Analytics Engineering Belgium Meetup #1

Welcome to the first edition of our Analytics Engineering Meetup! This group is dedicated to bringing together professionals and enthusiasts interested in exploring the latest developments and trends in the field of analytics engineering. We aim to provide a platform for members to network, share ideas, and learn from each other in a relaxed and supportive environment. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or just starting out, we encourage you to come along and join the conversation. Let's make this a great success!

Schedule

• 17h45: welcome with food & drinks
• 18h30: Lessons learned in the trenches with dbt (Mathias Lavaert - DPG Media)
• 19h00: dbt for data scientists - how to avoid the common pitfalls? (Grégoire Hornung - Qover)
• 19h30: break
• 19h45: How dbt Enabled OTA Insight's Seamless Migration from ChartIO to Looker (Lise Kerckhove - OTA Insight)
• 20h30: networking & drinks

➡️ Join the dbt Slack community: https://www.getdbt.com/community/
🤝 Be part of the conversation in the #local-belgium channel in dbt Slack!

Lessons learned in the trenches with dbt (Mathias Lavaert)
I'd like to share my experience using dbt in production workflows with multiple clients. There some common pitfalls and misconceptions around dbt, but also some lesser known useful things.

Mathias has a decade of experience working on several data-intensive projects in various roles, ranging from engineer to enterprise data architect. Currently he helps DPG Media to transition to a data mesh architecture as a Principal Data Engineer. Mathias lives on the outskirts of Brussels with his wife. Together they're building a small farm specialized in breeding Herdwick sheep.

dbt for data scientists - how to avoid the common pitfalls? (Grégoire Hornung)

Many data scientists are now turning into so-called analytics engineers as the industry realizes that easy-to-access, high quality data is a prerequisite before any advanced modelling work.

While data scientists and analytics engineers are both data practitioners, the way they approach problems can slightly differ.
In this presentation, I will share my personal experience and discuss the common challenges that both data scientists / aspiring analytics engineers may encounter when building a data infrastructure with dbt.

In his talk, Grégoire will use concrete situations faced by his team at Qover, an insurtech scale-up based in Brussels. Grégoire works at Qover as head of data. Qover is a leader in embedded insurance orchestration, aiming to create a global safety net with insurance that empowers people to live life to the fullest.

How dbt Enabled OTA Insight's Seamless Migration from ChartIO to Looker (Lise Kerckhove)

During this talk, I will uncover the story of OTA Insight's journey from our initial BI tool, ChartIO, to a self-service data platform powered by Looker. You will learn how dbt was the key enabler in this migration and how it transformed OTA Insight's data strategy, delivering consistent reporting, data reliability, and empowering business stakeholders to do their own analyses.

• How dbt helped avoid a vendor lock-in and reduced the migration time to less than 4 months
• Best practices for testing and validating data transformations
• How to create a self-service-focused data tool that serves not only your end-users but also your leadership team and board members
• How OTA Insight optimized their data architecture for Looker and the impact on their data analysis process

Get ready to take your data transformation to the next level!

Lise Kerkckhove works as Team Lead Analytics Engineering at OTA Insight. From the very beginning in 2012, OTA Insight’s vision is to provide user friendly revenue management tools, as well as becoming the global leader in data intelligence for the hospitality industry.

Location & parking

⚠️⚠️⚠️ LOCATION UPDATE:
Due to unforeseen circumstances we had to change the location last-minute to De Hoorn in Leuven. It is very close by the original location.

The event will be in "Machinezaal" at De Hoorn in Leuven. The address is Sluisstraat 79, 3000 Leuven.

🅿️ You can park your car on the side of the road of the Kolonel Begaultlaan. Do not forget to put out your blue parking disc. If there is no parking space on the side of the road, you can also easily park at Parking Vaartkom.
Note: do not park in the Dreamland parking lot. This parking closes at 6.30 PM and you won’t be able to leave with your car.