MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting–Aug 28

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is next week on Monday, August 28. There will be two presentations, the first one is an introduction to Machine Learning and the other is using maps in Power BI.

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MN Microsoft BI User Group August 2017 Meeting

Date: Monday, August 28, 2017

Check In: 1:00 PM Event Time: 1:15 PM – 4:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435

Please Register Now (Please register so that your name badge is pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 1:00-1:15 : Check-In
• 1:15-1:30 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 1:30-2:15 : Intro to Machine Learning (Jared)
• 2:15-3:00 : Pizza & Networking
• 3:00-3:45 : How to become a data surveyor: Maps in Power BI (Alex)
• 3:45-4:00 : Closing & Giveaways

Presentations:

Session 1: Intro to Machine Learning

Come to this session to get your toes wet with machine learning. What types of questions it can answer? What types of models it can produce? What are some techniques used? There will be practical demos using Azure Machine Learning as well. Enough info to get you started, or enough to quit while you’re ahead, either way, you’ll come out with some concrete ideas of what ML is all about.

Speaker: Jared Zagelbaum

Jared Zagelbaum is a highly experienced IT professional, specializing in the Microsoft Data Platform suite of technologies since 2007. He expertly leads projects and teams through enterprise solution design and implementation for data management, analytics, and information delivery.

Jared regularly speaks at user groups and events across the Midwest, as well as blogging and providing technical review for SQL Server publications. He is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) in Data Management and Analytics, and a graduate of the University of Florida with a BS in Finance, Accounting and Economics. https://jaredzagelbaum.wordpress.com/about/

Session 2: How to become a data surveyor: Maps in Power BI

Have you been using maps in Power BI to present your geographic data? Do you want to map your data to see what cities have the best sales, but don’t know where to begin? Join us in this session to learn the practical steps to mapping your data, what you need to get started, and how to make beautiful maps to see your data in a whole new light. We will also discuss when you may not want to map your data, and some of the roadblocks you might encounter.

Speaker: Alex Barbeau

Alex Barbeau is a BI Consultant with Nihilent Technologies, focusing on SSAS, data modeling, and EDW design. Alex has extensive experience in designing and developing analytics and reporting solutions in Sales, Manufacturing, Inventory Management, Healthcare, and Commodities verticals across the span of the Microsoft BI platform.

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Jun 19

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is on Monday, June 19. There will be two presentations, the first one is Analyzing Healthcare Open Data with Power BI (presented by me) and the other is Time Intelligence in DAX (by Marco Russo!).

Please Register Now (Please register so that your name badge is pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group June 2017 Meeting

Date: Monday, June 19, 2017

Check In: 3:45 PM Event Time: 4:00 PM – 7:30 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435

Please Register Now (Please register so that your name badge is pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 3:45-4:00 : Check-In
• 4:00-4:15 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 4:15-5:15 : Analyzing Healthcare Open Data with Power BI (Dan English)
• 5:15-6:00 : Break, Dinner, Networking
• 6:00-7:00 : Time Intelligence in DAX (Marco Russo)
• 7:00-7:30 : Closing / Prizes

Presentations:

Session 1: Analyzing Healthcare Open Data with Power BI

In this session we will explore and evaluate Healthcare data that is freely available to the public. You will see how easily we can consume and integrate the data to analyze and investigate. In the demos you will see some of the latest enhancements and features that have been included with Power BI such as ArcGIS (Esri) maps, forecasting, Top N filtering, grouping / binning, custom R visuals, and maybe a few more along the way. If you are interested in Open Data, Healthcare, or have to perform a lot of data manipulation in Excel or other tools to provide analysis for your job then this is the session for you. Leverage the free capabilities of Power BI, advanced analytics, and help simplify your everyday workload and wow your boss!

Speaker: Dan English, Sr Data Warehouse Architect and Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Dan is the Sr. Data Warehouse Architect at Constellation, Inc., a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, speaker, author, technical editor, and community leader. He has been developing with Microsoft technologies for over 20 years, and over 13 years with Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. He has been working with SQL Server since version 6.5 and now using 2016 and test driving 2017! Dan has videos on YouTube and Vimeo, is blogger, and tweets. Dan is the group leader for the PASS Business Analytics Virtual Group.

Session 2: Time Intelligence in DAX

Time Intelligence is probably the most interesting feature of any analytical solution. Quick measures in Power BI can help you up to a certain point, because if you have more than one date column in your data model, it is also important creating the right data model, having the right Date table, and using the right DAX function to compute calculations such as Year-To-Date, Month-To-Date, Same-Period-Last-Year, and others.

In this session, you will see how to properly use time intelligence calculations in Power BI, avoiding data modeling and DAX mistakes, and using the right work around for the missing “Mark as Date table” feature that you have in Power Pivot.

Speaker: Marco Russo, Microsoft Data Platform MVP

Marco Russo is a Business Intelligence consultant and mentor. He has worked with Analysis Services since 1999, and written several books about Power Pivot, Power BI, Analysis Services Tabular, and the DAX language. With Alberto Ferrari, he writes the content published on www.sqlbi.com, mentoring companies’ users about the new Microsoft BI technologies. Marco is also a speaker at international conferences such as Microsoft Ignite, PASS Summit, PASS BA Conference, and SQLBits.

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Dec 12

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is on Monday, December 12. We will have two presentations, the first one is embedding Power BI in applications and the other is on Data Visualization best practices.

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group December 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, December 12, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:30 : Check-In, Pizza, Networking
• 1:30-1:45 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 1:45-2:45 : Embedding Power BI Visuals within your application for internal and external users
• 2:45-3:00 : Break
• 3:00-4:00 : A Bigger Boat: Data Visualization Lessons from the Movie Theater
• 4:00-4:30 : Wrap Up & Networking

Presentations:

Session 1: Embedding Power BI Visuals within your application for internal and external users

Power BI Visuals can be consumed in different ways and fashions. You can either consume them directly from PowerBI.com or by embedding them within applications (both for internal and external users). In this session, we will cover how to embed Power BI Visuals into application for internal users (using Power BI Developers API’s) and for external users (using Power BI Embedded).

Speaker: Prateek Gandhi, Data Platform Solution Architect

Prateek works at Microsoft as a Data Platform Solution Architect. As a Microsoft employee for the last 4.5 years, he has worked with several large enterprise customers in the Twin Cities helping them with SQL Server, Azure and SQL BI. He has also been working with Microsoft database technologies for the last 15 years with a lot of emphasis on SQL Server.

Session 2: A Bigger Boat: Data Visualization Lessons from the Movie Theater

When Chief Brody first sees the shark in Jaws, he carefully backs away from the stern of the Orca and quietly, but certainly, tells Quint, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” That one line, combined with a terrific delivery by Roy Sheider, packs a great deal of contextual information into six words.

Making efficient use of space to convey meaning is a vital part of good Data Visualization.

In this session, we will discuss the fundamentals of human visual perception, including the important distinction between Pre-Attentive and Attentive Processing. We will use examples from feature films like Jaws, Alien, and Sneakers to show important aspects of visual analysis around Color, Form, Position, and Motion. We will then put these concepts into practice via demos in Excel and Power BI. By the end of this session, you will have a solid understanding of the importance of data visualization and how to use it to enable better decisions.

Speaker: Mark Vaillancourt, Data Solutions Architect

Mark is a Data Solutions Architect for Microsoft, helping organizations design data solutions in Azure. He has been working with Microsoft data technologies since 2007. Before joining Microsoft, he was a Business Intelligence consultant and two-time Microsoft Data Platform MVP. With a background in Theater and Improvised Comedy, Mark makes sure that his presentations are both informative and fun.

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Oct 27

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is coming up on Thursday, October 27. We will have two presentations, the first one is a case study from Red Wing Shoes on Advanced Analytics and the other is on ETL in the Cloud.

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group October 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, October 27, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:00 : Check-In
• 1:00-1:45 : Pizza Lunch
• 1:45-2:00 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 2:00-3:00 : Red Wing Shoes – Keeping on the Heels of Advanced Analytics
• 3:00-3:15 : Break
• 3:15-4:15 : ETL in the Cloud
• 4:15-5:00 : Networking

Presentations:

Session 1: Red Wing Shoes – Keeping on the Heels of Advanced Analytics

For over a century Red Wing purpose-built footwear has been at the spearhead of innovation in the standard of excellence for work boots. As a global leader, they are on a journey to transform their business by leveraging data management and advanced analytics. Hear from Red Wing Shoes on how they are driving product transformation with data and analytics. See how SQL Server master data management and analytics is leveraged to implement data governance, gather and share business insights improve product performance.

Speaker: Jay Wardle, Director, Business Intelligence & Analytics

Jay is the Director, Business Intelligence and Analytics for Red Wing Shoe Company. He leads the long-term strategic direction of BI and data architecture as well as the team who performs development on and operations of BI&A platforms. He is currently driving initiatives in Merchandise Analytics and Business Performance Management to get to "One Source of the Truth." Additionally, he is moving RWSC to Self-Service BI both technically and culturally.

Session 2: ETL in the Cloud

In this session we will canvass the many options you have for doing ETL/ELT work on the Azure platform, including IaaS, PaaS and “serverless” options. We will dive deeper into two workloads with demos and some “tips and tricks” for Azure Data Factory and also Azure Functions.

Speaker: Michael Ludwig, Microsoft Data Solutions Architect

Michael is a Data Solutions Architect at Microsoft in Edina, where he works on Machine Learning, Big Data and Blockchain applications on the Azure platform. Prior to joining Microsoft, Michael worked at Silver Bay, designing and optimizing geographical and financial statistical analysis solutions (mostly regression analysis and clustering). Before that, he was a database architect and then the lead systems architect of a multi-tenant cloud-based Internet-of-Things application for LogicPD, in Minneapolis.

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Aug 22

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is coming up on Monday, August 22. We will have two presentations, the first one is a case study from Lifetouch "Exceeding Six Sigma Email Address Quality" and the other will be by me (Dan English) on "Power BI: Dashboard in an Hour Walk-Through".

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group August 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, August 22, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:00 : Check-In
• 1:00-1:45 : Pizza Lunch
• 1:45-2:00 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 2:00-3:00 : Exceeding Six Sigma Email Address Quality
• 3:00-3:15 : Break
• 3:15-4:15 : Power BI: Dashboard in an Hour Walk-Through
• 4:15-5:00 : Networking

Presentations:

Session 1: Exceeding Six Sigma Email Address Quality

While efforts around data quality and CRM have been around for quite a while, it seems that getting customer data clean and consistent remains a challenge for many organizations. While the causes for this are numerous, there are solutions available to improve the outcome of customer data cleansing efforts at a reasonable cost and without needing to spend several months of effort.

This presentation focuses on how through using software provided by Melissa Data, Pragmatic Works, and native functionality within the SQL Server platform an organization was able to achieve in excess of six sigma quality for email addresses and build a foundation for future customer data integration efforts. Email is a channel used by Marketing to inform and engage customers. Failure to have accurate data for email addresses can result in an email sender being identified as a spammer, or black listed as a result of sending too many incorrectly addressed emails to a given email domain (i.e. gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Using Selligent as the ESP (Email Service Provider) results of the data cleansing process were able to be validated at the receiving inbox. We will discuss what to look for in cleansing email addresses and how codes provided through Melissa Data software helped ensure spam traps were avoided, and erroneous email addresses were recovered (i.e. gmaill.com). While the project focus was email, the cleansing process also included name, address, and some limited demographics (using Census data); these will be covered as time allows.

What’s not covered? How to keep the data clean; keeping it clean varies with all the sources that produce and consume customer data and is often unique to each organization or situation.

Speaker: Chad Burdette, Data Management Team Lead

Chad currently leads the Data Management team for three Lifetouch divisions. He has over 25 years IT experience, holds certification from IBM as a DB2 DBA and Business Intelligence Expert, and from Microsoft as a Data Platform Sales Specialist. He started with the Microsoft BI stack when it wasn’t a stack using Microsoft EIS (Executive Information System) pack for Excel 3.0 back in the early 1990’s. Chad has served in multiple roles: ETL developer, Reports and Dashboard developer, Data Architect, Infrastructure Architect, DBA, Project Manager, and Leader. He is passionate about increasing customer relationships through the use of information to provide relevant points of engagement and interactions, and helping business better use the data they collect achieve superior results.

Session 2: Power BI: Dashboard in an Hour Walk-Through

This session will provide a walk-through example showcasing the Power BI tools including the Desktop, Service, and Mobile application. You will see how you can quickly access and explore data and gain insights from any device as well as collaborate and share the content with others. Some of the recent capabilities that have been released since our last meeting will also be demoed.  The content and examples will be provided after the meeting so that you can go through the walk-through examples on your own.

Speaker: Dan English, Senior Data Warehouse Architect

Dan is the Senior Data Warehouse Architect at Constellation, Inc. and is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, author, technical editor, and community leader. He has been developing with Microsoft technologies for over 15 years, and over 12 years with Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. He has been working with SQL Server since version 6.5 through 2016. Dan has videos on Vimeo, blogs (https://denglishbi.wordpress.com), and tweets (@denglishbi). Dan is the chapter leader for the PASS Business Analytics Virtual Chapter and on the executive leadership team for the MN Microsoft BI user group.

Planning on attending the PASS Summit?  If so, make sure to associate yourself with our user group and receive a $150 discount on registration!

PASS Summit 2016 – Use the following code to save $150 off registration LC15FML4

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Jun 27

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is next week on Monday, June 27.  We will have two topics, one is a case study for Pyramid Analytics / Constellation, Inc. and the other is on using Streaming Analytics and Power BI!

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group June 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, June 27, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:00 : Check-In
• 1:00-1:45 : Pizza Lunch
• 1:45-2:00 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 2:00-3:00 : Constellation, Inc. Case Study and Pyramid Analytics
• 3:00-3:15 : Break
• 3:15-4:15 : Getting beyond hype and buzz words to understand how Power BI, Steaming Data, and Advanced Analytics can work together to solve business problems
• 4:15-5:00 : Networking

Presentations:

Session 1: Constellation, Inc. Case Study and Pyramid Analytics

In this presentation Pyramid Analytics will talk about their Microsoft Strategic Alliance, PASS global alliance partnership, and provide a high level overview of the BI Office suite.  Constellation, Inc. will discuss their Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence story and use of Microsoft and Pyramid Analytics solutions.  We will also touch base on the new on-premise Power BI capabilities provided with the latest release of Power BI Desktop and v6.1 of BI Office!

Speakers: Andrew Mauch and Dan English

Andrew Mauch, Sales Director-Midwest and North Central

Results oriented sales and management professional striving to help companies unlock the power of their data.  Andrew has spent several years managing a consulting organization that built custom BI solutions from the Microsoft platform.  Seeing how companies struggled with BI and complex builds, led him to join Pyramid Analytics where BI is made simple, putting the power of BI in the end users hands with the governance of IT.

Dan English, Senior Data Warehouse Architect

Dan is the Senior Data Warehouse Architect at Constellation, Inc. and is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, author, technical editor, and community leader. He has been developing with Microsoft technologies for over 15 years, and over 12 years with Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. He has been working with SQL Server since version 6.5 through 2016. Dan has videos on Vimeo, blogs (https://denglishbi.wordpress.com), and tweets (@denglishbi). Dan is the chapter leader for the PASS Business Analytics VC and on the executive leadership team for the MN Microsoft BI user group.

Session 2: Getting beyond hype and buzz words to understand how Power BI, Steaming Data, and Advanced Analytics can work together to solve business problems

Devices are becoming smarter and more connected, and the expectation of what can be done with the data generated and collected from these devices continues to evolve both in the commercial and consumer spaces. Whether you are doing health monitoring, building or home automation, social media analytics, application monitoring, energy management, manufacturing, etc., there are millions of events or messages being generated from devices from which you need to gain real-time insights. In this presentation we will explain and demonstrate how Microsoft Cortana Intelligent Suite is used to get real-time insights by creating a scalable stream processing solution to analyze the content of these events, identify anomalies, trigger alerts, and power real-time dashboards. Come learn how to use the power of Stream Analytics & Power BI to create your real-time Internet of Things (IoT) solution.

Speakers: Paul Doyle and Johan Johnson

Paul Doyle, Director of BI Services, GNet Group

Paul is currently the Director of BI Services at GNet Group where he has helped customers in manufacturing, retail and insurance industries successfully implement enterprise data warehouse solutions and self-service BI. He has 15+ years of development experience with SQL Server, Power BI and advanced analytics. He was a contributing author of the Microsoft white paper, "Empowering Enterprise Solutions with SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition" and AppDev courseware "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services". Paul holds a BA in Quantitative Methods & Computer Science from the University of St. Thomas, St Paul, MN.

Jonah Johnson, Solution Architect, GNet Group

Jonah is a Solution Architect for the GNet Group focusing on the Azure Platform and Big Data Analytics. He has nearly two decades of leadership experience building and evolving the technological infrastructure of enterprise corporations. In the most recent ten years Jonah has specialized designing business intelligence platforms and data warehousing solutions.

Planning on attending the PASS Summit?  If so, make sure to associate yourself with our user group and receive a $150 discount on registration!

PASS Summit 2016 – Use the following code to save $150 off registration LC15FML4

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Apr 25

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is today Monday, April 25.  We will have two topics, one is a case study for Andersen Corporation and the other is on using R in Power BI!

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group April 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, April 25, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:00 : Check-In
• 1:00-1:45 : Pizza Lunch
• 1:45-2:00 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 2:00-3:00 : Andersen Corp’s Journey with Microsoft BI: A Business Perspective
• 3:00-3:15 : Break
• 3:15-4:15 : Introduction to and Using R with Power BI
• 4:15-5:00 : Networking

Presentations:

Session 1: Andersen Corp’s Journey with Microsoft BI: A Business Perspective

Lessons learned, Roll out approach, Real examples of how our sales team and leadership group use Microsoft BI tools at Andersen Corp

Speaker: Stephanie Smith

Stephanie Smith is the Retail Insight and Sales Support Manager at Andersen Corporation. While in this role she has used Microsoft BI extensively to help expand the team’s analytic and reporting capabilities.

Session 2: Introduction To and Using R with Power BI for Insightful Visualizations with Advanced Analytics

In this presentation we will explain and demonstrate how to use advanced analytics with Power BI and R visualizations to unlock hidden insights. Learn how to get started using R and take Power BI to the next level.

Speaker: Lily Vergara

Lily Vergara is a Business Intelligence Analyst at GNet Group, where she helps customers implement Self Service with Power BI and advanced analytics with R. She has BI and analytics in human resources, manufacturing, and retail.

Planning on attending the PASS Summit?  If so, make sure to associate yourself with our user group and receive a $150 discount on registration!

PASS Summit 2016 – Use the following code to save $150 off registration LC15FML4

Minnesota Microsoft Power BI User Group Feb 22 Follow Up

Today we kicked off the 2016 year with two presentations, one on SQL Server 2016 and the other on Power BI.  Will Weber (@WilliamWeber) did the first presentation and I did the one covering the majority of the items that have been released for Power BI since I last spoke to our group last June. Wow, that was quite a daunting task, the Microsoft Power BI team has gone crazy and is doing a phenomenal job.

Here is the content I presented and for the demos I covered some of the key new features, but I think I might have glossed over a few as well as skipped a few that I wanted to cover, just not enough time to try and tackle this in an hour:)

 

The slides do include links, so reference those for more additional information and the complete list of updates, just remember this is not everything, just some of the key items that I selected;)

I also showcased a new Power BI report, Power BI Ideas, that I put together that is based on the Power BI Ideas area.  I thought this would be interesting to show people the items that were completed, that are started, and also being planned for.  That way they could get a good feel to how the User Voice really matters and that people need to use this to submit as well as vote on items, it really does make a difference.

(apologize, I am using WordPress.com which does not allow for the embedding of iFrames, so the image will send you to a link to run the live report)

This report above took some time and work to put together. The Ideas forum area does not have the data in a table, it is all in a list. Plus it appears on multiple pages, so a bit of screen scraping had to be performed. Then you realize that that completed and declined ones are not include in the normal pages. So it took some time and work to compile the file. I have thought about moving the source file to OneDrive and then updating that file using Power Update, we will see.

Some other areas that I wanted to mention that I forgot were some of the nice showcase areas available that include live examples you can interact with:

– Department Solutions

– Industry Solutions

– Partner Showcase

– Best Report Finalists

– Power BI Showcase

We had great attendance too today, the even was sold out and standing room only, with approximately 120 people in attendance, outstanding!

And “Yes”, that is my work Surface Pro 3 at the bottom right. Are you on team Captain America or team Iron Man?

I can’t wait till May 6!

I also forgot that I had some Power Bars (I thought that was kind of fitting for my Power BI topic…) to give away during my presentation, so I just randomly tossed them out to some attendees afterwards.

Looking forward to another exciting year of Power BI announcements, the roadmap ahead is looking very good!

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Meeting – Feb 22

The next MN Microsoft BI User Group meeting is coming up in a couple of weeks on Monday, February 22.  We will have two topics, one on the upcoming release of SQL Server 2016 (which CTP 3.3 was just released) and the other on Power BI (all of the new content since I last spoke on it last year – which is a lot of content).

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group Feb 2016 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Monday, February 22, 2016

Check In: 12:45 PM Event Time: 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 12:45-1:00 : Check-In
• 1:00-1:15 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 1:15-2:15 : SQL Server 2016
• 2:15-2:30 : Break
• 2:30-3:30 : Getting the new year started with Microsoft Power BI!
• 3:30-5:00 : Networking and Pizza

Presentations:

Session 1: SQL Server 2016

Microsoft is continuing to invest heavily in BI and Analytics with SQL Server 2016. Reporting Services and Analysis Services are receiving major enhancements and will deliver modern and mobile reporting as well as powerful modeling capabilities. SQL 2016 also brings new advanced analytic capabilities with R Services and enables hybrid BI scenarios to benefit from existing on-premises investments. In this sessions we’ll go over the new BI features of SQL 2016 and talk about the future of BI in SQL Server.

Speaker: Will Weber

Will Weber is a Data Platform Solution Architect with Microsoft. He’s been an active participant in the SQL community in the Twin Cities for a number of years and looks forward to continuing that work in the future. And if the PowerBall gets back up to $1.5 billion he’ll definitely consider buying a ticket.

Session 2: Getting the new year started with Microsoft Power BI!

In this session we will take a look at the changes that Microsoft has released for the Power BI Service, Power BI Desktop, and Power BI Mobile Apps. Microsoft continues to release updates to Power BI on a weekly and monthly basis. Some of the changes since we last met include items such as Custom Visualizations, Full Screen Mode, Pop-Out for Visualizations, Printing, Export Data, QR Codes, Excel Add-In, Widgets, R Visuals Integration, Improved Image Support, and much, much more. Come and check out all of the latest capabilities of Power BI and be amazed!

Speaker: Dan English

Dan is the Senior Data Warehouse Architect at Constellation, Inc. He is also a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, author, technical editor, and community leader. He has been developing with Microsoft technologies for over 15 years, and over 10 years with Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence. He has been working with SQO Server since version 6.5 through 2014 and is exploring 2016. Dan has videos on Vimeo, is an avid blogger, and tweets. Dan is the chapter leader for the PASS Business Analytics VC and on the executive leadership team for the MN Microsoft BI User Group.

Planning on attending the Data Insights Summit or the PASS BA Conference?  If so, make sure to associate yourself with our user group.

Data Insights Summit – Our 3-digit Power BI User Group (PUG) code is 102.

PASS BA Conference – Use the following code to save $100 off registration USMO03

MN PASS Microsoft BI User Group Q4 2015 Meeting – Dec 16

We are pleased to announced the next MN Microsoft BI User Group on Wednesday, December 16.  We have two presentations this quarter, one on HDInsight and Power BI and the other on Azure Machine Learning. Please register ahead of time and make sure to bring a photo id to get into the meeting. We are also pleased to announce that we are one of the initial user groups to also be recognized as an official Microsoft Power BI user group!

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

MN Microsoft BI User Group 2015 Q4 Meeting

Sponsored by:

Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Check In: 2:45 PM Event Time: 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: Microsoft Technology Center – 3601 76th St W, Suite 600 Edina MN 55435 (in LOW 1, 2, and 3)

Please Register Now (Please register so that we can have your name badge pre-printed)

Agenda:

• 2:45-3:00 : Check-In
• 3:00-3:15 : Microsoft BI User Group Updates and Announcements
• 3:15-4:15 : Powering Up HDInsight with Power BI
• 4:15-4:30 : Break
• 4:30-5:30 : Rise of the Machine (Learning)
• 5:30-6:00 : Networking and Pizza

Presentations:

Session 1: Powering Up HDInsight with Power BI

Join Steve Hughes as he walks through two techniques for working with data in HDInsight. In the first example, he will use Power Query to interact with the files in HDInsight. In the second example, he will use Power BI Desktop and Hive to work with the same data. Throughout the session, he will highlight some of the features within Power BI that can be used to explore data stored using Hadoop on HDInsight.

Speaker: Steve Hughes

Steve is a Principal Consultant at Pragmatic Works. He is currently responsible for guiding the Principal Consultant team and working with other areas in the organization to build out their data and analytics offerings. His area of expertise is in data and business intelligence architecture on the Microsoft SQL Server platform. He was also the data architect for a SaaS company which delivered a transportation management solution for fleets across the United States. Steve has co-authored three books and delivered many presentations on SQL Server and data architecture over the past six years. He also provides insights from the field on his blog at http://www.dataonwheels.com.

Session 2: Rise of the Machine (Learning) – Azure ML in BI, in Apps, and as a product in Azure Marketplace

Machine Learning no longer requires expensive infrastructures and knowledge of specialized statistical coding languages. Azure ML lowers the barriers of entry for predictive analytics using Machine Learning.

In this session, review the similarities and differences of Machine Learning compared to traditional Predictive Analytics, Data Mining, Data Science, and Artificial Intelligence. Learn how to integrate predictive analytics into your existing analytics and reporting strategy and infrastructure. Greg will demonstrate how a BI solution using only Excel with Power Pivot can connect to an Azure ML Model in the cloud for predictions and perform analysis with Power BI.

Learn how Azure ML can be used to add value to Apps. Also, review ways to turn your Azure ML Model into a source of revenue using Azure Marketplace. Machine Learning is now quietly rising all around us as it integrates with technology, improves processes and workflows, and transforms how data drives business. Empower your organization with new competitive advantages using Azure ML.

Speaker: Greg Beaumont

Greg is currently the Data Science Practice Lead at GNet Group, where he provides consulting services using Microsoft technologies. His industry vertical experience includes healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, retail and public/government data. Greg has been working in Analytics since 2007, and enjoys designing and building specialized solutions using tools and methodologies such as Six Sigma, Healthcare Performance Measures, Price Analytics and Predictive Analytics. He frequently writes blogs on use of analytics and visualizations http://blog.gnetgroup.com