Large publishers like the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Bloomberg are creating impressive visualizations with teams of designers and developers. Recreating a similar project might seem out of reach for the non-professional; however many of the tools used to build visualizations are open source and freely available. With a good understanding of visual design anyone can apply the same techniques and come up with a great data visualization. Discover how well-crafted data visualizations can make a powerful impact in your professional work and learn the skills necessary to share your insights through compelling visualizations. **Mike Barry** and **Brian Card** shared their insights, experiences, and best practices for working with data visualizations. Here's an example: [**Visualizing MBTA Data**](http://mbtaviz.github.io/ "Visualizing MBTA Data") Presented at Simmons College Main College in Boston, MA. (Jan. 2015)