Great Seminar on... Statistics!?

"The first one was too hot. The second one was too cold. The third one was JUST RIGHT."


I must admit, I was a bit doubtful when I boarded the LIRR at the Douglaston Station yesterday afternoon. I skipped lunch and left work early to attend a conference-style seminar on predictive analytics. I have been to many seminars of the like that were less than stellar. Many were either too basic or too theoretical to be of practical use to anyone in this field.


I have been dabbling in data mining and predictive analytics for 3 and a half years. My one achievement was being able to justify our need for data entry and data entry standards. This led to a 2 year project to create a Raiser's Edge Manual for data entry. While it is not the most intriguing project (and at times more tedious and frustrating than learning to knit). As far as actual analytics goes, I have been stuck in a rut of not understanding the NOVA chart output enough to weight a model. I was stuck in a flat binary world of 0's and 1's.



Isn't binary Sudoku a bit bland?

Well I'm glad to report that problem as solved and after David E. Robertson's seminar, "Zen and the Heart of Predictive Modeling." For information on David and the seminar go here. The world of predictive analytics is looking up for me once again.

I'm also glad to report having met another person with my first name and two other great APRA people who I can't wait to see at the holiday party in December. Woo hoo!