As I sit here in the Regina airport, I'm looking out the window with longing like a puppy at the pet store. The weather here is just beautiful: + temperatures and clear skies and the sound of the running water resulting from the melt-off of the snow is filling the air. I know that this is a bit of an early blessing here in Regina. In fact, I was assured that just last week, temperatures were reaching -64 degrees Celcius with the windchill... so I guess I just got lucky. To be honest, though, my desire to stay around for a few more days in Regina has little to do with the lovely weather here or the nasty weather awaiting me in Toronto. It has everything to do with the wonderful people and phenomenal hospitality which I consistently experience here in Regina. The goodwill began immediately upon our arrival last night.
Charu Shankar and I were both ravenous after a long - but pleasant - drive from Saskatoon. We checked in, got a few minutes of decompression and then agreed to meet for dinner at a nearby restaurant, Taste of Tuscany. This would prove to be one of the greatest SAS road trip dining experiences I've had in my 7+ years of travel. First, a word about the ownership. What happens when a traditional Italian woman meets and falls in love with a Punjabi Sikh? Well, 24 years later - after living in Italy until that time - they move with their children to Regina and open up what can only be described as the most authentic Indian/Italian restaurant ever. Charu and I spent an hour and a half in what felt like our own private dining room. We chatted with the owners as they made our food: it's a pretty amazing feeling to smell fresh, delicious cooking in a restaurant and knowing without a shadow of a doubt that it was YOUR food which smelled so great! Stuffed beyond belief, we were sent wobbling out into the cooling Regina air with a loaf of fresh homemade bread to struggle getting down over the course of the evening. If anyone reading this lives or visits Regina, I can't recommend this restaurant enough. 24 hours later, I STILL feel full.
Of course, while the food was amazing, Charu and I were there with a job to do. The Regina SAS User Group awaited! In terms of sense of community this group has rapidly jumped near the top of my list. Everyone seems to know each other very well and is more than willing to reach out to help each other. SGI, Farm Credit Canada, and other organizations chatted, laughed and generally hobnobbed with each other and with us as if we had seen each other just the day before.
The sheer volume of SAS knowledge on display in Regina is impressive as well (to say the least). I learned that Shaun Kauffman of Farm Credit Canada had achieved some level of internet fame by having the second highest ranked content on Google on the topic of DS2 (a talk I extoll all over the country, consistently). In fact, the only presentation searched for more than his? The actual documentation through SAS help! That's quite the achievement, Shaun, you should be very proud.
We had 2 fantastic local presentations which truly resonated well with the audience... and terrified me. Why? Well, the 2 talks were distinctly statistical in nature and my talk was antithesis of this: trying to look at statistical practice in Enterprise Guide, from a non-statisticians view. Taryn McKee of SGI gave a fascinating talk around the motorcycle graduated licensing program and whether or not it was effective in reducing accidents. As a motorcycle rider herself I'm sure the topic was certainly near and dear to her heart. Taryn has a natural gift to present fairly complex concepts - in this case, the GENMOD procedure - with ease and grace. Even I understood what she was talking about and that's really saying something ;) Fantastic job, Taryn.
Not to be outdone, Joan Kwan of FCC offered a talk around correlation and multicollinearity. Again, we were treated to a presentation of some fairly complex statistical processes in an affable, easy-to-grasp manner. Joan offered to give this talk with a small bit of prodding (read: begging) from me and I'm so glad she did. I'm quite sure that every person in the room walked away with better understanding of these statistical concepts.
Of course, my colleague Charu Shankar was able to leverage her fantastic speaking skills and depth of knowledge to offer two great talks which she had given several times already over the past few days. Her talk on what was new and noteworthy in SAS 9.4 was great as it featured DS2 and allowed for some dialogue with Shaun Kauffman and her secondary talk on her top 10 coding efficiencies is ALWAYS received warmly. Hard to argue with a talk which helps your programming become easier, faster and more productive. Great job as always, Charu! It was an absolute pleasure to travel with you and share some great stories, laughs and meals. You're welcome on the road with me anytime :)
One of my greatest thrills was seeing my colleague Tara Holland show up out of the blue and surprise me at the meeting. A native daughter of Saskatchewan, it always feels a little... off when I'm not here with her. Her presence at the meeting made all right with the world again.
So here I sit at the Regina airport rueing that I have to leave. I really do love this city: the people, the food, the 'feeling'. I can't wait to come back once again in the Fall, it really feels like too long before I get back here. In the interim though, I have about 25 other user groups and of course SAS Global Forum coming up rapidly. I'll have more on my adventures in the coming weeks.
Until then...
Showing posts with label Programming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Programming. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Blue Skies and Long Drives in Saskatoon
As a native Torontonian, I'm used to getting some friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) ribbing when I travel around the country. The 'Centre of the Universe' is often referred to in less-than-glowing terms by others. Over the years, I've tried to puzzle through why this might be: I think we're alright people in general (albeit with some very obvious shortcomings). As I sit here in Regina, I think I may have received my answer courtesy of the Toronto transplant newscasters on Global Regina. I happened to tune in to their broadcast as the news anchor turned the floor over to the weather. The anchor led in with a comment around the 15 centimetres of snow the city referred to today and the weather anchor responded with an amusing aside, relating that one of her friends in Toronto had told her today that she 'stayed home from work because of the weather'. The joke was that no one in Saskatchewan would EVER stay home because of the weather! Oh, Toronto. At least the military wasn't called in this time... Let me tell you, if more prairie winter/early spring days looked and felt like today, I would wholeheartedly agree with the newscasters sentiment.
The temperature was well above freezing and the endless prairie sky stretched blue and big from east to west as Charu Shankar and I headed out to the Saskatoon SAS user group meeting. We had enjoyed a lovely dinner the evening before with executive committee members and guest speakers who confirmed my long-held feeling that the good people of Saskatoon are the nicest, friendliest and warmest in the entire country. Meeting at our traditional location of the University of Saskatchewan, I anticipated a smaller meeting than normal. High temperatures and an early user group were both descending on Saskatoon much earlier than usual. With school still in full swing, we were certainly going to see declining attendance from our strong supporters from the University... and many other organizations we normally see attend had already written to indicate that the timing just didn't work. That's a shame, as the talks today were particularly inspiring.
However, a real highlight of the meeting was that we had three great volunteers step forward to assist with the Executive Committee - a real key to achieving great things with any user group. Mark Horseman, Rob Merritt, Lily Wu: welcome, we're very glad to have you!
Former SUCCESS President Gopinath Narasimhan led off the meeting with his introductory talk to arrays and do loops. Charu and I were both exceptionally impressed with his poise and grasp of the subject material. He was able to handle questions easily and skillfully and had found fantastic examples to share with the group. His talk set a fantastic tone for the rest of the meeting.
Charu reprised her two talks from Winnipeg the day before - new features of SAS 9.4 and her top 10 coding efficiencies. Once again, her talks were outstanding. Every time I hear them I pick up something new... which is a testament to the strength of her content and her ability to present it.
I myself had two talks to offer: statistics in Enterprise Guide and a talk which is rapidly becoming my favourite to build and deliver, the '10 for 10'. This talk dives back into the history of a particular group and looks at the top presenters, topics, meetings, presentations and more over the years. It really helps me reflect back on how the group has grown and gives me a bit of a blueprint to try and replicate past successes (no pun intended for the SUCCESS meeting). I reminded the group that it was seven years ago from this particular meeting that I first travelled out on the road for a user group meeting... I remember being given a tour of campus - including seeing former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's tomb - and how nervous I was to present to such strong SAS professionals. Little did I know then how warm, welcoming and accomodating this group would prove to be! I'm grateful for each and every trip I have out here to Saskatoon, even if I am just a poor sap from Toronto ;)
Speaking of which, as the meeting concluded and Charu and I jumped in the car for a two and a half hour drive south to Regina, I told her the story of my ultimate 'Toronto-ness'. Having previously undertaken this drive with SAS Canada's Tara Holland, I had noticed what appeared to be dark soil sporadically interspersed with the grass around us. When I asked Tara - a Saskatchewan native - about this unusual soil condition, she laughed, looked at me a little sadly and said 'oh, you are from Toronto. Matt, those are the shadows of clouds'. Hoo-boy. I guess what they say about Toronto might be right after all... ;) In my defense, the vast forests of Ontario and concrete jungle of Toronto don't exactly lend themselves to appreciating cloud shadows on a grand scale!
The drive down was very pleasant and made moreso by the beautiful weather and the pleasant conversation with Charu. I suppose that to me, Saskatchewan's SAS user community is very much in line with the gorgeous day we just experienced. Wide open, transparent, bright and uncompromising. I fall in love with it a little more every time I'm here (although I think I could do without the -54 Celcius weather).
We've both settled into our respective rooms here in Regina quite nicely and we're resting up for the user group taking place tomorrow. We'll have a few hours to tour around the city and then the long, late flight home to bitter, bitter, snowy Toronto. Can't I just stay here a little longer? If only I could...
The temperature was well above freezing and the endless prairie sky stretched blue and big from east to west as Charu Shankar and I headed out to the Saskatoon SAS user group meeting. We had enjoyed a lovely dinner the evening before with executive committee members and guest speakers who confirmed my long-held feeling that the good people of Saskatoon are the nicest, friendliest and warmest in the entire country. Meeting at our traditional location of the University of Saskatchewan, I anticipated a smaller meeting than normal. High temperatures and an early user group were both descending on Saskatoon much earlier than usual. With school still in full swing, we were certainly going to see declining attendance from our strong supporters from the University... and many other organizations we normally see attend had already written to indicate that the timing just didn't work. That's a shame, as the talks today were particularly inspiring.
However, a real highlight of the meeting was that we had three great volunteers step forward to assist with the Executive Committee - a real key to achieving great things with any user group. Mark Horseman, Rob Merritt, Lily Wu: welcome, we're very glad to have you!
Former SUCCESS President Gopinath Narasimhan led off the meeting with his introductory talk to arrays and do loops. Charu and I were both exceptionally impressed with his poise and grasp of the subject material. He was able to handle questions easily and skillfully and had found fantastic examples to share with the group. His talk set a fantastic tone for the rest of the meeting.
Charu reprised her two talks from Winnipeg the day before - new features of SAS 9.4 and her top 10 coding efficiencies. Once again, her talks were outstanding. Every time I hear them I pick up something new... which is a testament to the strength of her content and her ability to present it.
I myself had two talks to offer: statistics in Enterprise Guide and a talk which is rapidly becoming my favourite to build and deliver, the '10 for 10'. This talk dives back into the history of a particular group and looks at the top presenters, topics, meetings, presentations and more over the years. It really helps me reflect back on how the group has grown and gives me a bit of a blueprint to try and replicate past successes (no pun intended for the SUCCESS meeting). I reminded the group that it was seven years ago from this particular meeting that I first travelled out on the road for a user group meeting... I remember being given a tour of campus - including seeing former Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's tomb - and how nervous I was to present to such strong SAS professionals. Little did I know then how warm, welcoming and accomodating this group would prove to be! I'm grateful for each and every trip I have out here to Saskatoon, even if I am just a poor sap from Toronto ;)
Speaking of which, as the meeting concluded and Charu and I jumped in the car for a two and a half hour drive south to Regina, I told her the story of my ultimate 'Toronto-ness'. Having previously undertaken this drive with SAS Canada's Tara Holland, I had noticed what appeared to be dark soil sporadically interspersed with the grass around us. When I asked Tara - a Saskatchewan native - about this unusual soil condition, she laughed, looked at me a little sadly and said 'oh, you are from Toronto. Matt, those are the shadows of clouds'. Hoo-boy. I guess what they say about Toronto might be right after all... ;) In my defense, the vast forests of Ontario and concrete jungle of Toronto don't exactly lend themselves to appreciating cloud shadows on a grand scale!
The drive down was very pleasant and made moreso by the beautiful weather and the pleasant conversation with Charu. I suppose that to me, Saskatchewan's SAS user community is very much in line with the gorgeous day we just experienced. Wide open, transparent, bright and uncompromising. I fall in love with it a little more every time I'm here (although I think I could do without the -54 Celcius weather).
We've both settled into our respective rooms here in Regina quite nicely and we're resting up for the user group taking place tomorrow. We'll have a few hours to tour around the city and then the long, late flight home to bitter, bitter, snowy Toronto. Can't I just stay here a little longer? If only I could...
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