“Data journalism is huge. I don't mean 'huge' as in fashionable - although it has become that in recent months - but 'huge' as in 'incomprehensibly enormous'. It represents the convergence of a number of fields which are significant in their own right - from investigative research and statisticsto design and programming. The idea of combining those skills to tell important stories is powerful - but also intimidating. Who can do all that?"

One answer: Tom Johnson can. And during this two-day workshop Tom, a former editor at the Scientific American and co-founder of the Institute for Analytic Journalism, will help you get started, too.

Organised by the Digital Editors Network's Data Taskgroup and sponsored by Vision + Media and the Journalism Leaders Programme at UCLAN, this hands-on workshop is aimed at journalists who are new to or recently responsible for turning data into stories with impact.

Other contributors include Francis Irving, one of the forces behind ScraperWiki;  Julian Tait, Open Data Cities and Social Sensor  Networks Lead at FutureEverything; and François Nel, founding director of the Journalism Leaders Programme and co-convenor of the Digital Editors Network.

• Collaboration tools for the newsroom team
• Customizing search-and-retrieve data tools
• Extracting data from documents
• Data cleaning and formatting
• An elementary introduction to scraping web sites for data
• Using web “cloud” tools to clean and display data
• Most important, how to tease meaning and STORIES out of data and then tell those stories in multiple ways

When and where? The progamme runs from 9:30am to  7pm on Thursday, 19th May, and 9:30am to 5pm Friday,  20th May 2011, at Vision+Media @ Media City UK , 100 Broadway, Salford Quays, Manchester, M50 2UW.

Fees? Fifteen free places are available for freelances and small businesses (less than 250 employees) from the North West of England. An additional 15 spaces are open to journalistsand editors from outside the region, or from larger media groups (with more than 250 employees) at £200. All are available on a first-come basis.

How to enrol? Download the flyer here .

Transport? Getting to and around Manchester is easy and Vision+Media at Media City is a short tram ride from the city centre and Piccadilly station (nearest tram stop: Broadway). Also see the Google map .

What to bring?  Besides curiousity and creativity, you'll need to bring your own laptop. Wireless broadband and power outlets will be available.

Every participant will also be expected to share in the 1X1X1 session (one slide X one tip/ inspirational example X one minute) on the Thursday evening.

Questions about #djcamp2011? Contact François Nel at FPNel@uclan.ac.uk or @francoisnel to discuss this workshop further.