Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP)

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Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP)

I’m honored to receive a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award this year. When I first started public speaking in 2020, my goal was to educate the community about DataOps and how to apply those principles in Power BI (and later Fabric). I wanted to share my challenges with managing data analytics projects and give examples on techniques and patterns to help overcome these challenges.

Along the way, I have met many in the community who have encountered similar challenges and, in the process, I have learned so much from others. These interactions have had a big influence on the way in which I approach Power BI and Fabric today. I’d like to thank the Power BI community for fostering a strong environment of information sharing and constructive criticism. I would be remiss if I did not thank a few specific individuals in this post:

  1. Thank you to Shannon Lindsay, for being the first to give me a chance to publicly speak at Power BI Days DC in 2020.

  2. Thank you to Sandeep Pawar, for nominating me this year and for your guidance on Fabric. Your blog is amazing.

  3. Thank you, Eugene Meidinger, for being willing to critique my presentations early on and help me communicate with audiences on technical topics and themes.

  4. Thank you, Reza Rad, for also being willing to critique my DataOps sessions back in 2022. Your feedback was invaluable in helping me build better sessions.

  5. Thank you to Sean Kelly. Client First Technologies is an amazing company to work for, and your support allows me to give back to the Power BI community.

  6. Thank you, Carrie Ruckdeschel and Shabnam Watson. You all run such strong Power BI communities in both the Federal sector, and the private sector. You serve as role models for me (and many others) on how to educate others and build communities of practice.

  7. A special thanks to my wife for being my chief editor for many of my blog articles and videos. I have no doubt my ideas would not have come across as intelligible without your edits.

Moving forward, my passion for DataOps, Power BI, and Fabric has not waned and I’ll continue to try to speak at events.

If you’re reading this and wondering how to get involved with the Power BI/Data community, my advice is to follow the SQL Saturday site, follow the Call for Data Speakers site), follow the Community Days site, and if you’re in the DC Area, attend events held by the Power BI DC User Group.