How do you make Big Data less intimidating, more actionable and thus more valuable, in particular for marketing and communications professionals? That is the question at the heart of the Small Data Forum, an initiative by LexisNexis Business Insight Solutions to listen, learn, share and educate ourselves and others who grapple with the challenges of the information avalanche. Industry thought-leaders Neville Hobson, Sam Knowles and host Thomas Stoeckle discuss current industry themes and news topics in the wider context of data and society.

Thomas Stoeckle leads strategic business development at LexisNexis Business Insight Solutions (BIS). A marketing communications researcher and business leader with 25 years+ experience, he believes passionately in story-telling through robust data evidence and compelling visualization. Originally from Germany, Thomas has been living and working in London for more than 16 years, working with clients all over the globe. In a fast-changing world, he enjoys nothing more than working with partners and clients finding and building better solutions for their communications challenges.Forever a digital Neanderthal among digital natives, he is keenly aware that today's challenges demand fluency in the three languages of business, technology, and of course humans.Thomas is also co-chair of the Institute for Public Relations Measurement Commission.

For nearly 30 years, Neville Hobson has been a voice of experience and influence about digital technologies and human behaviours, disruptive change in workplaces and marketplaces, and relevant trends to pay close attention to.He helps organizations leverage his business and communication experiences, knowledge and subject-matter expertise that embraces social, digital and cognitive technologies. He helps clients understand the rise of artificial intelligence and its impact in workplaces and marketplaces; digital communication and engagement strategy and development; and how to leverage social media for stakeholder nurturing and development.Neville is a pioneering podcaster, co-presenting the communication industry's first and most enduring podcast, "For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz Report," from 2005-2015.

Sam Knowles is Founder & MD of Insight Agents, a corporate and brand storytelling business. He has almost 30 years' experience helping organisations communicate better, clearer, simpler.Data and statistics are the foundation of the stories Sam helps companies to build; evidence-based, data-driven, insight-rich narrative. But only the foundation, before the tools and techniques of story take over.With a PhD in experimental psychology, Sam has just written an intensely-practical guide to his craft called "Narrative By Numbers: How To Tell Stories With Data And Statistics". It will be published in early 2018.