Shreds And Patches

Published Sun, Sep 27 2009 11:24 | Bob Phillips

"Man is physically as well as metaphysically a thing of shreds and patches, borrowed unequally from good and bad ancestors, and a misfit from the start" (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

 

A number of us British Excel’ers (I nearly said English, Roger would never forgive me) have been holding Excel conferences for a few years. It had been a paid event, but there was no such event in 2008 as the 2007 event was not well enough attended. In 2009, we decided to try something different, and make the event free! Naturally, interest was high, and at the conference (held at Microsoft’s Victoria Street offices) we had over 100 delegates each day, and had to wait-list another 100+. Because of the fantastic interest, and the general good reception to the first event, we have decided to hold a second conference in October, offering first choice to those wait-listed at the March event.

Conferences are great opportunities for like minded saddos like us to get together and talk about the things our partners just pretend to be interested in. Microsoft have very generously provided a room with all of the presentation facilities needed, and provide coffee and lunch on both days. This support from Microsoft is what makes it possible to hold a free event, conference facilities are very expensive, and to have a central London location is fantastic.Again, many thanks to Microsoft, and the UK MVP leads, Vicki Collins and Akim Boukhelif, for their help in setting this all up.

The conference is free, but of course the cost of accommodation and meals, outside of the lunch and coffees provided during the event, are the delegate's responsibility. This applies to the presenters as well, we are not subsidised by Microsoft or anyone else (of course, if any corporation wishes to do so ...) , we bear our own costs. We like these events; we like the socialising and meeting Excel colleagues that we may know virtually but have not yet met in person, and of course, talking Excel over a beer in the evening is no bad thing.

As socialising, or to use that hideous term, networking, is an important facet of these event, we will be organising a group meal (again at own expense) on the Wednesday evening so that we can carry on great conversations that develop throughout these days.

The details of the event are:

Microsoft London (Cardinal Place)

100 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5JL
Tel: 0870 60 10 100

 

The agenda is below

Agenda Wednesday 7th October 2009

Time Event Speaker
9:15am - 9:45am Registration & Coffee
9:45am - 10:00am Welcome and Housekeeping Nick Hodge
10:00am - 10:45am Working Smart with the Excel Grid Simon Murphy
10:45am - 11:45am Intermediate Functions Bob Phillips
11:45am - 12:15pm Coffee
12:15pm - 1:15pm What's in a Name? Charles Williams
1:15pm - 2:00pm Lunch
2:00pm - 2:45pm Excel as an Enterprise BI Tool Carl Mackinder
2:45pm - 3:30pm Tips and Tricks in Charting Andy Pope
3:30pm - 4:00pm Tea & Coffee
4:00pm - 5:00pm Pivot Tables Roger Govier
5:00pm - 5:30pm Pre- submitted Q&A All
5:30pm – Late Drinks, Dinner and Socialising All (Inc Delegates)

 

Agenda Thursday 8th October 2009

Time Event Speaker
8:30am - 9:00am Registration & Coffee  
9:00am - 9:15am Welcome and Housekeeping Nick Hodge
9:15am - 10:00am Data Exchange Nick Hodge
10:00am - 11:00am VBA - It's in Everyone's Reach Simon Murphy
11:00am - 11:30am Coffee
11:30am - 12:45pm Information - Visualising Data In Excel Andy Pope & Bob Phillips
12:45pm - 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm - 2:15pm Arrays and Array Functions Bob Phillips
2:15pm - 3:15pm Speeding up Excel Charles Williams
3:15pm - 3:45pm Tea & Coffee
3:45pm - 4:30pm Pre-submitted Q&A All
4:30pm Close

 

 

I hope to see you there.

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Comments

# sam said on September 28, 2009 7:47 AM:

"we are not subsidised by Microsoft or anyone else"

Its a sad thing that MS does not have money or the wisdom to sponsor such events....they do have money to blow in producing 2010.themovie.com..

# Bob Phillips said on September 28, 2009 8:08 AM:

@Sam, we didn't ask for any financial sponsorship, so we have no idea whether they would have been willing or not. MS did provide the conference facilities which is a tremendous help, and apart from our time, easily the largest cost element.

# Ilir said on October 5, 2009 3:06 AM:

How does one go about registering for this?

Thanks

# Bob Phillips said on October 5, 2009 4:56 AM:

It is getting very late Ilir, it starts on Wednesday, but try bookings@excelusergroup.org

# dilandinga said on October 5, 2009 6:48 AM:

THuThA I bookmarked this link. Thank you for good job!

# Ilir said on October 5, 2009 7:20 AM:

Thank you Bob.

Regards,

Ilir

# Dave Curtis said on October 8, 2009 12:56 PM:

A great conference, well worth attending.

Thanks to all you guys for organising it.

# Prethien said on October 11, 2009 12:02 AM:

Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.,

# Salessi said on October 12, 2009 4:40 AM:

I want to say - thank you for this!,

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