VanPUG - Vancouver Power BI & Modern Excel User Group

Upping Your Excel Efficiency Game | Ken Puls

Thu, Aug 6 · 9:00 AM PDT

·

Online

Online

SESSION TRACK:
Excel

SESSION OUTLINE:
Tired of hunting through old workbooks or a messy Notepad file for that formula, query, or DAX measure you know you've written before? Join us for a practical look at speeding up the parts of Excel that usually eat your time - without leveraging AI.

Some of the items Ken Puls will cover in this session:

• Never lose a formula again - build a searchable personal library of your go-to Excel LAMBDAs, Power Queries, DAX measures, and more, complete with smart prompts so you can drop them into any workbook in seconds
• Instant formula indentation - a keyboard shortcut that turns a wall-of-text formula into something readable, on demand
• LET-ify your formulas instantly - turn a long, repetitive formula into a clean LET version automatically, no manual rewriting required
• Name it as you make it - create Tables, Named Ranges, or Dynamic Array names right at the moment of creation, instead of renaming after the fact and breaking your Power Query in the process

From formula writers to Power Query builders to data modelers, there's something here to speed up your everyday Excel work.
Whether you're a Power Query devotee or still living in formula-land, you'll walk away with practical techniques to speed up your everyday Excel work.

SPEAKER PROFILE:
Ken Puls, FCPA, FCMA, is the president of Excelguru Consulting Inc, a company dedicated to helping users get the most from their data. His passion lies in exploring tools to turn data into information, and teaching others how to benefit from them. Ken is a blogger, author and trainer with over 20 years of corporate accounting and IT experience. He is one of the world’s leading experts in Microsoft Excel, Power Query and Power BI, and provides live and online training to clients around the world, including on the Skillwave Training learning platform that he co-founded in 2020.

In recognition of his contributions, Ken has held the prestigious Microsoft MVP distinction since 2006 in both the Excel and Data Platform categories. He was a Global Excel Awards finalist for Training Provider of the Year in 2026 and for Best Excel Add-in in 2025 and 2026.

Connect with and follow Ken online at:

• Excelguru Website: excelguru.ca
• Skillwave Training Website: skillwave.training
• LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/kenpuls and https://www.linkedin.com/company/excelguruconsulting/
• Bluesky: @xlguru.bsky.social
• Facebook: @xlguru

TENTATIVE AGENDA (subject to change, all times listed are in Pacific Time):

• 8:45am Teams Meeting opens to attendees to begin joining
• 9:00am-9:05am Welcome and Meeting Overview
• 9:05am-9:20am What's New in Power BI
• 9:20am-10:20am Feature Presentation
• 10:20am-10:25am Meeting Wrap-up

REGISTRATION:
This meet-up will be hosted on Microsoft Teams, and will be recorded to share with others who were not able to attend live. You must RSVP for the event in order to access the Teams Meeting link.

JOINING THE EVENT:
Attendees can join the Teams Meeting starting at 8:45am on the night of the event. The link will be visible only if you RSVP beforehand.

Once the event gets underway at 9:00am, we ask that attendees make sure they are on MUTE, so background noise and distractions are minimized.

During the presentation, attendees can type questions and comments into the chat area, which will be monitored by the event hosts. There will be time for Q&A at the end, where attendees can un-mute their mic and even share their video to ask questions.

**NOTE: As mentioned above, this event will be recorded and shared online, so attendee information may be visible in the recording.

Don't Make Them Think: Better Charts Through Better Design | Echo Swinford

Thu, Aug 20 · 11:00 AM PDT

·

Online

Online

SESSION TRACK:
Excel and Power BI

SESSION OUTLINE:
The best charts communicate their message almost instantly. In this session, Microsoft MVP Echo Swinford focuses on the design side of data visualization – not which chart type to choose, but how to make the charts you create easier to understand. We'll explore how our brains process visual information and how to apply those principles when designing charts. You'll learn practical techniques for emphasizing what's important, removing distractions, improving labels and titles, and preparing charts that look polished both in Excel (and Power BI) and when presented in PowerPoint.

SPEAKER PROFILE:
Echo Swinford has been a Microsoft MVP since 2000, which means she's spent more than two decades enthusiastically "helping" the PowerPoint and Excel charting teams improve their products. She specializes in branded presentation templates for PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote, helping organizations create presentations that are both beautiful and easy to use. These days, she's focused on helping companies embrace Copilot and AI while still remembering the fundamentals of good presentation design.

Connect with and follow Echo online at:

• Website: echosvoice.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/echoswinford

TENTATIVE AGENDA (subject to change, all times listed are in Pacific Time):

• 10:45am Teams Meeting opens to attendees to begin joining
• 11:00am-11:05am Welcome and meeting overview
• 11:05am-11:20am What's New in Power BI (TBC)
• 11:20am-12:20pm Feature Presentation
• 12:20pm-12:25pm Meeting Wrap-up

REGISTRATION:
This meet-up will be hosted on Microsoft Teams, and will be recorded to share with others who were not able to attend live. You must RSVP for the event in order to access the Teams Meeting link.

JOINING THE EVENT:
Attendees can join the Teams Meeting starting at 10:45am on the day of the event. The link will be visible only if you RSVP beforehand.

Once the event gets underway at 11:00am, we ask that attendees make sure they are on MUTE, so background noise and distractions are minimized.

During the presentation, attendees can type questions and comments into the chat area, which will be monitored by the event hosts. There will be time for Q&A at the end, where attendees can un-mute their mic and even share their video to ask questions.

**NOTE: As mentioned above, this event will be recorded and shared online, so attendee information may be visible in the recording.

A link to the recording will be posted here on the event page and on the Excelguru social media channels once it is available (usually a day or 2 after the event).