Practical Data Workshops

The story behind the idea

Nick Desbarats

As an independent educator and best-selling author, Nick Desbarats has taught data visualization and information dashboard design to thousands of professionals in over a dozen countries at organizations such as NASA, Bloomberg, Visa, The United Nations, Shopify, The Internal Revenue Service, and The Central Bank of Tanzania.

Nick is the author of the Amazon #1 New Release “Practical Charts” (2023) and the upcoming “Practical Dashboards” (2025) books, and he regularly contributes articles to The Journal of the Data Visualization Society (Nightingale) that are among that publication’s most widely read and shared. He also regularly delivers main-stage talks at conferences such as Tableau Conference, TDWI World Conference, SAS Explorers, Data Innovation Summit, and others, and has lectured at Yale University, The University of Toronto, and The Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand).

Nick was the first and only educator to be authorized by Stephen Few to deliver his foundational data visualization and dashboard design workshops, which he taught from 2014 until launching his own workshops in 2019. Prior to that, he held senior executive positions at several software companies and was a cofounder of BitFlash Inc., which raised over $20M in venture financing and was sold to OpenText Corporation. In 2012, Nick was granted a United States patent in the decision-support field.

Learn more about the Practical Charts course here and the Practical Dashboards course here.

Date & Place: September 2024, Tallinn and Warsaw

Buy Nick's Books

Practical Charts provides easy-to-follow, concrete guidelines that quickly enable chart makers of any experience level to design expert-level charts that are clear and compelling. The book includes 30 chart types, 17 design cheat sheets and over 180 key takeaways. It is well-suited for the many chart creators who only create charts for “non-data-savvy” audiences. The book length is 302 pages.

More Practical Charts covers 20 additional "advanced" chart types that can show powerful insights that aren't possible to show using basic chart types. The target audience is those with more technical or scientific backgrounds, which are commonly used in technical or scientific content but rarely used in content targeted at a general audience. The book length is 98 pages.

While developing and running the Process and Strategy courses in my microdegree program, I sought inspiration from renowned experts in data visualization. Stephen Few was a key influence, and so was Nick Desbarats, a best-selling author and premier data viz educator. Nick has delivered workshops at prestigious organizations like NASA, Bloomberg, and the UN. I eagerly awaited his books, "Practical Charts" and "More Practical Charts," which I read in just two nights. They’re exceptional resources that explain the fundamentals of data visualization.

Inspired by his work, I reached out to Nick to bring him to the Baltics to share his expertise with local leaders and innovators. Data is a vital form of communication, much like words and stories.

ICT product owners, startup builders, financial institution stakeholders, public sector specialists, and manufacturing executives - that's for you!

Meet Dmitrij Żatuchin in Tallinn, Warsaw, or Helsinki

I am usually around Ülemiste City or Maakri. It is easy to meet me also at events like Latitude59, StartupDay, Arctic15, or Slush.

I am happy to share my 20 years of experience in helping the best companies and founders succeed.
I specialize in strategic data-based management and leadership, technology solutions, and value-driven business roadmaps. Baltics, Nordics, and Poland are my things.
Expertise in founding, failing, and succeeding with service and SaaS companies.

Address

Keevise 10, 11415 Tallinn, Estonia

Service hours

Mon-Fri: 9:00-14:00, late evenings or upon agreement