Dec 5, 2013 · 22m · mad
Rick Smolan, "The Human Face of Big Data" // Data Driven NYC #8 // Sep 2012
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
At Data Driven NYC #8, photojournalist Rick Smolan presents 'The Human Face of Big Data,' illustrating how global data feeds form an emerging planetary nervous system and introducing a crowdsourced mobile application that captures human-centric data for social good.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Matt holds 5.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Matt, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Rick passionately recounts a patient confronting a pacemaker company over who owns his heart data, demanding a copy and ultimately suing them.
Hardest push from Matt ▶ 20:38 Host enforcing time limits for Q&AMatt Turck steps in to wrap up the talk and pivot strictly to audience questions due to schedule constraints.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 3:45 Defining big data as a planetary nervous systemRick relays Marissa Mayer and Eric Schmidt statistics on data generation to reframe big data as the planet developing a sensory feedback loop.
Matt holds his own ▶ 0:05 Host outlining the event format and lineupMatt Turck introduces the structured event agenda, framing the sequence of presentations and upcoming industry leaders.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Matt as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Matt pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Smolan's Career and Mass Media Storytelling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick delivers a keynote monologue describing his transition from photojournalist to creator of collaborative books. The host does not participate during this presentation segment. | |
| Defining Big Data: The Planet's Emerging Nervous System | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Rick defines big data through conversations with Marissa Mayer and a metaphor created for his son. The host is silent during this monologue segment. | |
| Human Face of Big Data: Real-World Case Studies | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Rick presents multiple real-world case studies demonstrating big data applications. The host remains silent throughout the presentation. | |
| Introducing the 'Measure Our World' Crowdsourcing App | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Rick introduces the crowdsourcing app and highlights a dispute over medical data ownership. The host does not intervene. | |
| App Features, Mission Control, and Data Ethics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick explains app features and the upcoming Mission Control launch event. The host only speaks briefly at the very end to transition to Q&A. | |
| Audience Q&A and Keynote Conclusion | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Host Matt Turck moderates a brief audience Q&A session where Rick answers technical questions about app data retention and user anonymity. Rick lightly dismisses the idea that users would lie on the app. |