Making your life easier with technology at the SESUG 2019 conference

Comic from https://xkcd.com/

There will be a lot going on during the SESUG 2019 conference… how will you stay organized and make the most of your conference experience? Staying connected and making the most of the technologies available will help you navigate the conference effectively!

In Chuck’s last Blog, “What Will We Do When in Williamsburg With You?,” he refers to this neat idea of the Forgetting Curve proposed by German psychologist,  Hermann Ebbinghaus. “Research shows that by 30 days after an initial learning event, if no attempt is made to retain the learning, we remember only about 21% of what is learned.” Much research has been done on memory since. One strategy to reduce the loss of what we learn is to reinforce it in different ways and frequently – that is where technology comes in!

A memory drum was a technology developed back in 1887 to continue the fine work of Ebbinghaus and it was upgraded over the years to really understand how people remember things. It was improved and upgraded up through the 1970s to run experiments on memory. The good news is, instead of a memory drum, we have a conference app that will help you stay on top of what is scheduled at SESUG 2019. We have several other modern day technologies to keep you connected and make your conference experience a little easier!

Memory Drum 459B, Serial No. 21B


the SESUG 2019 Attendify Conference App

You can get the SESUG 2019 Attendify conference app on your mobile device here: tinyurl.com/sesug-wmbg. As of now, we have the conference schedule including the paper presentations and topics that will be discussed and there will be a lot more information to come. We will be pushing notifications and updates through the app regularly to remind attendees of important activities and things that are happening during the conference. This is an easy way to stay up to date on the latest!

App Features

Bookmarks

You can easily bookmark everything from presentations to speakers. Click on the bookmark symbol to save things you really don’t want to forget. If you would like, you can opt to give yourself a 10, 30 or 60 minute reminder alert prior to the event.

Notes

If there is something specific you want to remember about a speaker, presentation or activity – just make a note.

Interacting with Attendees

Through the app you can post to the Activity Stream to share your thoughts with all attendees. We will have a photo and video album so you can document and share with others some of the awesome things you see. You can also connect with specific individuals by sending private messages. Take advantage of these app features and connect with more SAS users like you!

Interactive Maps

These maps will show you the layout of the Williamsburg Lodge and also link the academic sessions and activities in each room with schedules.

View of the interactive maps in the SESUG 2019 Attendify app

Remember to Bring Your Own Device to the Hands on Workshops to connect to SAS with AWS

Bring your own device to the HOW sessions

Hands on Workshops (HOW) this year will be set up such that attendees bring their own device. These are 1.5 hour sessions that are included in registration to dive deep on certain SAS topics and get some hands on experience. We will have instructors covering topics on UNIX tools (GNU), the use of Proc Tabulate and ODS, regression modeling, and SAS Visual Analytics. Thanks to Pinnacle Solutions, Inc., we will be using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to make presentation materials and SAS software available to attendees. Attendees will need a laptop, web browser, and Remote Desktop client. Please make sure you have an appropriate Remote Desktop client for your operating system.

– Windows users: the default Remote Desktop client is fine
– Mac OS X users: download the Microsoft RDP v10 app from here.

Attendees do not need to have SAS licenses on their own computers. However, if attendees decide they want to use their own computers and SAS licenses during the presentations, class materials will be available for download.

No laptop? No problem! Attendees are welcome to attend HOW sessions and watch as the instructor works through the exercises on the screen.

Monitors, E-posters and Super Demos… oh my!

We will be taking advantage of monitor screens to provide as much information as possible to attendees. In the Exhibit Hall, we will have Super Demos shared by SAS representatives. These brief but informative tutorials provide some of the latest features and capabilities that SAS has to offer.

Don’t forget to swing by the e-Poster monitor and check out which papers were accepted in this section. There will be 10 SESUG paper presentations displayed and authors will be available during scheduled times to answer questions about their work. Some topics include: imputation effects from the FACTOR and MI procedures, analyzing data with JMP and using PROC IMPORT. A handful of the e-Posters relate to topics in the Healthcare/Pharma industry, so if this is your field – stop on by and say hello!

Connect to WiFi at the Hotel

We will have WiFi available at the Williamsburg Lodge during the conference. Look for the WiFi password on the Schedule at a Glance (SAAG) – which you will receive at registration. It will also be posted on the SESUG 2019 Attendify conference app.

Not into technology?… no problem!

For those of you who like to connect in other ways, we have options to get the information you need to have a successful conference. The Schedule at a Glance (SAAG) is always a well-loved item at the conference. It is a printed version of the academic session schedule and other important information (like a conference cheat-sheet) – you will get one at registration. Also, look for signage around the hotel to point you in the right direction and find what you need.

See you all in Williamsburg soon!

Contours of the Conference

Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick
USGS GeoTIFF DRG 1:24000 Quad of Williamsburg. Product:500613

The conveyance of Fresh Goods and Ideas has arrived here from adventurers and established Ladies and Gentlemen across the King’s lands. This compleat Sett of teckniques, case studies and examples of Statistical Arithmetick will be made available to any Person desirous of becoming a more useful Member of civil Society. The ingenious and valuable literature, in prose and verse, will be presented at the Event of High Society in beautiful Williamsburg, VA in October 20-22, in the Year of Our Lord 2019. For your great learning, we have measured the Length and breadth of these Papers taken in.

We have a final line up for this year’s SESUG conference in Williamsburg and it is going to be spectacular! There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for this year, as the number of submissions for content was high. We had 174 paper proposals on topics ranging from data processing to output and reporting.  This left the decision-making process challenging for the conference committee but the results are in with 144 accepted papers.

Accepted Paper Hot Topics
Accepted Paper Hot Topics

Many of our accepted papers and presentations will discuss the use of SAS Macros to improve efficiency in SAS programs.  The use of these techniques can reduce the amount of code written and save the programmer time.

For the analysts, statisticians and data scientists… we will have a lot of discussion surrounding data analysis methodology and predictive modeling. If this is your interest, then grab a seat and take it all in – there will be an entire two days of presentations dedicated to these topics in the Statistics and Data Analysis track.

Data visualization has been a hot topic for several years now and there will be plenty to talk about at SESUG 2019. Many of our presentations will also discuss the use of SAS Formats and the Output Delivery System (ODS), which are staple tools for formatting and stylizing your summarized results. You will be able to find many of these talks in the Reporting and Visualization track.

Although it may not have made our top list, Open Analytics will be a highlighted track this year. There are several papers dedicated to integrating R, Python and other open source platforms with SAS. The Open Analytics track will run most of Tuesday and will cover topics like SAS and R Integration for running Random Forests to leveraging SASPy for more effective script writing.

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SESUG 2019 Presenters

Not surprisingly, most of our presenters this year come from the southeast region of the US. But we will have presenters traveling all the way from California to share their analytics knowledge. There are several presenters traveling internationally from India and South Korea as well! They all come from different industries and bring knowledge that will spark great discussions and get attendees thinking about how they do analytics.

SAS Presenters

In addition to the great information and content shared by SAS users like you, we will have presentations made by SAS as well. Here are the great topics they will be sharing:

Panel Discussions

We will have 2 hour long Panel Discussions this year – one in the Analytics Leadership track and the other in the Reporting and Visualization track.  The Analytics Leadership panel discussion will include invited individuals to discuss trending topics on analytics leadership. They will share experiences and highlight effective approaches to promoting analytics in an organization. The Reporting and Visualization panel discussion will focus on strategies to create effective marketing graphics, discuss which graphics platforms can be used, and the ethics involved when “selling with graphics.”

Hands on Workshops

Unlike the Pre-conference and Post-conference workshops, these workshops are run alongside other concurrent sessions during the conference. This year we are running the HOW sessions as a “bring your own device” setup. Attendees will be asked to remotely connect to an AWS server through their own devices using their Remote Desktop Connection application, which will allow them access to the Hands on Workshop exercises on a virtual machine. An instructor will be present to guide you through the exercises. There will be a variety of topics discussed in these workshops including, but not limited to, UNIX tools (GNU), the use of Proc Tabulate and ODS, regression modeling, and SAS Visual Analytics.

Conference Pre- and Post-Workshops

We have talented, recognized, and experienced instructors prepared to share their knowledge in 4-hour sessions before and after the conference. You can sign up for a conference workshops when you register for the conference for an additional cost that is well worth the price. Here is the list of workshops available this year.

Join us in Williamsburg… Registration is Open!

There will be a lot covered at SESUG 2019. If you are interested in any of these topics or have your own in mind that were not mentioned, join us October 20-22, 2019 in Williamsburg, VA. You can register for the conference here.

The three most important words for SESUG: CONTENT! CONTENT! CONTENT!

Was this the first SESUG conference?

Good content can really make an attendee’s experience. We come to learn and there is no better place than SESUG with Academic Sessions, Demos, Hands-on-Workshops, Pre- and Post-Conference Workshops and Peer-to-Peer learning. But how does that content get there and how are we doing so far? Let us see…

As Academic Chair for the SESUG 2019 conference, one of my responsibilities is managing the content of paper proposals that you submit for the conference in October. By no means do I do this alone – I get a lot of help from the Section Chairs who oversee their individual academic sections. It is very much a team effort. As paper submissions roll in they are on the front lines reviewing content and eventually they will be the ones who guide final authors to the final stage in Williamsburg. A quick shout out to my Section Chairs – you all are the best and you make this conference great!

Thank you, Section Chairs!

I have shared how Chuck and I identified the tracks for this year’s conference. Now I want to take some time to reflect on the responses and provide a sneak preview of some of the topics we may see this year. Unfortunately, it is too early to announce the final roll call since the submissions will still be accepted until June 13th (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). But hopefully this teaser will pique your interest on attending or even submitting a proposal of your own.

Submission Hot Topics

We have had many great submissions so far across all of our academic sections. Keywords were collected on the submission applications this year to help with organizing conference content. Here are the popular keyword topics people have submitted content for, some of which we will see and hear about in October. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Words may show a man’s wit, but actions his meaning.” Keep those submissions coming… there is still time! 

Keywords from SESUG 2019 paper submissions

Tried and True

For as long as I have been involved with SESUG, the most popular sections that get the most submissions are the instructional how-to sections (this year called Know your SAS: Foundations and  Know your SAS: Advanced Techniques), Statistics and Data Analysis, Reporting and Visualization and Coder’s Corner. This year has been no different – over 60% of the paper proposals we have thus far were submitted to one of these sections. Many of these submissions propose papers on topics like the use of SAS Macros, tips for efficient programming, and commonly used SAS procedures that an analyst should always have handy in their analytics toolbox.  

Welcomed Surprises

I have heard somewhere that if you build it, they will come. We decided on an Open Analytics section this year in the hopes that SAS users who integrate their analytics with open source platforms would have a designated place. To be honest, Chuck and I really were not sure how it would go. However, this section has seen strong paper abstract submissions. It seems a lot of people are excited and enthusiastic about having a focused track on these topics and I can’t wait to see how it will all unfold in October.  

If you build it, they will come. Field of Dreams
If you build it, they will come.

Can We Get a Little TLC?

I understand it is still a bit early, but as of now there are a few sections that need a bit of love – Data Management and Big Data, Planning and Administration, Industry Specific Topics (Education/Institutional Research, Pharmaceuticals, Government), Analytics Leadership, Hands on Workshops and E-Posters.  These are great sections that I anticipate will get plenty of content in the coming weeks. If you have an idea for sharing installation, deployment, and migration tips – submit a proposal to the Planning and Administration section. Instructions for submitting can be found here.

If you are concerned that you don’t have anything exciting, remember that a large diversity of people come to SESUG with a wide variety of backgrounds. Believe it or not, there will be things you know that many people don’t! What did you learn this year? Teach others. Have a case study for your industry? People love that! Do you integrate SAS with open source analytics? Show us how! Presenting to others is a great way to not only share your knowledge but build it up even stronger for yourself.

If it is your first time presenting at a conference and just want to get your feet wet – give E-Posters a shot. Hands on Workshops is a great way to dive deep on a topic. HOW instructors will have 1.5-2 hour instruction time, which is plenty to cover several examples on a topic of your choice. Last but not least, our new Analytics Leadership track is for the leaders and champions of analytics who wish to share experiences and highlight effective approaches to promoting analytics in their organizations. 

Conference Pre- and Post-Workshops are Available

We have talented, recognized, and experienced instructors prepared to share their knowledge in 4-hour sessions before and after the conference. You can sign up for a conference workshop when you register for the conference for an additional cost that is well worth the price! You can find the list of workshops available this year on the SESUG website for more details.

There is still time to Contribute your Ideas!

If you have an idea for a paper, submit your abstract by following this link here. The SESUG 2019 Call for Papers is open until June 13th!

Interview with the Grant Lady

The First Lady Grant: Julia Grant with husband and son.
The First Lady Grant: Julia Grant with husband and son.
– Smithsonian

Hear ye! Hear ye! The Grant Applications portal is now open! Students, Faculty and High School teachers can find info here. If you work outside of academia you can find info here. As Ben Franklin would have said if he knew about the program, “Ready money can be found in the SESUG Grants. Apply today!” Read on for a behind the scenes look at the Grant program with the incoming Grant Lady, Charlotte Baker.

For over 13 years SESUG has been providing scholarships to the conference. Let me introduce you to the amazing person who will be overseeing that process, Charlotte Baker. Charlotte was the co-chair for the 2018 SESUG conference in St. Pete. Now she is taking over the Grant committee from the indomitable Barbara Okerson, conference chair 2011. Charlotte will be the new Grant Lady and like a cat lady, she feels strongly about the Grant program and takes care of her Grantees very well. Recently, Charlotte and I had a conversation about all things “Grant.”

Chuck: Hello Charlotte, it’s good to see you. You’re looking wonderful today!

Charlotte: Thank you, Chuck. It’s good to see you, too.

Chuck: The Grant program has been around a long time, but with so many people attending the conference, why do we need it?

Charlotte: Many new SAS users can benefit a great deal from attending a conference like this in terms of long-term SAS use, but they can’t afford to go. The Grant program is a mechanism to help those people get to SESUG who otherwise couldn’t by giving reduced registration and hotel rates, and an opportunity for travel stipends. We want new people and new ideas!

Chuck: You say they can benefit. Why is the conference good for grantees?

Charlotte: Grantees receive all the usual good stuff when they attend SESUG plus a built-in network within the network for longer term support. Grantees also get to see a bit of the inner workings through volunteering during the conference. What’s not good about that?

Chuck: I’ve seen the budget and I know that the Grant program is expensive. Who pays for the grants?

Charlotte: SAS Institute pays for most of the grants and SESUG pays for the rest through the general conference budget. It is a big investment but totally worth it.

Chuck: It sounds like a great program. Do users think so? Do many people apply for the grants?

Charlotte: It depends year to year. We always get more applications than we can fund but are really hoping for at least 20 applications for each of our grant categories this year for competitiveness. We usually get more student and professional development applications than faculty applications. Sometimes our timing for the applications are weird for academics and people miss the messages.

Chuck: Hmm, that’s not good that they miss the message. What’s going on and what would you tell them?

Charlotte: The summer break is what’s going on. Students, Faculty and High School teachers are focused on finishing classes up. And then they may go on summer break. By the time they get back it’s too late for them to apply since applications close in July. [Ed note: July 8th] I recommend that they take some time right now and fill out the application and get it in. Don’t forget student ID’s, pictures and all that other stuff, too.

Chuck: How do you decide who gets the grants? Is there a statistical model?

Charlotte: Wouldn’t that be neat?! We really go through and look at the people that are applying and why they want to come to SESUG. We rank the applicants based on their responses. Our preference is people who are presenting a paper and we pick applicants from the Southeast and Northeast (old NESUG territory) first and second. We also really pay attention to whether you can come to the whole conference (or at least most of it). While we do get applications from previous grantees (who we love!), only those who have not gotten a grant in that category before can be picked.

Chuck: What is expected of the grantees at the conference?

Charlotte: Show up. Learn. Volunteer. Meet people. Have fun!

Chuck: It sounds like a successful program. Are there any success stories for the grant program?

Charlotte: All the previous grantees are fantastic success stories. The current Executive Committee has two former grantees (myself included) and many of our section chairs for operations and academics have been grantees before. It is always great when they like it enough to come back and help move this all-volunteer organization forward.

Chuck: Now most importantly, “Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?”

Charlotte: I really hope old Ulysses and his wife haven’t absconded!

Charlotte and Chuck – SESUG St. Pete 2018

Why is a track a track?

Rachel Straney, Academic Chair

We run the race with determination!

One of the first major tasks that Chuck and I were charged with as Conference Chairs was to identify the academic sections that would serve as a blueprint for conference content. You would think that coordinating a conference for analysts as analysts would make it easy to predict the topical areas that attendees plan to attend… Not in the slightest.

It is challenging to balance consistency with originality. Every pair of SESUG conference chairs that has served before us have infused their own personality and character into the event. Although we went into this with the hopes of leaving our own mark, it was also important to us to ensure that the conference was consistent with past years and retained the SESUG spirit. 

So what was the process and why is a track a track? Well, never having attempted something like this before, the statistician in me came out and I turned to identifying what was done at past SESUG conferences. I pulled SESUG conference proceedings from the last 7 years. I classified all the proceedings into what I called “General Section Names.” This was a real qualitative approach and after I was done, I went back for more – a cross sectional evaluation of all the SAS Regional User Groups…. And while I was at it I threw Global Forum in there for good measure. I was creating tables and summarizing any patterns I saw from them…

While I was spinning my analytical wheels, Chuck was dreaming up big ideas. His approach was more creative and rather than asking the question of “what was?” started asking “what could be?” It was during our first site visit to Williamsburg while driving from the Williamsburg Lodge back to the Richmond Airport that we started to discuss our ideas about academic sections. “What do you think about an Analytics Leadership track?” he said enthusiastically. “And how about Open Analytics?… It’s the future of analytics and we can put the spotlight on it in historical Williamsburg!” He said in his humorous Chuck style.

After our collaboration, we landed on the academic sections we have for this year. Many of them you know and love like “Coder’s Corner” and “Statistics and Data Analysis.” Some sections will have familiar content with new names, like “Know your SAS: Foundations” and “Know your SAS: Advanced Techniques.” These two sections stemmed from the well-attended “Building Blocks” from past years. Our hope is that by having two sections classified by programming experience, attendees will have an easier time finding content that is relevant to them. Other sections are entirely new, like “Open Analytics;” Although for many years we have seen papers presented at SESUG that leverage SAS with open platforms, we felt it was time to designate a section just for them.

After the process of identifying the academic sections came to a close, I realized that my co-chair and I had balanced consistency and originality quite well and I knew we would make a pretty good duo. Chuck is the creative and I bring the pragmatism. Together I think we identified a good set of topical areas that I hope all attendees will enjoy.

Till we meet in Williamsburg!

Welcome!

Welcome to the SESUG 2019 Blog!

Many people experience will experience 2 or 3 days of wonderful happenings at SESUG Williamsburg. They see all of the papers and networking, demos and parties. What they don’t see is everything behind the scenes that went into making this happen. It’s a year round job that started for 2019 before the 2018 conference ended. This monthly blog is a peek behind the curtain at some of the many decisions, research, frustrations and excitement. We hope you enjoy.  Submit your papers here and register here.