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Power BI instead of slides again for Data Toboggan

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Last week I presented using Power BI instead of slides again for Data Toboggan. Since I have done this a couple of times now, I am writing this post because I am interested in what others think about doing this.

Power BI instead of slides again

Just like my sessions at both DataMinutes and Power BI Fest, I like to think that my Data Toboggan session was technically a zero-slide session. Because I used a Power BI report instead of slides again.

You can now watch the ‘KevOps for Azure Synapse Analytics‘ video online. Either by clicking on the link in the session name or on the image below.

First page used for Power BI report I used instead of slides again for Data Toboggan
First page of Power BI report for Data Toboggan

It was a new session that I had created especially for Data Toboggan. It covered how you can manage Azure Synapse Analytics work using Azure DevOps. As you can see in the agenda below.

Data Toboggan agenda
Data Toboggan agenda

I enjoyed preparing for this session. Along the way I realized I had to update my post about how to do CI/CD for serverless SQL pools using Azure DevOps. To include the fact that the password variable must be surrounded by single quotes.

I decided to present using Power BI instead of slides again for Data Toboggan for three reasons.

First of all, a lot of people who work with Azure Synapse Analytics tend to work with Power BI. In fact, you can manage Power BI reports in Synapse Studio.

Second reason is that one of the reasons people use Power BI is to tell a story. Which is what I intended to do during my session.

Finally, because I thought that some of the attendees would appreciate the variety. Since I was sure some of them had seen a fair few slides during the day.

Different style

As you can see below, it is different from the style of a couple of the Power BI reports that I had used in the past for my first zero-slide session at Power BI Fest and DataMinutes. Mostly due to the fact that I only used a single page for those two sessions.

First Power BI report that I used for my zero-slide session at Power BI Fest
Zero-slide session for Power BI Fest
Power BI report that I used instead of slides again for DataMinutes
Zero-slide session for DataMinutes

As you can see, the layout of these two reports is slightly different. Mostly due to the fact that I wanted to encourage people to take a screenshot of my DataMinutes report.

Whilst on the topic of DataMinutes, you can now watch the video for my ten-minute session. It shows how to create Database Projects using Azure Data Studio.

Feedback about using Power BI instead of slides

I must admit it has been fun experimenting with presenting sessions with Power BI instead of slides.

Plus, I am interested in feedback about using Power BI instead of slides. Mostly due to the fact that I am thinking about presenting with Power BI at future events as well.

For instance, do you all think that using Power BI instead of slides makes a refreshing change or do you all prefer slides instead? In addition, do you prefer any of the report styles that I have presented with?

Final words

Anyway, I hope this post about Power BI instead of slides again for Data Toboggan has been an interesting read.

I would really love your feedback about using Power BI. Especially if you have watched any of the sessions that I have presented using Power BI at during Power BI Fest, DataMinutes or Data Toboggan.

Of course, if you have any comments or queries about this post feel free to reach out to me.

Published inAzure DevOpsPower BIPresenting

One Comment

  1. […] One of those reasons was due to the fact that a lot of people who work with Azure Synapse Analytics tend to work with Power BI. Something that I also mentioned in my blog post ‘Power BI instead of slides again for Data Toboggan‘. […]

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