Datasets for Friday’s Data Visualization workshop — please download both in advance:

1. “Don’t Get Kicked” dataset on kaggle.com – create free account to download the data. Download “training.zip” (or “training.csv”). https://www.kaggle.com/c/DontGetKicked

2. Map files: From US Census Bureau download “Current State and Equivalent” http://www2.census.gov/geo/tiger/TIGER2007FE/fe_2007_us_state.zip

Breakfast on Thursday starts at 8:15 and runs until 9, when the sessions start. Breakfast and sessions will be on the 2nd floor of the Bronfman Building at McGill University. The address is 1001 Sherbrooke W., and is just east of Peel on Sherbrooke! From the hotel: Walk north on Metcalfe, cross Sherbrooke, and the Bronfman building is right in front of you.

Please see the “Program” page for detailed information about the schedule and the sessions.

What Computers Talk About When They Talk About Music

It’s great that computers can make sense of music these days – over 200 million people now trust an algorithm they’ve never met to listen to and discover music. It’s also pretty scary: music needs a bit more care than collaborative filtering or automated editorial approaches can give, and before we let Google make mixtapes for our crushes, we should step back and see what the potential of music analysis is and how we can give it more respect.

For the past 10 years I’ve been working on music analysis, first academically and now as the co-founder and CTO of the Echo Nest, a company you’ve never heard of but powers most music experiences you have on the internet today, from Spotify to Clear Channel to MTV. I’ll show how the interaction between listeners and music is being modeled today, where it is amazing and where it falls flat, and more recently how new industries are taking advantage of the platonic “musical taste profile.”

Sponsored by INFORMS Information Systems Society (ISS)

A few reminders:

1. Early registration ends on May 31 — starting June 1, the registration fee goes up to $350! Click here to register now.

2. If you are booking a hotel room and the online system says there is no availability under the SCECR room rate, please call the hotel to make your reservation — there should still be a few rooms available (if you’re lucky!). See the “Travel and Accommodations” page for more information!

3. If you are not a US or Canadian citizen, check the Canadian consulate website to see if you need a visa, etc. Let us know if we can help in any way! US citizens, don’t forget you now need a passport to cross the border!

Looking forward to seeing you all in Montreal!