T Levels: Group Industry Placement - Digital, Business Management, Marketing & Creative Media - The Power of Data: From Insight to Impact

In this bumper online session we will be exploring the 'The Power of Data: From Insight to Impact'.

'Measuring what people watch in the UK: How Data Shapes Modern Media'

Doug Whelpdale, Head of Insight at Barb has spent 20 years working across the UK media and digital insight landscape. His career spans research roles at media agency Havas, supporting ad sales and film partnership teams at Disney, and over the past eight years, leading insight work at Barb, the UK’s industry-standard measurement body for understanding what people watch.

In this session, Doug will explore how high-quality audience measurement underpins decision making across the industry. He will demonstrate how audience data is collected, validated and transformed into insight that informs content creation, strategy, distribution, advertising, and audience engagement. He will also address how measurement has changed dramatically to embrace the availability of data from digital devices to supplement established methods.

Doug will cover:

• what Barb is and why audience measurement matters
• how Barb collects audience data in a multi platform world
• ensuring accuracy, reliability and representativeness
• what the data looks like: metrics, dashboards and real examples
• measuring viewing beyond established broadcasters
• understanding cross-platform and on-the-go viewing away from the TV set future developments (spoiler: more data!).

'The 5 LEVERS of Data Graphics'

Andy Cotgreave, Founder of How to Speak Data, is a leader in the field of data communication and literacy. He has over 20 years’ experience in data analytics, including 15 years at Tableau. He has helped thousands of people improve their data skills and been a keen spotter of new trends in the industry, recently focusing on the impact AI will have on data analytics. He is also the author of Dashboards That Deliver and The Big Book of Dashboards.

In this session, Andy will share 'The 5 LEVERS of Data Graphics' which analysts typically push or pull to enhance data visualisation design in pursuit of their data insight and communication goals. Andy will explain which design principles are most appropriate for different data types, different data goals, and different audiences - helping you to understand which choices data industry professionals typically make and why.

Andy will cover:

• how to map data stories to the right lever
• the difference between 'showing' and 'telling' with data
• common pitfalls when the LEVERS are misaligned
• actionable steps to audit dashboards against the model.

'First Roles and Early Careers'

After graduating in 2023 with a master’s degree in Mathematics and Statistics, Holly Park, started her career as a Junior Data Scientist with Barb Audiences and quickly progressed into her current role as a Data Scientist. Her work involves developing and improving audience measurement methods, working with large-scale viewing data, and working closely with TV companies and streaming services.

In this Q&A session, Holly will be telling us all about her career to date, including:

• what her role involves and how she got started in the industry
• how she secured her first data related role and what the process of landing her first role was like
• the early skills and experiences which helped her progress
• the realities, misconceptions, challenges and joys of starting out in a data science career
• how she keeps on top of her own professional development and the ever-changing elements of the role
• practical advice for young people exploring data careers and simple ways teachers can support them.