Having served as conference chair for last year’s SAS Global Forum, I am so looking forward to just being a normal attendee at this year’s conference in Washington, DC. That’s right, I’ll have no speaking commitments, no interviewers, no responsibilities—just the privilege of selecting the content that is right for me.
I’ve been reading over the conference schedule and am amazed at just how much content is actually there for the attendees. Whether one is a beginning programmer, a SAS Guru, a manager of other programmers or just anyone wanting to improve their skills and knowledge of a SAS tool or product, there will be something at the conference for everyone.
The first content item that caught my eye was Art Carpenter’s Macro presentation, “Before You Get Started: A Macro Language Preview in Three Parts. Part 2: It's All about the Timing—Why the Macro Language Comes First.” If there is one presenter at SAS Global Forum that I can personally relate to, it is Art. He approaches his content in a logical and easy to understand way. Even the most advanced programmer walks away from Art’s session having learned something new, and the most youthful of programmers come to realize that they can accomplish anything with SAS.
Michael Raithel’s “Supporting SAS® Software in a Research Organization” also caught my eye as his audience is not the hands-on programmers. Instead, he offers advice on how an organization can create and maintain the necessary infrastructure for SAS programmers to be successful in their work.
And then of course, there is always the opportunity to pick up new and unique nuggets of content such as Josh Horstman’s (along with co-author Roger Muller), “Don't Get Blindsided by PROC COMPARE,” as they guide the user to think outside the box and take their approach one step further when comparing their SAS data sets.
So much content, so many choices—SAS Global Forum 2014 could perhaps be the best conference ever. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you there!
--Rick
2 Comments
Rick,
Thank you for mentioning my presentation. It is designed to help SAS professionals create a solid infrastructure for deploying and supporting SAS to maximized the benefit to the organization by minimizing installation, technical support, and training issues. Individuals who take this protocol to heart have a good possibility of becoming the recognized SAS experts in their organizations; which is one of the themes in my latest SAS Press book: How to Become A Top SAS Programmer.
I look forward to giving this presentation and talking to attendees who want to build a SAS support regimen in their organizations.
----Michael A. Raithel
Caught one of Art's presentations last year ("How Do I ...?" There Is More Than One Way to Solve That Problem; Why Continuing to Learn Is So Important). Big thumbs up! Not only a lesson on SAS, but also a lesson on how to teach SAS.