Big Data, Great Lakes

A Journalism Workshop Exploring Data Centers in Southeastern Wisconsin

March 15 - 18, 2026
Milwaukee

Sunday, March 15

6:30 p.m. - Opening dinner

7:30 p.m. - Known Unknowns: Research and Regulation Scramble to Keep Up with Explosive Growth of AI Infrastructure

Overnight in Milwaukee

Monday, March 16

Breakfast at hotel

7:30 a.m. - Bus departs for Janesville

9 a.m. - Brownfield Reboot: Janesville Hopes to Host Industry of the Future on Its Old GM Site

10:30 a.m. - Bus departs for short tour of GM site

11:30 a.m. - Head to lunch

12 p.m. - Telling Environment - and Existential - Stories Better: An Analog Conversation About AI

3 p.m.. Lunch Session - People Power: Janesville Residents Get Data Center Development on the Ballot

*Additional speakers to be announced.

6 p.m. - Dinner

Overnight in Janesville

Tuesday, March 17

7 a.m. - Breakfast at hotel

7:45 a.m. - Bus departs for Madison

9 a.m. - Advancing Data Center Sustainability: New Scientific Collaborative Searches for Questions to Answer

10:45 a.m. - Power Up: Agencies and Industries Chart Strategies to Meet Big Data's Big Energy Demands

11:45 a.m. - Lunch

12:15 p.m. - Bus departs for the state capitol

12:30 p.m. - Political Programming: A Conversation with State Agencies and Legislators About Regulating Wisconsin's Data Center Boom

*Additional speakers to be announced, including representatives from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

2 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Need More Data: Wisconsin NGO Remains Skeptical Over Industry's Transparency and Sustainability Promises

3:30 p.m. - Bus departs for Gnarly Cedar Brewery

6 p.m. - Dinner Session - Does Not Compute: How (and Why) Residents Rapidly Organized to Stop Data Center Development in Greenleaf

*Additional speakers to be determined

8:30 p.m. - Bus departs for hotel

Overnight in Kaukauna

Wednesday, March 18

Breakfast at hotel

7 a.m. - Breakfast

7:45 a.m. - Bus departs for Greenleaf, WI

8 a.m. - Not for Sale: Farmers and Local Citizens Rebuff Big Tech Buyouts

*Additional speakers to be determined

9:30 a.m. - Bus departs for Port Washington

10:30 a.m. - Potential Impacts to Shoreline Ecosystems and Migratory Birds

11:45 a.m. - Predetermined Progress? Port Washington Residents Seek Some Say in Data Center Decisions

*Additional speakers to be determined

1 p.m. - Bus heads out for site visits

1:15 p.m. - Like a Good Neighbor? Port Washington Residents Grapple with 24/7 Construction

*Speakers to be determined

2:15 p.m. - Right In My Backyard: Residents Worry Over Transmission Line Routing

*Additional speakers to be determined

3:15 p.m. - Bus departs for Port Washington city hall

3:30 p.m. - "Hyperscale" Hopes in Port Washington: Officials See Data Center as Solution to Shrinking City Finances

*Additional speakers to be announced, including representatives from the city council of Port Washington, WI, as well as Alliant Energy and/or American Transmission Company

5 p.m. - Bus departs for Milwaukee

6 p.m. - Closing Dinner

Overnight in Milwaukee