Super Night - 3 session in one

The Melbourne Data Platform User Group is changing how we run meetings. Instead of long monthly sessions, we are going to try a "Super Night" on Tuesday 13th Aug.

We have lined up 3 sessions across different topics to supercharge your learning and networking opportunities across some products or features that you might not have considered before:

SESSION 1: Are Certifications worth the effort? by Martin Cairney
For many the start of a new financial year also marks the start of objectives for the coming year. What do you want to achieve? What would your employer like you to achieve? Is a Certification just a box-ticking exercise or do they still offer value for your personal development?
In this session, Martin will reflect on his recent experiences with studying for Certifications at the same time as changing jobs. How challenging were they? What skills and experiences were valid across different Certification providers? Have they helped with job opportunities?

SESSION 2: Common Pitfalls: Understanding Why Data Warehouses Fail by Kristian Lofts

In this session, Kristian will cover:
Common Failures: Discover frequent mistakes such as poor planning, inadequate requirements, and lack of stakeholder engagement.

Key Insights: Learn essential components for success, including data modeling, ETL processes, and data governance.

Live Build: Watch a live demonstration of building a conceptual data warehouse using SQL Server, showcasing best practices and techniques.

SESSION 3: Fast and Furious: Power BI Direct Lake in Fabric by Reza Rad

Microsoft Fabric is a Sassified analytical suite, and one of the features it brings to Power BI is the new type of connection called Direct Lake. Direct Lake is not only performing fast, but it comes with other benefits, too. In this session, Reza will take you through what the Direct Lake is, its benefits, how it works, and an example of it connected to Lakehouse and Warehouse (and, of course, there will be discussions on the difference between these two objects too), the way it can work with Mirroring in the Warehouse, and many other aspects of it. The session is full of live demos plus slides. Topics covered in this session include but are not limited to Lakehouse, Warehouse, Mirroring, Power BI Direct Lake, Performance considerations, and Fabric.