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=PLIRJFbuwYskLKHIWt9OBV
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
Financial Modelling with AI: Is it ready and how can we use it? | Giles Male
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
Excel
SESSION OUTLINE:
Microsoft MVP Giles Male has been testing AI tools for financial modelling as part of the Mod Squad podcast series over the last few months, alongside Paul Barnhurst and Ian Schnoor. Join him as he shares the highs and lows of this testing journey, and shares practical advice for anyone looking to use AI tools as part of their modelling work in 2026.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Giles Male is a 2x Microsoft MVP and one of 8 Master Financial Modelers certified globally with the FMI. He is passionate about helping other modellers cut through the hype and misinformation in the market.
He's also sometimes known for wearing fur coats, music videos, and generally being extremely quiet and humble...
Connect with and follow Giles online at:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
- Website: www.fullstackmodeller.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.38 attendees
Getting Crafty with Power Query Custom Functions in Power BI | Cristian Angyal
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
Power BI
SESSION OUTLINE:
We'll start off by learning about What's New in Power BI with Joseph Yeates. We will then welcome our featured presenter, Microsoft MVP Cristian Angyal.
Ever felt like the out-of-the-box features in Power BI are great but sometimes you just want more control? That’s where Power Query Custom Functions come in. Think of them as your DIY toolkit: a way to build reusable logic and make Power Query work exactly the way you need it to.
In this session, we’ll break down what custom functions are, how they work, and when you should use them. We’ll start with the basics so everyone feels comfortable, then move into real-world examples where custom functions truly shine, like cleaning messy data, standardizing logic, and saving hours of repetitive work.
By the end, you’ll know how to create your own go-to tools, apply them across projects, and simplify complex transformations. You’ll leave with practical techniques you can use right away—and maybe even a new favorite feature in Power BI. Ready to get crafty? Let’s dive in.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Cristian Angyal is a “Project Management Professional turned into a Data Guy” working as a link between two worlds: Business and IT. Having worked for the last 20+ years with data in different roles, he was fascinated when he discovered Power Query and Power Pivot back in 2014 and then, Power BI in 2015.
He holds several Microsoft Certifications (MS Fabric Analytics Engineer, Power BI Certified Data Analyst, Trainer (MCT), MCSE Data Management and Analytics, MCSA BI Reporting, MOS Master, Excel Expert, etc) and he loves getting insights from data and then, using these insight solving real business problems.
Cristian is the founder of Romania Power BI and Modern Excel User Group (https://www.meetup.com/romaniapug/) and has been recognized as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 2022.
Connect with and follow Cristian online at:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristian-angyal/
- X: https://twitter.com/cristian_angyal
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cristiangyal.bsky.social
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.64 attendees
Past events
163
