If you've ever wondered how you could use big data at your library, there's an opportunity to learn more at a first-ever conference next week in Grand Rapids, Big Data Ignite http://www.bigdataignite.com/ The first day has several workshops geared towards the more technical among us while the second day has sessions that are more accessible for non-technical people who see the potential in using big data to make greater impact and better decisions in our work. Sasha Issenberg, author of The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns will deliver the keynote and presenters from Amazon, the State of Michigan, the Van Andel Institute, Dell, Cloudera, and more offer a variety of topics in breakout sessions. Not quite sure? The videos at http://www.bigdataignite.com/promo-video/ will tell you a bit more about what to expect and at the end of the second there's a 25% discount code you can use. And if that isn't incentive enough, ArtPrize http://www.artprize.org/ will be in full swing. Hope to see you in GR next week! Marla --