General Sessions

How can you control for differences in geographical regions in marketing studies so that those differences don’t adversely affect attempts at quantifying the impact of a particular marketing effort? This is a challenge frequently faced in large-scale marketing experiments where it’s often only possible to provide a marketing stimulus to an entire geographical area. In these experiments, marketers often employ the Test & Control Experimental framework (A/B Testing). 
In this framework, comparisons are made between different geographical regions where one region receives Marketing Stimulus A and another receives Marketing Stimulus B. Each geographical region, however, is unique. In order to isolate and accurately quantify the effect of each of those marketing stimuli under study, marketers need to somehow control for all the factors that could influence how each of those regions respond to marketing. In this session, you will learn a statistical technique known as Observation Clustering that can help marketers pair geographical regions that are most similar to each other across many different critical dimensions so that more accurate comparisons can be made.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Intermediate

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This session describes and demonstrates how to create a self-service Big Data analytics solution with structured and unstructured data by using Azure HDInsight and Microsoft Power BI. This session will be of interest to those new to the concept of Big Data, new to Microsoft Power BI, and also for those interested in understanding how Big Data can play a role in self-service analytics solutions.
Numerous demonstrations will reinforce fundamental Big Data theory by showing how to store and prepare data, and how different HDInsight cluster types and data query techniques can address a variety of data challenges. Microsoft Power BI will then be employed to retrieve query results from Azure HDInsight for the purpose of analysis and reporting.

Peter Myers

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Discover & Integrate

Level: Introductory

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In this session we look at how you can create an Activity-Based Costing System using Power BI for the allocation model and end-user reporting. Having the final report model in Power BI gives you the ultimate control over reporting, including adding other information possibly not even held with Information Technology.
We will use a real-world health care model to show how we replaced an expensive, difficult to understand and maintain SAS system, with a simple, elegant, and auditable solution based on the Microsoft stack. The rules are table-driven with allocated costs handling built in.

Grant Paisley

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Discover & Integrate

Level: Intermediate

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The number one goal of most reporting environments is to maximize user adoption. In this session you will learn how to use visualizations to create Excel dashboards that people will want to use every day. You will master dashboard and report layout, learning key design elements to consider during development.
This session is intended for analysts that want to move beyond grid-type reports and build visualizations that get noticed by executives. If your work requires preparation of reports in Excel or if you are an aspiring Excel dashboards developer, then this session is for you. 
By applying what you learn in this session, the design of your next Excel dashboard will captivate your audience. No special tools or add-ins are required - just a desktop install of Excel and some data.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Intermediate

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Power BI is quickly becoming the tool of choice for self-service reporting. It’s time to get up to speed! In this session, learn about the architecture of Power BI. Using a hypothetical case, we’ll discover the major components of Power BI and see some examples. We'll walk through the steps involved to create a Power BI Dashboard, including an overview of The Power BI site; downloading and configuring Power BI; Dashboard customization; and data refresh configurations.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Introductory

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Bring your laptop and build a real BI solution using Power BI! This workshop is tailored to BAs who use the Power BI Desktop, which you can download for free from PowerBI.com (please install it before the workshop).
Learn how to cleanse and transform data from multiple sources, model and shape your data, and analyze and explore it with interactive reports and dashboards. We’ll explore DAX language fundamentals and calculations, and define and use key performance indicators and natural language to get insights from your data. You’ll leave with a working BI solution.
The skills you will learn in this workshop apply to the Power BI cloud service and the advanced analytics add-ins for Excel (Power Query, Power Pivot and Power View).

Paul Turley

Paco Gonzalez

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Discover & Integrate

Level: Introductory

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Prepare to be amazed with what you can achieve using Power Query in this demo-heavy session. Power Query is the data extraction, transformation, and mash up tool. It can be accessed through Excel or from Power BI Desktop. There are numerous data transformation features that can be used to solve real-world data preparation challenges.
We will use customer case studies to go through scenarios of preparing data for modelling, and visualization. You will learn how to use features of Power Query such as generators, custom functions, and lots of built-in functions to solve those scenarios. You will also learn some data preparation techniques through Excel itself.

Reza Rad

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Discover & Integrate

Level: Intermediate

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"He who would search for pearls, must dive below" -- John Dryden. 
Microsoft's acquisition of Revolution Analytics will directly empower businesses to gain insights into their data, using R. 
Join us for a practical insight into how we can dive for the pearls in our data, using Power BI with integrated analyses in R. We will show you how to integrate data and then analyze it for insights, using Power BI and R together. Finally, we will visualize the data in Power BI, showing how combining data analysis and data visualization uncovers the stories in the data.

Jen Stirrup

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Intermediate

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You are excited about the possibilities of developing deeper use of data analytics in your organization. You are ready for the challenge -- but then you hit a big data quality roadblock!
But you're not doomed. In this session, we will show with agile approach to analytics, empowered by more sophisticated data analytics tools such as Power BI, there are specific short-term strategies that you can employ to identify and address these data quality issues as well as launch projects to solve the issues long-term.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Discover & Integrate

Level: Intermediate

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Having multiple data visualizations doesn't make it easier to choose the right one to reveal the story. Choosing the wrong visualization can obscure the story - or worse yet, distort it! In this session, learn the vocabulary of data visualization and how to apply grammar (visualization design principles) to your data. Along the way, you will also learn how to evaluate the goal of your data story and how to choose the correct visualizations that communicate this story accurately and effectively.

Stacia Varga

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Introductory

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With more than 13 million customers in 37 countries and 40,000+ servers on three continents, GoDaddy is the world's largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses. But that hasn’t always been the case. In 2013, GoDaddy unveiled a new mission: to radically shift the global economy towards small businesses. 
This case study will explore the transformation our analytics teams have undergone to deliver on this bold new mission. We’ll describe the journey of transitioning from traditional analytics (using familiar tools such as SQL Server and Teradata) to a modern, Hadoop-based data architecture supporting complex analytics on all types of data. We’ll share the business motivations behind the migration, how analysts have been affected, and the capabilities it has enabled for our analytics teams. We’ll also discuss some of the obstacles and what we’d do differently if we could do it again.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Intermediate

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Even as buyers continue to understand what it's all about, the Big Data market is changing. Hadoop's ecosystem is broadening, even to the point where Hadoop's own engine may cease to be required. Streaming data processing is rapidly increasing in importance, as is combining real-time and historical data in a single environment. Machine learning and predictive analytics are also gaining importance. 
Pick the wrong platform and you may be in for some turbulence. Pick the right strategy, though, and you'll be prepared for changes coming down the pipeline, including the ones we don't know about yet.
Andrew Brust, Senior Director at Big Data software company Datameer, and ZDNet's Big Data correspondent, will discuss trends and changes in the industry, as well as his predictions for what's next. He'll give you his take on how to navigate the uncertainty, get your Big Data projects moving, and blend Big Data technologies with the existing OLTP and Business Intelligence stacks that you're using right now.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Introductory

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Providing the tools to implement data analytics is only one part of a successful project. Collaboration policies, data management roles, security, and training are all necessary to ensure the wide adoption of data-based decision making throughout your organization. BA projects regularly require interaction with the technical teams who are responsible for ensuring the security, access, and storage of the data. 
During this deep-dive session, we will discuss practices and methods to foster and continue good collaborative relationships between technical and analytics teams. We will illustrate the methods needed to encourage users to adopt data-driven decision making using the Power BI toolset.  
Attendees will leave with a methodology they can implement in their environments to promote successful data-based decision making, with a foundation of proven methods provided to real clients across industries from a technical and management perspective.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Intermediate

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Using built-in standard Excel tools, we will reduce volatility in outcomes by performing sensitivity and scenario analysis to mitigate risk and reduce uncertainty in decision making. In this session, you will learn the different Excel methods for scenario and sensitivity analysis, understand the importance of assumptions in data modeling, and discover how to turn any model into a scenario analysis.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Introductory

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The benefits of Big Data technologies are sizable, but so is the cost. How can small- and medium-sized companies reap the same benefits without the big price tag? 
This session will focus on sharing cutting-edge ideas on ways predictive analytical techniques can be implemented in small- and medium-sized companies. We will share how our approaches and techniques can be used with readily available tools (e.g. Excel, VBA, Cloud) to perform predictive analytics at a fraction of the costs.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Introductory

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Once the diligent analyst has completed their analysis of business or financial information, communicating the insights in a compelling and engaging presentation can become a challenging task. If the presentation is unclear, executives are unable to make effective data-driven decisions. 
In this session, learn how to develop presentations geared towards executives to successfully convince them of the strategic implications of the analytical outputs of your work. We will explore the best-in-class methods to turn numerical information into powerful visuals, how to summarize your data into a PowerPoint presentation, and how to present your data in a visually interesting and concise fashion.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Introductory

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A key tenet of any successful business is to focus service scope so that the organization is not overstretched. Few corporations would ever sign up for a business plan that included the provision of clinical services, restaurant inspections, curb-side garbage pickup, and the management of incarcerated populations. This is the precise challenge that local governments across the United States face daily. Further, many of these entities are faced with the challenge of ""doing more with less"" while facing tightening budgets, increased regulation, and the impending retirement of Baby Boomers. 
This session will focus on the actionable steps taken by one local government to enable its workforce, improve customer service, and re-tool its business through the use of BI. Real-life tools and dashboards will be demonstrated that are currently utilizing a diverse set of public and private sector data sources. Governance considerations made at each level of data consumption will be examined.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Introductory

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It is important for every business to understand and respect risk. The risk analytics lifecycle requires multiple tools and techniques. It typically begins with risk analysts building models through which ideas are tested. The sound ideas are then incorporated into processes and used to guide decisions. Towards the end of the lifecycle, everyone is eager to see the actual performance of the business to make decisions on any necessary adjustments. If changes are needed, the cycle starts all over again. 
Historically, this process has been done with tools produced by a mix of vendors, resulting in a fragmented solution. Through Microsoft's embrace of open-source technologies and commitment to analytics, we now have a single platform on which we can complete every step of the risk analytics lifecycle. In this session, we'll walk through a real-world example and demonstrate how to do risk analytics on the Microsoft platform -- on-premises or in the cloud.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Expert

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Explore advanced spatial analysis techniques that are useful for combining existing spatial data with more traditional tabular data. You will learn how to leverage publicly available datasets with data that is internally created within your organization. Although the focus is on how the analysis techniques are applied to any industry, the demonstrations show specific cases, including health care, asset management, and earth science. Join us for a discussion where we'll explore the options available for visualizing the results and discuss the pros cons and limitations of each technology. You likely already have spatial data, this session shows you how to use it effectively.

Jason Horner

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Analyze & Interpret

Level: Intermediate

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Stories resonate and stick with your audience in ways that data alone does not. Why wouldn’t you leverage the power of storytelling when communicating with data?
Join this engaging session, during which Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic discusses the untapped potential of combining the magic of story with best practices in data visualization for communicating effectively with data. Being able to tell stories with data is a critical skill in our world of ever-increasing data and data-driven decision making. An effective data story can mean the difference between success and failure when it comes to communicating the findings of your study, raising money for your nonprofit, presenting to your board, or simply getting your point across to your audience. You’ll leave this session ready and excited to tell stories with your data.
Check out www.storytellingwithdata.com for more about Cole and her work and follow her on Twitter @storywithdata.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Intermediate

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Many organizations can relate to being stuck trying to expand the use of analytics or feeling like the company can’t move past “the way it’s always been done.” There was a time when the Oregon Lottery (a billion-dollar business) was no different. Over the last year, we have moved from an organization that spent countless hours distributing hundreds of PDF reports to a place where stakeholders can now answer their own day-to-day questions with interactive dashboards. 
By using Microsoft’s Power BI tools, our users can access the company’s wealth of data while maintaining a familiar Excel look and feel. This session will show examples of the output, as well as our journey through limited stakeholder interest; challenges with finding the right tools and splicing data from various sources; and achieving high demands for expansion with stakeholders.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Introductory

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Microsoft Excel is still by far the number one tool for business analysts. With the introduction of Power BI there was a fear that Excel would become redundant. This session is about proving that wrong and showing the skilled business analyst how to maximize Excel to resolve complex dashboarding scenarios.
Learn real-life dashboard tricks you can only do with Excel as a BI dashboarding tool. Stun your business customers as you view real-life demonstrations on leveraging slicers, sets, pivot tables, cube formulas, and VBA.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Expert

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This session is devoted to two of the most irreplaceable aspects of the analyst role, both of which allow us to uncover and communicate more truth to our users. First, you will see a roadmap for initially exploring a data set via a prescribed series of graphical analyses. These visualizations will allow you to uncover the most important aspects of a data set, eliminating the "noise". Then, you will learn how we can turn data into minimalist visualizations that make impacts. By focusing on the concept of less is more, you will learn best practices in creating views and dashboards that allow users to become truth seekers themselves.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (120 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Intermediate

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In this session we will use story writing techniques as a backdrop to creating compelling stories. First, we will share the five key components of a story and how analysts should follow the same pattern: 1) Characters; 2) Setting; 3) Plot; 4) Conflict; and 5) Resolution. Next, we will follow-up with best practices on creating ideal visualizations. Finally, we will discuss KPIs, typical measures, and how to craft new ones.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Visualize & Inform

Level: Intermediate

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Like all exciting new technologies, Big Data has generated its own hype. Concepts like Data Lakes, Real-time Streaming and Big Data’s ability to free us all from the shackles of the schema fill technical and business journals and blogs. There is huge benefit in expanding your data platform to include Big Data solutions. 
However, if you don’t take an holistic view of your entire data platform strategy, including governance and the needs of the business, you can end up creating another much larger, much more expensive data silo that is impenetrable to your users and your analytics systems. 
This session will help business users sift through the hype surrounding Big Data, and discuss some prevailing concepts and strategies in a vendor-agnostic way. It will highlight the pitfall and opportunities of incorporating Big Data into a larger data platform and help business leaders start with value and not technology.

Session Type:
Breakout Session (60 minutes)

Track:
Communicate & Lead

Level: Introductory

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