Plans are underway for a day of getting dirty with data! My SAS colleagues, Tapan Patel and Wayne Thompson, along with workshop host Dean Abbott, President of Abbott Analytics, are hosting a Hands-On Predictive Analytics Workshop on October 18th. This session is one of several workshops that kick off the Predictive Analytics World Conference later this year at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, VA.

I think you'll agree that once you know the basics of predictive analytics, there's no better way to dive in than operating real data mining software yourself, hands-on. "Get your hands dirty" by trying out state-of-the-art modeling methods on real data. Working to solve a specific business problem, you will design and execute on a core analytical approach. You'll also prep the data, set up the modeling, push "go" and check out the results.

While the vast majority of concepts covered during this workshop apply to all predictive analytics projects - regardless of the particular software employed - this workshop's hands-on experience is achieved via SAS Enterprise Miner. A license will be made available to participants for use on that day (and will be included with workshop registration). Each workshop participant will have access to a computer with SAS Enterprise Miner installed for the duration of the workshop.

Early Bird registration for the full conference is available now! If you decide to attend, we invite you to use the SAS 20 percent off sponsor discount code: SASPAW20. Hope to see you there!