Let's celebrate #InternationalChartDay: April 26

This Thursday, April 26th is the inaugural International Chart Day, a day for the data visualization community to engage the public and educate others on how to become better consumers of data, visualization and news. We are thrilled about the focus on good data visualization and in support of this effort, we're announcing a special one-day edition of the #SWDChallenge.

How to participate

Find a visual from the media that you think is done well. On Thursday, April 26, share it on social media and include your brief thoughts on why it's effective. Include the hashtags #InternationalChartDay, #SWDChallenge, and a link to the original source. In the spirit of the day, keep the commentary positive and focus on best practices executed well and what we can learn from the visual. 

The challenge starts on Thursday April 26 at 12:01AM in your time zone and runs through 11:59PM. We'd love to see participation from our international readers, so expect to see some posts as early as Wednesday the 25th from our readers in Brisbane, Australia to Friday the 27th for our readers in Hawaii.  

That's all you need to know for the challenge. More on International Chart Day follows. We look forward to seeing the effective examples you highlight in celebration of #InternationalChartDay!  We'll be retweeting entries as they come in (no need to email us anything this time).

What is #InternationalChartDay?

Organized by the Office of U.S. Rep Mark Takano, in partnership with Tumblr and the Society for News Design, International Chart Day will be marked by Congressman Takano introducing a resolution declaring April 26 as “International Chart Day,” and deliver a speech on the House floor about the importance and history of charts. Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle will be encouraged to participate. The official website gives context into why: 

"Charts and other variations of information graphics have been around for hundreds of years, and are an important tool for making complex information easier to understand. However, not all charts are created equal: they can sometimes be too complicated or convey false and/or misleading information if not executed correctly."

Free public events on Capital Hill

If you're in the Washington D.C. area on Thursday, April 26, check out the website for a series of free public events, including presentations from thought leader Alberto Cairo and many representatives of news organizations, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

Even if you're not in Washington, we hope you'll join us helping educate the public on good data visualization. We look forward to seeing what you share. Happy 1st #InternationalChartDay!