Neal Waterstreet

Speaking at SQLSaturday #800 Atlanta BI 2018

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On Saturday, September 22nd, I’m speaking at SQLSaturday #800 Atlanta BI 2018! I’ll be presenting a new session “Data Quality – Plain & Simple”. I’ve been looking forward to this event and presentation for a while.

Data quality is a subject that comes up over and over again in many organizations. Most executives are concerned about the quality of the information used in their decisions. We talk about “good data” and “bad data” but what do those terms mean? In this presentation, we will first define what data quality is and look at how to measure it with data quality dimensions. Then, we’ll explore common causes for data quality issues and how to perform a data quality assessment. Finally, we’ll review the results and discuss some strategies and tools that can help improve the quality of the data in your organization.

We’ve got some great Precons and speakers lined up this year. If you’re able to attend, please stop by and say hello.

Shuttering the PASS Healthcare Virtual Group

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Last week PASS Healthcare Virtual Group members received an email notifying them that the group is being shut down due to inactivity. We’ve only had a handful of meetings the last couple of years, and after an ongoing discussion, Damu and I decided it was time to shut it down.

When we started the group in 2011, we thought that having a vertical in healthcare would be a nice addition to the virtual chapters. We got off to a strong start the first couple of years and were able to get some excellent presenters to join us. The presentations covered a broad range of topics that apply to most healthcare data users.

Unfortunately, we were never able to gain enough traction with the PASS community to attract speakers on healthcare. The attendance numbers were never able to come close to matching many of the other chapters, so it was understandable that presenters preferred those.

In addition, the healthcare IT community seemed hesitant to participate. We believe that this is due to how specialized and diverse the different companies are. It appeared that many developers expect that the concerns they have are unique, but that isn’t always the case. Healthcare data professionals share many of the same issues. To alleviate this, we reached out to a wide variety of speakers with some success. We considered having general SQL presentations that also applied to healthcare, but it made more sense to keep the focus on healthcare specific topics.

Thank you to all the group members and presenters for being part of it, and hope you all had a good learning experience.

PASS Healthcare February meeting

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Time to jump back into the Healthcare VC with our first meeting of 2015. This month’s speaker is by David Moutray. Please sign up at the PASS Healthcare website. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 19, 2015 at 1 PM (Eastern).

Here are some details on David’s presentation.

Topic Name
Data Quality: Boosting Software Performance and Business Profit

Topic Synopsis
If “Data is the Lifeblood of Modern Business,” then most businesses are walking corpses with sludge in their veins, because 10% to 25% of all data records in the average enterprise are wrong. Until the dramatic problems of Data Quality Management are addressed, SQL can never fulfill its original promise to eliminate application “silos”, enable systems to communicate and provide useful, actionable information to the modern business. I believe that we are on the cusp of a revolution in Data Quality that is even greater in scope and impact than the revolution in manufacturing quality that began over 40 years ago. Businesses that make the transition will survive and thrive. Those that don’t will finally stop shambling about and lay down to die. What is this revolution in Data Quality? How can you be a part of it (and avoid the headman’s ax)?!? This presentation will change the way you think about your jobs as Database Administrators and Application Developers.

Speaker Bio
As a database administrator and ETL developer for a large data warehouse team, I am passionate about fast query performance, data integrity and the relational data model. Like most Database Administrators, I am highly opinionated, but unlike some, I am willing to endure personal abuse in the spirit of open discussion. I also tell (bad) jokes. Hecklers are welcome.

Atlanta Microsoft BI January 2015 meeting notes

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Slow start to the meeting for attendance, but it looks like this was due to a lot of traffic around the mall. Good turnout after a slow start – I counted 52. This month’s sponsor is Nebula Partners. Thanks for sponsoring the meeting and the food!

Teo Lachev

Teo Lachev

This month we have Javier Guillén from BlueGranite. Javier is presenting “The Emotional factor in BI Solutions” which should be an interesting topic that is often overlooked. Javier has a background in psychology and applied some of those principles to his projects. Someone asked how to apply some of these while working remote. Javier replied that is why he meets in person frequently. Great presentation and nice discussion afterwards. Check this presentation out if you have a chance.

Javier Guillén

Javier Guillén

Before the meeting, there was some discussion about volunteering with the group and some roles. More importantly, some discussion about moving from pizza every meeting and giving something else a try. Lots of factors here to consider:

  • Cost. This is big since we do have a limit
  • Ease of preparation. Pizza is very easy to set up and break down.
  • How “messy” the food is. In terms of spills and drops, pizza is pretty solid.
  • Something everyone will want to eat

Any ideas? if so, I’d like to hear them. It’s turned out to be a little more complicated than just switching to something else.