagnostics • Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Web sites and search techniques for reporters • Carolyn Edds, St. Petersburg Times	Fannin
Lunch on your own
2-3:10 p.m.	The health beat: drugs and doctors (E) Fred Schulte, The Sun David Heath, The Seattle Times David McKie, CBC	Dezavala
	How to win FOI fights (E) Joe Larsen, Ogden, Gibson, White, Broocks & Longoria LLP David Milliron, Caspio, Inc. David Smallman, Wollmuth Maher & Deutsch LLP	Granger Ballroom A
	Putting data on the Web: Advantages, perils and ethics Moderator: Brant Houston, University of Illinois Steve Doig, Arizona State University Anne Saul, Gannett Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room What IRE and NICAR can do for you • IRE and NICAR staff	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Using the ORM to get data: All that data we put in? Now we start to get it out by learning the foundations of the ORM's query syntax (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Brian Hamman, The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Moving into Access: An introduction to filtering with Access (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Jeremy Milarksy, IRE and NICAR	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Moving into Access: An introduction to filtering with Access (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Jaimi Dowdell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: SPSS 4: Using logistic regression • Jennifer LaFleur, The Dallas Morning News	Austin
	Hands-on class I: Downloading and analyzing campaign finance data • Daniel Lathrop, Seattle Post-Intelligencer	Fannin
3:20-4:30 p.m.	Investigating toxic emissions (E) Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle Scott Streater, Fort Worth Star-Telegram	Dezavala
	CAR and crime Mark Fazlollah, The Philadelphia Inquirer Kelly Guckian, San Antonio Express-News Dylan Purcell, The Philadelphia Inquirer	Granger Ballroom A
	Wheels and wings: using databases to cover transportation Trebor Banstetter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fred Vallance-Jones, University of King's College	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Web scraping quick start • Aron Pilhofer, The New York Times	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Design by URL: Used to be, a URL went to a static file. In a framework, a URL is a critical component of your application. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class I: Access 2: Summarizing databases with counting and summing (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Mc Nelly Torres, South Florida Sun-Sentinel	Travis I
	Hands-on class I: Access 2: Summarizing databases with counting and summing (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • David Heath, The Seattle Times	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 1: Displaying data geographically with ArcView9.2 • Paul Overberg, USA Today	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Excel 2: Calculating ratios and rates • Sarah Okeson, Florida Today	Fannin
4:40-5:50 p.m.	Nonprofits and religion: The 990 and beyond Andrew Lehren, The New York Times Cheryl Phillips, The Seattle Times	Dezavala
	Analyzing political data (E) Bill Bishop, author David Poole, Virginia Public Access Project	Granger Ballroom A
	Global data for local stories (E) Tommy Kaas, Kaas & Mulvad David McKie, CBC Lise Olsen, Houston Chronicle	Granger Ballroom B
	Demo room Using OpenKapow to automate scraping • Alex Richards, Las Vegas Sun • Matt Wynn, Springfield (Mo.)News-Leader	Nautile
	Hands-on class A: Views: The view is where the work gets done. Information from the request goes in and data for your templates goes out. Here we take another step toward putting it all together. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Derek Willis, The New York Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class A: Access 3: How to join tables, matching information from one file to another (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Paula Lavigne, The Des Moines Register	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: Access 3: How to join tables, matching information from one file to another (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • David Milliron, Caspio, Inc.	Travis II
	Hands-on class A: Mapping 2: Importing and selecting data by attribute (ArcView9.2) • Darnell Little, Chicago Tribune	Austin
	Hands-on class B: Excel 3: Learn pivot tables, filtering and more. • Doug Haddix, The Columbus Dispatch	Fannin
Sunday
Time	Panels and Hands-on Classes	Room
9-10:10 a.m.	Internet redux - search tricks and best gateways (E) Carolyn Edds, St. Petersburg Times Kelly Guckian, San Antonio Express-News	Dezavala
	CAR training: An educators roundtable (E) Dave Herzog, IRE and NICAR Brant Houston, University of Illinois	Granger Ballroom A
	Hands-on class A: Templates: Templates are what your users see. Here we talk about how to take the data passed from the view and turn it into something your designers can start to work with. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class B: Build your own database: The ins and outs of how to structure and maintain a database your create (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • David Donald, IRE and NICAR	Travis I
	Hands-on class B: Build your own database: The in's and out's of how to structure and maintain a database your create (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	Travis II
10:20-11:30 a.m.	Downloading data for daily stories (E) Neil Reisner, Florida International University	Dezavala
	FOI for reporters (E) Wayne Dolcefino, KTRK-Houston Terri Langford, Houston Chronicle	Granger Ballroom A
	Hands-on class A: Wrap up, show off: We'll wrap up with questions and show off some tricks, like feeding Google Maps, Google Charts, Twitter and some other flashy things with Django. (WEB FRAMEWORKS ADVANCED BOOT CAMP) • Matt Waite, St. Petersburg Times	Lamar
	Hands-on class A: final Q&A session, exercise, and how to take it all home (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • David Donald, IRE and NICAR	Travis I
	Hands-on class A: final Q&A session, exercise, and how to take it all home (MINI-BOOT CAMP) • Maurice Tamman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune	Travis II

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