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Contest: My Annual Report II

January 19th, 2009 by

I hate to repeat myself like this but let's run this one again.

Throughout 2008 I tracked dozens of variables, most collected from categories of geographic location, recreation, food & beverage, and communication. I collected these data in an Excel file comprising 14 worksheets in excess of 100,000 cells. The process took minutes per day and that minimal investment is paying out huge returns here at the end of the year as I learn new techniques for data analysis, extrapolate conclusions from 2008 — some of which I knew intuitively while others surprised me — and represent them visually.

The work has been nothing short of exhilarating and I want to encourage you to undertake it also.

Instructions

  1. Design information in four ways to represent 2008 as you experienced it. This can mean:
    • four separate PowerPoint slides with one design apiece,
    • one JPEG with four designs gridded onto it,
    • an Excel spreadsheet inset with four charts,
    • etc.

    Feel free to use pies, bars, dots, bubbles, Sparklines, stacks, or designs of your own construction.

  2. Submit your designs. Either:
  3. Post your reflections either:
    • in the comments here, or
    • at your own blog.

Illustrative Examples

  1. Last year's entries.
  2. Nicholas Felton's 2008 Report, to which this content owes a debt1.

Deadline

  • Monday, February 2, 23h59, Pacific Standard Time

Judges

  • TBD

Prize

Prizes for First Place, First Runner Up, and People's Choice Award. Don't forget to declare your winnings next April, etc.

Legal

  • You own your images, though we'll post them here (attributed) and, in all likelihood, pick several apart.
  • Let's limit this to those with some demonstrable connection to education — students, teachers, professionals, edubloggers. Basically, no professional designers slumming it.

  1. To all the armchair graphic designers hating in the comments, time to give it a shot yerselves.

24 Comments »

24 Responses to “Contest: My Annual Report II”

  1. on 19 Jan 2009 at 6:14 pm1 Colette Cassinelli

    OK, Dan … I’m in. Time to start collecting information.

  2. on 19 Jan 2009 at 8:10 pm2 Why don’t our students create the Feltron report every year? | Learning is Change.

    [...] Now, I know that others have written on this topic more than I have, but as I was reading through Dan Meyer’s second annual contest for designing of annual reports, I realized that he was doing all of the things that I wished my students would do. I wish my [...]

  3. on 20 Jan 2009 at 3:42 am3 dy/dan’s “Feltron” contest « Continuous Everywhere but Differentiable Nowhere

    [...] Jump to Comments Just a quick link passing you along to Dan Meyer’s Annual Report contest. Design information in four ways to represent 2008 as you experienced it. This can [...]

  4. on 22 Jan 2009 at 9:56 am4 dy/dan » Blog Archive » The First Of Several Encouragements To Get This Done

    [...] 22nd, 2009 by Dan Meyer started my dy/dan 4 slide project. i might not finish… just not inspired and don’t have knowledge of the tools to do [...]

  5. on 23 Jan 2009 at 8:40 am5 Mark

    I’m in. I hope its not too late to figure out the previous days of January.

  6. on 23 Jan 2009 at 5:49 pm6 A. Mercer

    I’m up:

    http://mizmercer.edublogs.org/2009/01/23/dydan-annual-report-part-deux/

    used some of the “hater” comments in styling mine.

  7. on 23 Jan 2009 at 7:45 pm7 Dan Meyer

    @Alice, kudos for prompt submission, but don’t think for a second that your fourth slide curries you any favor with the judges.

  8. on 23 Jan 2009 at 9:31 pm8 A. Mercer

    I’m always the first submitter aren’t I?

    I did not think that pic was going to curry favor, it was just, right visually. But as always, you will either agree or think my taste was all in my mouth.

  9. on 24 Jan 2009 at 5:30 am9 What I read 01/24/2009

    [...] dy/dan » Blog Archive » Contest: My Annual Report II [...]

  10. on 24 Jan 2009 at 4:34 pm10 Annual Report contest entry – edtech VISION

    [...] Dan Meyer has done it again – another contest – Annual Report II.  [...]

  11. on 24 Jan 2009 at 4:43 pm11 Colette Cassinelli

    Hey Dan – Here is my submission: http://edtechvision.org/?p=517. You should rename this contest: “How I spent Saturday afternoon when I should have been cleaning the house”. (now you know why I got it done!)
    Cheers~
    Colette

  12. on 24 Jan 2009 at 5:04 pm12 Simon Job

    Really enjoyed creating these, great contest.

    My entry: http://mathsclass.net/comments/annual-report-2008/.

  13. on 25 Jan 2009 at 2:07 pm13 Ok….I’m back | The Kneighborhood of Knowledge

    [...] pretty intrigued by the Felton Report and by what Dan Meyer does on a daily basis. So, as per Mr. Meyer’s recommendation, I’ve started collecting data that pertains to various aspects of my life….coffee [...]

  14. on 25 Jan 2009 at 7:52 pm14 Math Stories : Dan’s Design Contest.

    [...] Dan is running his annual design contest again. [...]

  15. on 27 Jan 2009 at 6:07 pm15 Ben

    OK, I’m in. Now I just need to convince my wife that I’m busily planning my semester instead of creating an Annual Report. :-)

  16. on 27 Jan 2009 at 10:09 pm16 dy/dan » Blog Archive » My Annual Report 2008

    [...] is simply functional — a staid set of bar charts and line graphs. See you next time. Entry page here. [...]

  17. on 28 Jan 2009 at 1:44 pm17 Annual Report 2008 | Sustainably Digital

    [...] taken Dan up on his Annual Report Contest this year. Luckily I’m just dorky enough to keep track of a few data sets of interest to me. [...]

  18. on 30 Jan 2009 at 10:23 pm18 Sarah

    I’ve got my entry up here. Thanks for putting the challenge out there again. I’d thought about it, but wouldn’t have prioritized it without the extra nudge.

  19. on 01 Feb 2009 at 3:56 am19 Alby

    Trackback doesn’t seem to have worked, so mine is here.

  20. on 01 Feb 2009 at 1:03 pm20 Erick

    I had fun creating my 4 slides. I spent more time that I had but not as much as I would like to create this. Makes me wish I had some fancy graphics software and the time to learn to use it.

  21. on 02 Feb 2009 at 4:55 pm21 George Mayo

    Here’s mine:
    http://myannualreport.blogspot.com/

  22. on 02 Feb 2009 at 11:12 pm22 Claire

    Sent my entry in by email. “Entry” loosely, I suppose, since I’d no real intention of competing. Still, it was an interesting experience. I had no idea how much time and money I spent on my cell phone.

  23. on 08 Feb 2009 at 5:05 am23 never mind the optics » remembering ticker tape analysis

    [...] been looking at the entries for Dan Meyer’s 2008 design competition and I’m really taken with the 2nd of his personal picks from the entries.  The design was [...]

  24. on 01 Dec 2009 at 7:54 pm24 The Data « The Kneighborhood Annex

    [...] About a 11 months ago I started collecting data a la Feltron…and was completely inspired by dy/dan’s Annual Report…so I started collecting [...]