Tag: #Academics

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!

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!