About us
We are a group of Power BI and Modern Excel enthusiasts. This group is dedicated to running monthly meetings to share techniques and inspire incredible data analytics and dashboards using Power BI and the Modern Excel tools (Power Pivot and Power Query).
View recordings of past meet-ups on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIRJFbuwYskLKHIWt9OBVpeMs-NZ_jvS_
Interested in Presenting?
Do you have a topic you’d like to share with the group? We are always looking for people to speak at upcoming meet-ups, and love to hear about the projects you are working on! If you are interested, fill out our online form: https://xlguru.ca/speakatvanpug
Upcoming events
2
Excel as A Database and AI Agent Fuel | Richard Nero
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
ExcelSESSION OUTLINE:
Many will argue Excel is not a database. Well, Microsoft MVP Richard Nero will show how in a few clicks you can turn Excel workbooks into cloud based SQL databases that fuel AI Agents.SPEAKER PROFILE:
Richard Nero is an Excel MVP and automation consultant focused on helping finance teams work smarter. Using Excel, Power Automate, Python, SQL, and AI agents, he partners with large organisations to streamline processes and unlock better insights from their ERP systems. While he specialises in Microsoft technologies, he works across whatever tools are needed to get the job done.Connect with and follow Richard online at:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/richard-nero
- Website: developexltd.com
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-10:05am Feature Presentation
- 10:05am-10:10am 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 day 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.
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).
74 attendees
User-Friendly Excel Reports That People Actually Want to Use | Laura Szepesi
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
ExcelSESSION OUTLINE:
Josephy Yeates will start us off with some of the latest updates to Power BI. Then, we welcome our featured presenter, Microsoft MVP Laura Szepesi. Whether you’re an employee, self-employed, or a trainer: if you work with Excel, chances are you deliver your files to someone else. Someone with fewer Excel skills than you, but high expectations. So how do you create work they don’t just like, but love?
In this masterclass, Laura focuses on design principles and clever workarounds you can use immediately:- Design principles that work: layout, hierarchy, and color choices that make a report understandable at a glance
- Clever workarounds: simple tricks that make a workbook feel polished and intuitive
- A user-first mindset: how to design for the person opening your file, not for the person who built it
- Practical takeaways: techniques you can apply to your next report right away
You’ll leave with a repeatable approach for creating Excel reports your colleagues and clients will actually enjoy using.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Laura Szepesi is a 2x Microsoft MVP, Excel trainer, and founder of MindfulExcel. She specialises in modern Excel dashboards, data visualisation, and automation, with a passion for showing that Excel can be beautiful, dynamic, and something people actually enjoy using.
She speaks at international conferences, trains teams across Europe and beyond, and combines technical depth with a design-first mindset that sets her work apart.Connect with and follow Lauran online at:
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laura-szepesi
- Website: mindfulexcel.com
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 day 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.
8 attendees
Past events
180
