Rested & Refreshed...

... from my vacation,and ready for some exciting new developments in the SAS world!



As those of you who regularly attend regional user group meetings can attest, SAS Canada has been quickly joining the social media frenzy. You will have heard myself - or one of my colleagues - talk at length about what we hope to achieve through online communities: strengthening SAS knowledge and connectivity not only locally, but globally as well.



I had the opportunity to take some 'baby steps' into this arena with last month's trip to Ottawa as well as with the Toronto Area SAS Society in my home town. I'll be very happy to share my experiences - and soon enough, the edited videos - with all of you. Some early learnings:



1) Videography can be tricky. I was lucky enough to have a couple of assistants in Toronto who were able to manage and adjust the camera as required: not so lucky a couple of days earlier in Ottawa! Let's see what the difference might be in quality and content over the next few weeks as we post the content online.



2) SAS has it's own YouTube channel! Will this be the home of our user group videos? Quite possibly... in the meantime, excellent content is being posted daily: I highly recommend having a look-see.

3) There is a LOT of content to get through, and I mean a lot! So much, in fact, that I've had to purchase an external hard drive to hold it all in its un-edited state. As we get more and more practiced with the 'fun stuff' - determining appropriate sound bites, the right enticing and valuable bits of info that you just can't do without - I expect this will change... but you'll still be receiving high value. Maybe it's an unbelievable demo. Maybe it's a presentation which had the room on it's feet. Whatever comes down the pipe, rest assured that it will be dissected with the utmost care and re-purposed to give you the best of the bits!!!

Well, that's all for the moment. Stayed tuned for my next installment: I'll be talking about the Fall user group schedule and the highlights as they currently stand, as well as pointing you towards some new, high quality SAS video.

And now, a PowerPoint slide-deck of my vacation to San Diego. Only 1,432 pictures to get through! What do you mean it's lunch? A hair appointment? Your dog's at the vet? You're late for your WEDDING? I get the point....