So how was the recent SAS Global Forum (SASGF) 2016 in Las Vegas? Did it deliver the “Razzle Dazzle” we anticipated?
It sure did! As always, the conference was an absolute blast from beginning to end!
Specifically, in this case, blue and silver confetti blasts, with the announcement of SAS® Viya™ – a cloud-ready environment, that makes analytics easier to use and more accessible. Deployable anywhere from a common code base, SAS Viya can be in-memory, in-database and in-Hadoop with core traits being unified, open, simple and powerful. To find out more about this exciting new architecture, read the SAS Global Forum: Opening Session Highlights blog post or view the launch information on the site.
With the Forum events starting on a Monday, most attendees took the opportunity to fly in on the weekend to catch up with friends, sight-see and adapt to the new time zone. The SAS Global Forum 2016 Community was alive with suggestions, ideas and excitement, which continued to flourish when we came together at the conference. It was such a delight to meet the people behind their avatars!
On Monday we spent time scouring The Quad, in awe of the giant 8-screen Social Media Hub near our Metacoda booth. We began the evening attending a SASGF Welcome Reception by SAS Australia which was lovely and later co-hosting the #SASGF #TweetUp with Tricia Aanderud from Zencos. Thanks to everyone who embraced our 1920s gangster and #RockAFedora themes, and to all those who joined in the fun, whether online (including Gail Baker’s cute newborn!) or in person. Check out Tricia’s blog post for an excellent wrap-up of the evening.
SAS Global Forum is always a magical time for us at Metacoda. We love learning what’s new with SAS Software, attending presentations, and being active at the Metacoda booth. It was great connecting in person with the SAS community, including Metacoda customers, partners and friends. We are grateful to all those who visited our stand, whether for a chat, for a Metacoda software demonstration, to collect a Metacoda koala, to try an Aussie treat, or just for a selfie or pic ?. Check out the photos on our Facebook SASGF 2016 album
A particularly big THANK YOU to our supportive customers who recommended and shared their experiences in using our Metacoda Security Plug-ins. We were excited to have positive feedback on our new Permissions Tracer Plug-in, and a product we’re working on that will be useful for SAS Studio users wanting to use repositories to share code snippets. Please let us know if you’d like to be a beta tester when it becomes available.
Another highlight for Michelle was presenting with Kirsten Hamstra on the art of authentic engagement. Don’t forget their advice that everyone can be a CEO… that is, a Social CEO: a Chief Encouragement Officer. In our hyper-connected world, authentic engagement leads to stronger relationships and creates meaningful connections. This in turn helps our SAS community – or any community – to become more connected, engaged and close.
