How long have you been using R?

The group is relatively experienced using R – 57% of respondents have been using R for upwards of 3 years.

Which R-related topics are you interested in hearing about?

Dealing with big data in R is the most requested topic, followed closely by Shiny.

Suggetions from those that chose ‘other’:

• More on graphing/plotting in R/ggplot2 and how to make interactive plots with plotly
• What are the best places to learn R?
• What about non-R related data analysis work (i.e. topics with a statistical computing lens in general)?

Are you interested in presenting at a WRUG meeting?

24 respondents are keen to present; 10 of these in the next six months.

What is your preferred meeting time?

6pm is the most preferred meeting time.

How often would you prefer this group to meet?

Most respondents would like meetings to be held monthly; followed closely by quarterly.

How long would you prefer meetings to be?

Respondents prefer meetings to be either 1hr or 90mins long.

What kind of presentation structure do you prefer?

Respondents are interested in a variety of presentation structures.

Some suggestions from those that selected ‘other’:

• Large presentation + Panel discussion (without presentations).
• Mixture of all the above.
• Workshop-style presentation where attendees try things out on their own machines.
• Vary to fit topic. Also variation is good over time because different structures appeal to different users.

Is there anything the organisers can do to encourage you to present?

Some suggestions:

• Identify interesting packages/techniques that need introduction.
• Suggest a topic related to genetics.
• Hold a beginner’s presentation night.
• Hold a ‘data blitz’ presentation night where each presenter gets < 10mins and then asks the audience for feedback.
• Give me sweets ;)
• Smaller groups.
• I don’t feel like I’m confident enough to present on R yet.

Other comments or suggestions

• A talk on Microsoft Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM)
• Using R integrated with other tools and databases
• Can the meeting be held somewhere close to the CBD?
• Could think about how to encourage informal, between meetings memebers. Perhaps mentoring/tutoring but without the structure. Coffee meetings?
• Perhaps there could be a subject stream in presentations about the practice of data analytics rather than the techniques
• Maybe we could mix up the presentation format, a couple of small vignette presentations and then one larger presentation?
• Sometimes these talks get boring, so we should keep the larger presentation for something really interesting/innovative.
• Maybe a small payment so that we get people that genuinely want to attend.
• Maybe an WRUG GitHub account can be made with the code put on there for those who couldnt make it.