Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on September 10th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on September 10, Tuesday, at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. This is a meeting not to miss. A DAX founder, Jeffrey Wang (Principal Software Engineer Manager at the Power BI product group) is coming all the way from Seattle to share DAX best practices with our group! Captech Consulting will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (fill in the RSVP survey if you’re planning to attend).

Presentation:Common DAX Patterns
Date:September 10, 2019
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900

Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:We will learn common DAX patterns by examining several issues frequently reported by DAX users through PowerBI customer support tickets. Users will be able to:

1.      Learn from mistakes made by other DAX users so you can avoid them in your own work.

2.      Learn the common techniques to debug DAX problems.

3.      Learn the best DAX patterns to solve common problems.

4.      Gain deeper understanding of DAX by learning relevant history and underlying design of the programming language.

5.      Ask me their own DAX questions

Speaker:Currently working as Principal Software Engineer Manager at Microsoft, Jeffrey Wang stumbled upon BI after the Y2K bubble burst, fell in love with the field, and stayed in the industry ever since. After I joined Microsoft Analysis Services engine team in 2004, I quickly discovered that working on the programming language is the best way to stay close to the end users, so I joined the MDX formula engine team. After shipping a couple of releases of SQL Server Analysis Services, I joined the committee that created DAX. Today I lead the development effort of the DAX engine and the modeling engine inside the Power BI product group.

DCI_PowerBI

Power BI Palooza

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May was a hectic month but June is even busier… I’m presenting and sponsoring the tomorrow’s Power BI Group meeting and teaching a class on Tue and Wed. Then, on Saturday Guys in the Cube and I are kicking off the Power BI Palooza event at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta at 8:30 AM. I’m presenting “10 Ways to Empower Your BI Strategy with Power BI”. Then the week after I’m teaching another class…

The Palooza organizers said the event was sold out a few days after the announcement. If you’re of the lucky confirmed, here is my presentation’s abstract.

Not sure what value Power BI can bring to your BI strategy? Join me to discuss 10 ways Power BI can help augment your existing or envisioned Power BI strategy. If you’re interested in Power BI but you’re not sure how it fits within your organizational data strategy, this event is for you. Discussion points include:

  • Organizational BI
  • Self-service BI
  • Cloud vs. on-premises deployments
  • Predictive analytics
  • External reporting
  • Integrated solutions

Get your Power BI questions answered and see demos along the way.

Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on June 3rd

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on June 3, Monday, at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. I’ll show you how to bridge the analytical and developer worlds by integrating Power BI with PowerApps. Eric Flamm will demonstrate SQL Notebooks in Azure Data Studio. Prologika will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (fill in the RSVP survey if you’re planning to attend).

Presentation:Bridge Analytics and Developer Worlds with Power Platform
Date:June 3, 2017
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900

Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:One of the Power BI most prominent strengths is that it’s a part of the much broader Microsoft Power Platform and Data Platform that spans various on-premises and cloud offerings for data storage, processing, and analysis. Join this session to learn how to integrate Power BI with PowerApps and discover exciting new possibilities that redefine the meaning of a report and let you do more with less. During this entirely hands-on, almost no-slides session I’ll walk you through the steps to implement a popular report requirement for writeback, that Power BI doesn’t natively support.
Speaker:Through his Atlanta-based company Prologika (https://prologika.com), a Microsoft Gold Partner in Data Analytics, Teo Lachev helps organizations make sense of their most valuable asset: their data.  Teo has authored and co-authored several bestselling books on organizational and self-service data analytics (his latest is “Applied DAX with Power BI”), and he has been leading the Atlanta Microsoft BI and Power BI group since he founded it in 2010. Teo has been a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP Data Platform) since 2004.
Sponsor:Prologika is one of the most trusted names in Data Analytics. Our clients, from small businesses to Fortune 100 enterprises, derive tremendous value from our services. Our mission is to help organizations make sense of data by applying the latest technologies for descriptive and predictive analytics and get actionable insights. Your organization will spend less time mining for information and be better equipped to make sound business decisions.
Prototypes with Pizza“SQL Notebooks in Azure Data Studio” by Eric Flamm

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Presenting at SQL Saturday Atlanta on May 18

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SQL Saturday Atlanta next Saturday might break the attendance record with over 900+ people registered! Kudos to the organizers. It’s not easy to organize an event of this size with a modest budget. I’ll present “What’s New for BI in SQL Server 2019” at 1 PM.

“SQL Server 2019 delivers important data analytics features and enhancements. Join this session to discover what BI features are coming up in Database Engine, SSIS, SSAS, SSRS (Power BI Report Server), and MDS, and to see some of these preview features in action.”

Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on May 6th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on May 6, Monday, at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. Patrick LeBlanc, a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, will show us how to integrate Power BI and Flow for geospatial analytics. I’ll showcase Power BI Report Builder.  TEKSystems will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on http://atlantabi.pass.org if you’re planning to attend).

Presentation:

Using the Power Platform to Enhance Spatial Granularity

Date:

May 6, 2019, Monday

Time

6:30 – 8:30 PM ET

Place:

Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:

Join this session to see how you can use the Power Platform to solve a real world customer problem. With a growing mobile workforce, many organizations are trying to figure out how to properly arm them with the correct tools. In this session we will explain and demonstrate how you can leverage the Power BI Mobile app and Microsoft Flow to build a solution that enables them to quickly identify locations near and far. We will demonstrate how the solution was built step-by-step, detailing how and why certain technologies and solutions were selected or not.

Speaker:

Patrick LeBlanc is a currently a Data Platform Solutions Architect. Along with his 15+ years’ experience in IT he holds a Master of Science degree from Louisiana State University. He is the author and co-author of five SQL Server books and one of the only two guys in the cube. Prior to joining Microsoft, he was awarded Microsoft MVP award for his contributions to the community. Patrick is a regular speaker at many SQL Server Conferences and Community events.

Sponsor:

People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, we understand people. Every year we deploy over 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals – while optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives!

Prototypes
with pizza

“Power BI Report Builder” with Teo Lachev

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on April 1st

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on April 1, Monday, at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. Considering all the the momentum behind machine learning, the main presentation will be “Microsoft Citizen Data Science with Power BI” by Stacey Jones, a Principal Data Solution Architect at Microsoft. I’ll do a brief overview of the brand new Modeling tab in Power BI Desktop.  Vacation Express will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on http://atlantabi.pass.org if you’re planning to attend).

Presentation:Microsoft Citizen Data Science with Power BI
Date:April 1 2019, Monday
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

 

Overview:Are you curious about Data Science? Are you a Data Scientist? If you answered yes and no to these questions respectively, this session is for you. In this session I will discuss the emerging Citizen Data Scientist role and demonstrate the emerging tools targeting this role, especially the new features in Power BI, such as AutoML
Speaker:Stacey Jones specializes in mentoring and guiding firms in their efforts to build a modern Data, AI & BI governance programs that empower their business with Self-Service BI and Data Science capabilities. He currently serves as the Principal Data Solutions Architect at the Atlanta Microsoft Technology Center (MTC).
Sponsor:Based in Atlanta, Vacation Express is one of the largest tour operators in the southeast United States and has been in business for 30 years. Vacation Express is a member of family-owned and operated, Toronto-based Sunwing Travel Group Inc., Canada’s leading vertically integrated leisure travel company, and has sold well over 2 million vacation packages to its exotic destinations!
Prototypes
with pizza		“The Power BI Desktop Model tab” by Teo Lachev

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on March 4th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on March 4th, Monday, at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. The main presentation will be “Power BI Architecture” by Paco Gonzalez  from SolidQ. Eric Flamm will do us Prototypes with Pizza on configuring a Power BI visual for mobile layout. SolidQ will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on the group page) if you’re planning to attend.

Presentation:Power BI Architecture
Date:March 4, 2019, Monday
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:Having the right architecture is key to the adoption of Power BI, and to make the most of your business intelligence solution. This session guides you through different Power BI architectures, such as Direct Query, Import, Connect Live, Composite Models, and Embedded. We will analyze different techniques in data refresh, incremental extraction, integration and collaboration to provide a quick overview of the different approaches available.
Speaker:SolidQ North America CEO and Microsoft Data Platform MVP. Paco Gonzalez has more than 15 years leading teams for high visibility solutions on Data Platform, Business Intelligence, and Machine Learning. He is also a frequent speaker at large and small conferences. SQL Saturdays, TechEd’s, PASS BA, PASS Summit,  DevWeek London, PAW Chicago and London, or Ignite.
Sponsor:The tools and technologies to manage information will constantly evolve, but the need for accurate and actionable information is timeless. SolidQ delivers services for Microsoft platforms that help you architect, integrate and optimize your use of data. The result? Our clients think bigger and move faster because we help them build the capacity and skills to interact with data in creative, collaborative ways that deliver new insights to the business. At SolidQ we measure our success by your satisfaction – and we guarantee it.
Prototypes with pizza“Move your PowerBI Viz to your Phone” by Eric Flamm

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on February 4th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on February 4th, Monday at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. The main presentation will be “Azure Data Lake for First Time Swimmers” by Samara Soucy  from Innovative Architects. Julies Smith will do us Prototypes with Pizza on “Python Fuzzy Wuzzy for Master Data Identity Mapping”. Innovative Architects will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on the group page) if you’re planning to attend.

Presentation:Azure Data Lake for First Time Swimmers
Date:February 4, 2019, Monday
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:Data Lake may be the hot new way to store data for reporting, but it can be scary if you’ve never dealt with one. If you have no idea what a data lake is, have no fear! You will get an intro to the concept of data lake and what scenarios you should be considering it as your platform. From there you’ll get to see how Azure Data Lake Analytics and U-SQL allow developers and data professionals to create compelling analytics with data that previously was difficult to work with.
Speaker:Samara is a Microsoft Certified Specialist in C#. Working in both web and data, she has experience in a wide variety of technologies including JS, .Net, SQL, Analysis Services, and Power BI. Working with Innovative Architects as a Software Develoment Consultant, she uses that knowledge to plug into whatever part of their system needs additional expertise.
Sponsor:Innovative Architects specializes in solving business problems around business intelligence, data management, e-commerce, portals & collaboration, custom application engineering and business process and integration.  https://innovativearchitects.com/
Prototypes with pizza“Python Fuzzy Wuzzy for Master Data Identity Mapping” by Julie Smith

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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on January 7th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on January 7th, Monday at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. The main presentation will be “Predictive Analytics with Power BI”. I’ll walk you through the existing Power BI features for predictive analytics. Mark Tabladillo will show you exiting AI features that are coming up soon. CDATA will sponsor the event and do us a 15-min demo of their Power BI connector. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on the main page) if you’re planning to attend.

Presentation:Predictive Analytics with Power BI
Date:January 7, 2019, Monday
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:Predictive analytics, also known as data mining, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI), is an increasingly popular requirement. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a data scientist to benefit from machine learning in Power BI. This session is organized in two parts:

  • Part 1 – We will revisit the existing machine learning features in Power BI, including Quick Insights, Explain Increase/Decrease, linear forecasting, integration with R and Python.
  • Part 2 – We will look at exciting new features that are coming up in near future, such as integration with Azure ML and Cognitive Services, and automated machine learning.
Speaker:Mark Tabladillo Ph.D. is a data scientist at Microsoft. His career has focused on industry application of advanced analytics, using a variety of analytics tools including SAS, SQL Server Analysis Services, Cortana Intelligence (including Microsoft R Server and Microsoft Machine Learning Services), R, and Python. He was a founding member of the Atlanta Microsoft BI User’s Group in 2010.

Through his Atlanta-based company Prologika (https://prologika.com), a Microsoft Gold Partner in Data Analytics, Teo Lachev helps organizations make sense of their most valuable asset: their data. Teo has authored and co-authored several bestselling books on organizational and self-service data analytics, and he has been leading the Atlanta Microsoft BI and Power BI group since he founded it in 2010. Teo has been a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) Data Platform since 2010.

Sponsor:CData Software is a leading provider of data access and connectivity solutions. We specialize in the development of Drivers and data access technologies for real-time access to on-line or on-premise applications, databases, and Web APIs. Our drivers are universally accessible, providing access to data through established data standards and application platforms such as ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, OData, SSIS, BizTalk, Excel, etc.

https://cdata.com

Prototypes with Pizza“TBD”


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Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group Meeting on December 3th

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MS BI fans, join us for the next Atlanta MS BI and Power BI Group meeting on December 3th, Tuesday at 6:30 PM at the Microsoft office in Alpharetta. I will discuss Power BI dataflows. A3 will sponsor the event. For more details, visit our group page and don’t forget to RSVP (use the RSVP survey on the main page) if you’re planning to attend.

Presentation:Understanding Power BI Dataflows
Date:December 3, 2018, Monday
Time6:30 – 8:30 PM ET
Place:Microsoft Office (Alpharetta)

8000 Avalon Boulevard Suite 900
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Overview:If you’re a business user, you might know about Microsoft Flow. If you’re a BI pro, you might have used the SSIS Control Flow and Data Flow. But do you know about the Power BI dataflow? Data preparation is often the most labor-intensive component of an analytics project and getting this right is vital if the results are to be accurate. While the growth of self-service BI has empowered users to answer important questions, ensuring well managed data is available to all employees remains one of businesses biggest challenges. Requiring no additional cost, dataflows are a building block of the Power BI ecosystem, providing a no-code/low-code approach using Power Query to create curated datasets that can be easily consumed by business analysts. Attend this presentation and you’ll learn:

  • How to stage data with dataflows
  • How dataflows can be used to create curated datasets
  • How dataflows can be created with the click of a button, ingesting data from many well knows SAAS solution, such as Dynamics and Salesforce
  • More advanced integration scenarios with Power BI Premium
Speaker:Through his Atlanta-based company Prologika (https://prologika.com), a Microsoft Gold Partner in Data Analytics, Teo Lachev helps organizations make sense of their most valuable asset: their data. His strategy formulation, trusted advisory and mentoring, design and implementation services empower clients to apply effectively data analytics in order to understand, improve, and transform their business processes. Teo has authored and co-authored several bestselling books on organizational and self-service data analytics, and he has been leading the Atlanta Microsoft BI and Power BI group since he founded it in 2010. Teo has been a Microsoft Most Valued Professional (MVP) Data Platform since 2004.
Sponsor:A3 Solutions is the developer of A3 Modeling. Empower your finance team with the only tool that supercharges end-user Excel into Enterprise Excel. Why incur the risk and cost to replace your Excel models? Just add A3! The San Francisco-based company’s product is in use at some of the world’s largest manufacturers, financial firms and retailers including Honda Manufacturing, Williams Sonoma, T.Rowe Price, and Fox TV, in addition to many mid-sized organizations. http://www.a3solutions.com/
Prototypes with Pizza“New relationship view, paginated reports, and filter pane” by Teo Lachev


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