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 a.m. - Bus departs

8 - 9:30 a.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

9:30 Bus departs

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Predetermined Progress? Port Washington Residents Seek Some Say in Data Center Decisions

*Additional speakers to be determined

2 - 3:30 p.m. - Does Not Compute: How (and Why) Residents Rapidly Organized to Stop Data Center Development in Greenleaf

*Additional speakers to be determined

5 p.m. - Bus departs for Gnarly Cedar Brewery

5:30 p.m. - Dinner

7 p.m. - Bus departs for Beaver Dam, WI

Overnight in Beaver Dam

Tuesday, March 17

7 a.m. - Breakfast at hotel

7:45 - Bus departs for Madison

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

11:30 a.m. - Lunch

1 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