Last week, while I was taking a few days holiday from work, Avi Singh interviewed me via Skype and asked about my journey into Power BI. I have written about that over at PowerPivotPro.com originally here and then 3 years later here, but this is the first time I have talked about it on a video. If you are interested in hearing my background and learning about some of the things I have come across on my journey, you can watch Avi’s video below.
In the video Avi and I discuss our joint pre-conference presentation at the Microsoft Business Applications Summit.
Microsoft Business Applications Summit
This year Microsoft has combined the previous Microsoft Data Insights Summit, primarily focussed on Power BI and Excel, with other business products (notably Microsoft Dynamics) under a new banner. The Summit is only a few weeks away but there are still tickets available. I love these conferences for many reasons; the presentations, the learning, the discovery, the thinking time out of the office, but most of all because of the people I meet. If you have never taken time out of work to go to one of these conferences, I highly recommend it – it’s not too late to register.
My Presentations
Once again I will be presenting at the Microsoft conference; this year I have 3 sessions. I have outlined my sessions below and I would love to have you come along if these topics are of interest. If you see me there, please say hi.
Pre-Conference Day: Modelling Data in Power BI Desktop for Business Users
I will be presenting this session with Avi the day prior to the conference.
Abstract: Power BI is a revolutionary tool for business users everywhere and it’s super easy to get started. However, self-taught business users normally hit a wall at some point and can’t progress because they don’t understand the core principles and correct approach to Data Modelling. Often the first time they realise they are in trouble is when they can’t write a complex DAX formula. But this is often a sign of a deeper lack of understanding of the concepts of data modelling. If this sounds like you, then this 1-day pre-conference Power BI course is made for you. This is an intermediate course targeted at business users. The content is not out of reach of an Excel Power User but some experience with Power BI Desktop (or Power Pivot for Excel) will definitely help. The content will briefly cover the basics however most of the time will be focused on providing a deeper understanding of concepts that are often harder to learn yourself. Why not join us for this session and deepen your knowledge of how and why things should be done in a particular way. When you do things the right way, everything becomes easier! Add this Pre-Day Session to your registration for $300. Click “Register today” at the top right to sign in and select this Pre-Day Session
Evaluation contexts in DAX
Abstract: Evaluation contexts is one of the hardest things to master in DAX. It is not uncommon to think you know how evaluation contexts works only to find that you are completely stumped by a formula that is not doing what you expect. In this session we will clearly explain the concepts of row context, filter context and context transition using on screen examples that anyone can understand. A working knowledge of the fundamentals of Microsoft Power Pivot in Excel and Power BI will be assumed but will be briefly covered in the session as well. While the session is level 300, anyone with a working knowledge of DAX can learn from this session.
Learning M from the UI
Abstract: Microsoft Power Query is a fabulous tool for cleansing and loading data into Power BI, Power Pivot, and Excel. The UI lets you do almost everything you can imagine just by clicking on the menu options. Yet under the hood of Power Query is a very powerful functional language called “M”. There is currently no IntelliSense supporting the M language in the UI, but you can learn a lot about how the language works. In this session, be introduced to the basics of the M language and demonstrate concepts on how to learn more as you write queries.
FYI Matt, when I look you up on the conference speakers – it says you are doing 4 sessions!
Yeah, that is what it says! The other session was something that MS added but didn’t check with me first. It is a ‘mini’ version of the preconference session I am doing with Avi hence they automatically added my name. Avi is not doing any other in conference presentations but I have 2 others, so I am going to let him do this one on his own (so I can attend the conference too).