est plus près de la maison, está más cerca de casa, está mais perto de casa, dichter bij huis, is closer to home, eh!

In analytics and statistics, we often talk about sample sizes. The size of the data sets that you analyze are a measure of the amount of information contained within those data. When observations are very similar or correlated due to study design, then the information added by having multiple (correlated) observations may be negligible. This is a common problem with clustered data; the information contained in clustered data is closer to the number of clusters than to the number of observations. As a result, study designers seek to measure many clusters.

When it comes to global presenters, SAS Global Forum is seeking more clusters.

Global representation at SAS Global Forum enriches the conference experience for all attendees, providing each of us with more innovation and information to advance the goals of our organizations.

However, we know that attending our conference from the far corners of the globe is expensive … but not as expensive as it used to be! We’ve got good news for SAS users who reside outside the contiguous 48 states of the United States (residents of Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories, read this carefully!).

To ease the financial burden of travelling from afar to the conference, two new policies have been adopted by the SAS Global Users Group – largely in response to your concerns about cost.

Doubled discount for accepted contributed sessions

Each year, SAS Global Forum attracts about 700 proposed sessions from the user community. The review process is competitive as we can only accept 400 session talks. To attract even more submissions from around the globe, we’ve raised the registration discount from 25% to 50% for accepted proposals from the international user community. If you reside outside the 48 contiguous States, and your abstract is approved, you will automatically receive the 50% discount when you register.

As of the writing of this blog, SAS Global Forum 2017 will include four sessions from Africa, nine from Australia, 18 from Asia, 12 from South America and the Caribbean, 37 from Canada, 21 from Europe, and 23 from the United Kingdom. With this new policy, we expect far more in 2018 and beyond!

International Professional Awards

Forty SAS Users will be selected from submitted applications to have their registration fee waived. SAS Users who reside outside the contiguous 48 States can apply by completing the application found on the conference website. In this application, you will be asked to describe your SAS experience, barriers to attendance, and about your commitment to attend. Submitters of contributed content are eligible.

We are certain these changes will help make SAS Global Forum the most diverse, international conference yet! I look forward to meeting many SAS users from near and far in Orlando. See you there! Or should I say Wir sehen uns dort! Ci vediamo lì! Nähdään siellä!