edit: sorry for the rant!<p>Yep, I&#x27;ve been there a few times. Meant to go there today, actually. Cool crowd, but I have some general criticisms of the way they do things. I&#x27;m almost to the point of thinking that their work is an overall detriment to the city, since there&#x27;s a strong tendency towards group thought rather than individual exploration. Their workshops also get nothing done since the barrier for entry is so low that they&#x27;re so busy answering pretty basic questions.<p>They actually brought in a hired gun political data scientist who does research on his employer&#x27;s opposition to help paint a bad picture of opposition. It was seriously presented in a positive light and everything! Hell, when I asked him his thoughts on FOIA, he basically completely shrugged me off and called it useless, despite things like that graph, which was created through FOIA data.<p>Chicago&#x27;s head data guy is there almost every time, working on workshops, which is pretty neat. Incredibly interesting guy. But, I have a hard time finding legitimacy in his presence when Chicago&#x27;s only analysis of parking ticket data (something ChiHackNight would love to work with) is this [0]. Received through FOIA after specifically asking for any analysis they&#x27;ve done on parking tickets... You&#x27;d think the head of data would have addressed that.<p>It all just feels very Feel Good.<p>Once I get this project to a certain point, I&#x27;ll probably head back there and show it off and ask if someone else wants to take it over. Eventually, starting one of my own group would be nice, but I&#x27;d like to have something under my belt beforehand to help with legitimacy.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;drive.google.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;d&#x2F;0B3A6c_C6BZZuYWwwRmJQTXhnZnVFemJoS0F3WVV1ajVsdEsw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;drive.google.com&#x2F;file&#x2F;d&#x2F;0B3A6c_C6BZZuYWwwRmJQTXhnZnV...</a>