HISTORY & Background

Welcome to DataFest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZl48hBs_s

DataFest in Print

DataFest has been featured in several publications:

• Chance Magazine
  • http://chance.amstat.org/2013/09/classroom_26-3/
• Amstat News:
  • http://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2014/09/01/sept2014-pres-column/
  • http://magazine.amstat.org/blog/2014/06/01/datafest/
• The 538 blog:
  • http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/the-students-most-likely-to-take-our-jobs/

Data Providers

2018: ???

2017: Expedia.com: DataFest participants used over 10 million records of hotel searches from Expedia’s web sites to analyze how customers interact with Expedia on their path from search to selection to purchase. Over 2 GB of search data could be combined with over 5 million fields of data describing travel destinations in order to understand how customer segments differ in their search and travel behavior and, ultimately, to help Expedia differentiate between “lookers”—those browsing Expedia’s sites—and “bookers”—customers who ultimately make a hotel reservation.

2016: Ticketmaster: We at Ticketmaster are very interested in how to improve our services for our current users, and also expand our customer base. We know that our customers span a wide spectrum of various types of users. We want to have a better understanding of our customer base as this will help us market and improve our services.

2015: Edmunds.com: Data consist of visitor 'pathways' through a website that helps customers configure car features and shop for cars. Five data files were linked by a customer key, and including data about the customer, about his or her visits to the webpage, and, when applicable, about the car purchased and the dealership where the car was purchased.

2014: GridPoint: "How can our customers best save money and energy?" Data consisted of a random sample of customers, with five-minute aggregates over the period of a year of energy consumption then aggregated across important features of the commercial properties, as well as supporting climate and location data.

2013: eHarmony.com: "What qualities do people look for in prospective dates?" The DataFest students worked with a large sample of prospective matches. For each customer, data were provided on his or her preferences, as well as four matches, their preferences, and information about whether parties contacted one another.

2012: Kiva.com: "Help understand what motivates people to lend money to developing-nation entrepreneurs, and what factors are associated with paying these loans." Several datasets were provided including characteristics of lenders and borrowers as well as loan pay back data.

2011: Los Angeles Police Department: "Make a data-based policy proposal to reduce crime." Data consisted of arrest records for every arrest in Los Angeles over 2005-2010, including time, location, weapons involved.