I have a friend named Štěpán Rešl who organizes DataPoint Prague.
I have spent a fair amount of time around human brains. As a paramedic, you get up close and personal with the organ in ways most people thankfully never do. So when I tell you that I have no idea how Štěpán’s brain fits inside a human skull, I mean that with some professional grounding. The man does things with technology that make me genuinely uncomfortable with my own abilities. He is one of those rare people who makes you want to work harder just by being in the same room.
I am very lucky to call him a friend. This week, I am heading to his conference.
Prague and the Best Meal I Can’t Stop Thinking About #
I have been to Prague exactly once before. In 2019, I attended ExpertsLive, which was held there that year. A former colleague of mine who had grown up in Prague happened to be home during the conference, and he took me and Simon out for dinner.
We ended up at a meat restaurant.
That sentence does not do it justice. This was a selection of meats so thoughtfully chosen, so perfectly prepared, that I still think about it occasionally when I am eating something disappointing. I have no idea what most of it was called. I do not care. It was extraordinary, and it is now the benchmark against which I judge all other meat-centric dining experiences.
We did not have much time to explore the city itself. I have been told repeatedly, by people whose taste I trust, that Prague is spectacular. I believe them. I just have not yet had the chance to find out for myself. Clearly, I need to go back.
In and Out #
This trip, sadly, is not going to fix that.
I arrive Thursday. I deliver my session early Friday morning. Then I go straight to the airport and home to Linköping.
On paper, that sounds bleak. And there is a part of me that genuinely wishes I could stay for the full event, sit in on sessions, and have the kinds of hallway conversations that make conferences worth attending. DataPoint brings together people who think seriously about data, and Štěpán does not invite people who do not have something real to say.
But honestly? I am ready to be home.
It has been a hectic winter and spring. A lot of events, a lot of travel, a lot of energy spent. DataPoint Prague marks the end of the first half of the year for me, and I feel that in a way I have not always let myself acknowledge. There is something grounding about being able to draw a line and say: this chapter is done.
The Session #
I am delivering the latest version of a session that has been with me for years now.
It started life as “The Untruthful Art” and has evolved continuously since then. What began as a talk about data deception has grown into something broader and, I think, more important: a session genuinely centered on data literacy. On what it means to understand the information you are looking at. On how easily even well-intentioned people can mislead and be misled by data.
It remains one of my favorites.
That is not because I have a sentimental attachment to the slides or the stories, though some of those stories have become old friends at this point. It is because the topic refuses to become less relevant. If anything, it becomes more urgent with every passing year. We keep building better tools for visualizing and distributing data. We keep getting worse at questioning it.
Data literacy is not a nice-to-have. It is the difference between information and understanding. And most organizations are operating on information alone, calling it the latter.
That is what I am there to talk about. For however many hours I am in Prague, that is where my energy is going.
Everything else, including the food, will have to wait for the next visit.
If you are attending DataPoint Prague, come find me before or after the session. I would genuinely love to talk. And if you have a restaurant recommendation, I am taking notes.