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
Unlock the Power of Organizational Data | Jakob Nielsen
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
ExcelSESSION OUTLINE:
We're excited to have Jakob Nielsen (a member of Microsoft's Excel design team) presenting a series of 3 sessions for us through to the end of the year!This first session will show how Excel Data Types can make worksheets easier to build, read, and keep up to date. We’ll start with built‑in Data Types like Stocks, Currencies, and Geography, and learn how they bring structured, refreshable data into the grid. Then we’ll walk through creating custom Data Types with Power Query.
You’ll also see a demo of the Make Digital Solutions Data Types add‑in for Excel (built by Jakob), which lets you create Data Types from your own data and share them across your team. Examples throughout the session show how Data Types work with formulas, lookups, and dynamic arrays.
Stay tuned for Jakob's other presentations later in the fall and winter!
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Jakob Nielsen is passionate about helping people become more productive and achieve better results with spreadsheets. He is the founder and CEO of Make Digital Solutions ApS and a Principal Designer in the Excel team at Microsoft.Connect with and follow Jakob online at:
- Email: jakob@makedigitalsolutions.dk
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/makedigitalsolutions
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).
63 attendees
Turning Semantic Models into Insights, Automation and AI | Sue Bayes
·OnlineOnlineSESSION TRACK:
Power BISESSION OUTLINE:
Most Power BI and Fabric sessions stop once the semantic model is built. But in this session, Microsoft MVP Sue Bayes explores what comes next—analytics, automation, AI, governance and data science capabilities that unlock far more value from your model.
Objectives:- Use semantic models beyond traditional reporting.
- Implement governance and documentation practices.
- Build additional business value without rebuilding datasets.
- Connect AI, automation and notebooks to existing models.
SPEAKER PROFILE:
Sue Bayes is an independent data consultant and Microsoft MVP with over 20 years’ experience in business intelligence, analytics, and IT education. She’s a Microsoft Certified Fabric Data Engineer, Analytics Engineer, Azure Enterprise Data Analyst, and Power BI Data Analyst Associate.
For the past 7+ years, Sue has worked across public and private sectors, developing impactful Power BI solutions that span planning, project management, finance, and service-specific reporting. Her work combines robust data engineering with insightful dashboard design, often integrating advanced techniques like sentiment analysis, Python forecasting, and bespoke data cleansing.Connect with Sue online at:
- Website: databayes.co.uk
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/suebayes
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).
60 attendees
Past events
172
