d3.js Bay Area

The d3 Bay Area meetup has been bringing people together to learn d3.js since early 2012. Our first meetup was 8 people at a coffee shop in SoMa, and now we regularly host 100 person events all over the Bay. We’ve had talks by dozens of influential d3 practitioners sharing their knowledge and we record as many talks as we can: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-_RDR0qu9VKm1FOWUsV5WMXp0p70kWk5 The quality of the videos is always high because we pay a professional videographer to record these talks so the rest of the world can learn with us.

We don’t just sit around and listen, we also host lots of interactive events focused around public data. We’ve worked with organizations like the SFMTA, SwissnexSF, Code For America and dozens of individuals on topics ranging from transit strikes to campaign finance and from earthquakes to gun violence.

Typically we host one talk in SF and one talk in Oakland every month, and we’ve started adding regular hack nights and educational events to the mix. We’ve also held events in the South Bay and Marin, and continue to do so in an ad-hoc manner.

Our biggest event is the annual d3.unconf, an unconference we organize for 100 practitioners to come together and set the agenda for the d3 community. We’ve done it two years in a row with great success.

We’ve been able to do a lot with a very little money, hosting events at startups for free thanks to their recruiting budgets or meeting up at the library or coffee shops to hack. On the other hand, we have been growing a lot and would like to offer more regular events in larger spaces.. In order to remain independent of any one company’s interests we’d like to fund events and videography from our members, in an open and transparent way.