Call for Speakers

in 195 days

dataMinds Connect 2023

event starts

9 Oct 2023

event ends

10 Oct 2023

location

Lamot Conference and Heritage Center, Van Beethovenstraat 8-10, 2800 Mechelen Mechelen, Belgium


dataMinds Connect is a 2 day in-person event in the wonderful city of Mechelen, Belgium. It's an IT related event with a specific focus on the Microsoft Data Platform

While some people may still refer back to the original name of SQL Server Days, we've adopted our dataMinds Connect brand 6 years ago keeping in mind the same core values. 2 days filled with learning, networking and a whole lot of laughs while doing so! 

This year will be the 16th edition of the conference, and running for the seventh time as dataMinds Connect. Aiming to bring together all people with a passion for the Microsoft Data Platform, in all flavours possible, we're hoping to reunite with our many community members in person again, and share our common passion. Reunite with old and familiar faces, and embrace a lot of new ones!

Go ahead and clearly mark Monday October 9th and Tuesday October 10th 2023 in your schedule, as these will be 2 days you don't want to miss!

PREVIOUS EDITIONS

For those keen on reliving the memories of dataMinds Connect 2021 and dataMinds Connect 2022, or want to get an impression of what is like, you can refer to the official aftermovies on YouTube for 2021 and 2022, or a small collection of photos taken on the conference day (Tuesday) of previous editions in 2021 and 2022

open, 68 days left
Call for Speakers
Call opens at 9:00 AM

13 Feb 2023

Call closes at 11:59 PM

03 Jun 2023

This event is in Romance Daylight Time (UTC+02:00) timezone.
Closing time in your timezone () is .

TALK TO US:

When in doubt, or you do not agree with something we have put on here, reach out to the organising team for more information! We are all human beings here, so there is nothing we can't have a civil conversation about to figure things out. At the end of the day, this is ran by volunteers trying to bring together people with a shared passion for data. 
Seriously, talk to us.

ABOUT THIS CALL FOR SPEAKERS:

There are a number of optional fields in this Call for Speakers, any context you can provide to help us make an informed decision is greatly appreciated. You can only fill in the required ones, if you think this provides enough information. Feel free to use the notes section liberally!

CODE OF CONDUCT:

https://datamindsconnect.be/code-of-conduct/

All people involved in our event, are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct. We want this be an event where everyone should feel welcome and accepted, regardless of their background or characteristics. There will be options to confide in different persons in case of reporting incidents and violations. Any person breaching the Code of Conduct, will potentially be removed from the event, regardless of their role of engagement. 

NEW SPEAKERS:

We wholeheartedly encourage all new speakers to submit a proposal as a Newcomer. To be clear, new speakers are considered to be people who have not yet spoken at a (technical) conference or larger event. User Group sessions, webinars and client/team presentations are not taken into account for this categorization. 

Each new speaker will be paired up with a buddy/mentor, who will provide them with highly valuable tips & tricks. Even more so, we'll provide new speakers with all assistance they need and want whilst preparing for their debut.

Submitting as a new speaker, means you agree to meet with your buddy/mentor and collaborate on your session. 

P.S. We verify the people that submit as new speakers, so we can make sure to keep those spots for actual new speakers. 

GENERAL SESSIONS:

Open for all sessions related to the Microsoft Data Platform, in all possible flavours. Going from your more traditional DBA and BI topics, to modern data topics like Data Lakehouses and Data Virtualization. If it's related to the Microsoft Data Platform, we want it!

Non-tech sessions, contributing to a better and more diverse community, are welcomed with open arms. Think Mental Health for IT Pros, Imposter Syndrome, Amplifying Diversity & Inclusion, Career & Personal Growth, ...

All conference sessions will be 60 minutes (including at least 5 minutes of Q&A), and allocated to a track by the organising team.

PRECON SESSIONS:

Proposals for precon sessions (full day workshops) are very welcomed, but bear in mind that we're also searching for good fits on our own. It may be possible that certain slots will be already booked. 

We will be closing the Call for Precon sessions 2 weeks earlier (Saturday May 20th 2023). The session selection for the precon sessions will be shortly after, so we can inform those that selected at that point. Should you want to withdraw after this selection, that is perfectly fine.

A precon session (full day workshop) will be compensated by using our proposed payment scheme. A flat fee of 2.500€ (excl. VAT) is used as a default payment, regardless of the attendees that register. For every attendee following the 30th person, we'll add another 40€ (excl. VAT) to the grand total. 

This compensation is per session, in the case of multiple speakers they have to agree how to divide the sum. Microsoft FTEs are barred from this type of compensation, where alternative options can be discussed. 

EXPERT SESSIONS (400+, blow out some brains):

To continue our good tradition to specifically plan expert level sessions (400+), we're specifically looking for deep-dive sessions on advanced, complex topics. When submitting a session like this, please make sure you clearly outline any prerequisites the attendees should have. We're aiming at enough level 400-500 (or higher) sessions, to offer a wide variety of sessions and topics.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Our target audience can best be described as a majority of technical people, in a variety of data-facing roles. Whilst most of our attendees are not budget holders or decision-makers, they will have significant influence in the decision-making process. Their experience will vary between people just starting out in their current role, trying to absorb all the knowledge they can, and well-experienced people just there to broaden their with that one specific extra edge case. 

For example, these are job titles that come back in our post-event evaluation: Database Administration, Database Developer, BI Analyst, BI Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Data Architect, Data Analytics Engineer, Azure Data Administrator, ...

As dataMinds Connect, we also work together with a couple of colleges and universities in Belgium and allow students to attend. 

ABOUT THE TEAM:

dataMinds Connect is organized by a group of volunteers in their spare time. If you want to know more about these people, you can find more details on our webpage

DISCLAIMER:

Speakers will be asked to travel to Belgium for the event, and any exceptions should be discussed with the organising team.

We're moving forward with an in-person event, keeping a close eye on safety and health recommendations. If need be, we will be prepared to cancel at any given time to safeguard the well-being of every person involved.  

TIMELINE:

  • Monday February 13th 2023: Call for Speakers open
  • Saturday May 20th 2023: Call for Precon Speakers close
  • Thursday June 1st 2023: Ticket Sales open
  • Saturday June 3rd 2023: Call for Speakers close
  • Tuesday June 6th 2023: Session selection process
  • Wednesday June 7th 2023: Session selection feedback
  • Thursday June 22nd 2023: Schedule announcement to public (Precon & Regular Sessions)
  • Monday October 9th 2023: Precon Day
  • Tuesday October 10th 2023: Conference Day

all submitted sessions

publicly listed on this page

accommodation

expenses covered

event fee

free for speakers

We'll be offering booked accommodation for 1 night at one of the selected hotels.


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210 submissions
Submitted sessions
Chris Young
  • Are Data and Agile enemies?
Mathias Halkjaer
  • Supercharge Power BI with Azure Synapse Analytics
Ioana Bouariu
  • Power BI Blueprint: A Framework for Mapping and Prioritizing Business Needs with Power BI
  • The future is here. Will AI replace us? How to unleash your true potential with human - AI teamwork.
  • Power Up Your Power BI: Unlock the Magic of Automation with PowerShell and become a data wizard
Štěpán Rešl
  • DAX tweaks for graphical diversification of the report
  • Data-driven alerts in Power BI
Pálmi Símonarson
  • Sweet streams (are made of this: Hubs, Stream Analytics, Datalake)
Tonie Huizer
  • Database migrations in harmony: Entity Framework Core (code first) vs Flyway
  • Transforming to DevOps, CJ/CD: Continuous Journey Continuous Disaster?
Jens Scheerlinck
  • Clickstream Data Offloading in Azure
Jens Scheerlinck
  • Self-service analytics with Synapse and Power BI
Geert Baeke
  • Query your data with natural language using vector databases and Azure OpenAI
Nico Jacobs
  • Data Engineering with Azure Synapse Analytics
show all submissions
Bobur Umurzokov
  • Query Real Time Data in Kafka Using SQL
  • The Power of Streaming Database: Real-time ad performance analysis.
James Bell
  • Unpacking VertiPaq
Greg Baldini
  • Power BI operations: Monitoring and administration at scale
  • Beyond the stars: advanced modeling techniques
  • Optimizing models
  • Beyond the GUI: Advanced Power Query and M techniques
  • An advent of Power BI: Patterns and lessons from completing Advent of Code in Power BI
Erwin de Kreuk
  • How to govern the Microsoft Intelligent Data Platform
  • Provision users and groups from Azure Active Directory to Azure Databricks
  • How to use and create Data Lineage in Microsoft Purview?
  • Building a Metadata driven ELT Framework in Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Create a Secure Azure Synapse Analytics environment, step by step.
Barkha Herman
  • Realtime Analytics Unleashed: Unlocking the Potential of Data at Scale
Bernat Agulló
  • "Role based" security groups for Power BI
Nikola Ilic
  • A Day in the life of an Azure Enterprise Data Analyst!
  • Cracking Power BI Performance Tuning in a day!
  • Lessons learned from optimizing enterprise data models
  • Power BI "X Files" - 5 things they "forgot" to tell you!
  • Level up your Power BI game with Field parameters!
Hylke Peek
  • Monitor your Power BI Environment
  • Power BI Governance Quick Start
  • Dealing with Build Permissions in Power BI
  • Govern your Power BI environment
Alexander Klein
  • Power Universe or the unknown tools in M365
  • Power Automate 101
  • A day in the Power Universe
Odeta Jankaitienė
  • Unleashing the Potential of Power BI: A Hands-On Introduction
Tomaž Kaštrun
  • Writing boardgames with T-SQL for SQL Server and Azure SQL
Tomaž Kaštrun, Enrico van de Laar
  • Applied Data Science with Azure Machine Learning in a day
Valerie Junk
  • Dashboard Design - The icing on the cake
  • Visualizing Data for Non-Data Experts: Making Reports Accessible to All
  • Storytelling & Power BI - Creating Power BI reports that connect with different audiences
Gregor Brunner
  • Best practices in Power BI and their impact
  • Optimize and clean golden datasets in Power BI
Dennie Declercq
  • The scary truth about labels
  • AI for the better
  • Autism in Tech
Luke Menzies, Tori Tompkins
  • Getting started with MLOps in Azure
Luke Menzies
  • GIS using Databricks
Luke Menzies, Gavita Regunath
  • Introduction to Building Scalable Machine Learning Models
Tori Tompkins, Alexander Billington
  • Beyond the Model: POC to Production
Marc Lelijveld
  • Building Power BI Solutions like Pro
  • Data modeling for experts with Power BI
  • Level-up your Power BI data modeling skills
  • Query tracing and optimization on your Power BI dataset
Erwin de Kreuk, Marc Lelijveld
  • Extending Power BI governance with Microsoft Purview
Suvaditya Mukherjee
  • Accelerating Model Deployment using Transfer Learning and Vertex AI
  • TensorFlow for the young and restless
Gavita Regunath
  • Accelerating ML: Mastering Automated Machine Learning with Azure
Esther Voituron
  • From your Power BI report to your PowerPoint data story
Daniel Costea
  • Real-time Object Detection on Raspberry Pi with ML.NET and ONNX Yolo Model
  • Optimize ML.NET Models using AutoML, Permutation Feature Importance and Correlation Matrix
  • Communication in .NET Powered IoT Devices: A Comparative Analysis of MQTT, SignalR, and REST
  • AI powered car robot using IoT Libraries and ML.NET
Andrea Martorana Tusa
  • Navigate Bill of Materials with SQL Server 2019 Graph shortest path
  • Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Power BI
  • T-SQL and window functions in SQL Server 2022
  • Implementing a Role Based Access Control setup in Azure Synapse Analytics
Geetha Anne
  • Putting the Micro into Microservices with Stateful Stream Processing
  • Disaster Recovery Options running Apache Kafka in Kubernetes
  • Observability with Grafana& Prometheus for Kafka on Kubernetes( CFK)
  • Build a Realtime data pipeline with Kafka Connect on Kubernetes with CFK
  • Building a Data Streaming Center of Excellence
Dustin Domerese
  • Beyond The Text: Harnessing the Power of AI and Voice Bots in Dynamics Customer Service
  • Delete Your Integrations! Patterns for system integration beyond data movement
Reitse Eskens
  • Code, deploy and maintain your Azure (data) Infrastructure with confidence
  • Monitoring (Azure) SQL database for free? Try Zabbix!
  • How an attendee became a speaker
  • Choosing the Azure SQL DB tier, tales from the trenches
Dmitry Romanoff
  • Troubleshooting High CPU Utilization in PostgreSQL Databases
Koenraad Haedens
  • Cloud SQL Security Made Simple: Protecting Your Workloads with Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Christian Alexander Schreiber
  • Power up your app development with Azure DevOps: Just Ship It!
Lisa Hoving
  • Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, or Azure Synapse Analytics? When to use what.
  • What taking care of my pet python taught me about implementing Data Lakes on Azure
Leonel Abreu
  • A time travel with temporal tables
  • Python and Power BI, better together.
  • Effective data visualization
  • Three forgotten security enhancements.
Ásgeir Gunnarsson, Just Blindbæk
  • Next Step Power BI Tabular model development
Isabelle Van Campenhoudt
  • Unified Governance for Power Automate, Power Apps and Power BI with Doctor Flow & Isa
  • How to make an elephant dance - an enterprise approach to manage your most significant sets of data
Alexander Arvidsson, Linda Torrång
  • +5 Wisdom - Learn to Ask Better Questions to Solve the Right Problems
Joël Vangrunderbeeck
  • Embedding Power BI reports on your own portal
Alexander Arvidsson
  • Knee-Deep In Tech Live @ DataMinds Connect
  • Stay a While and Listen - Everything You Need for Starting Your Own Podcast
  • Hands-on Lipstick on a Pig - Improving a Power BI Report Step by Step
  • Presentation Skills Masterclass
  • Making Data Matter - Combining Data, Visual Storytelling and Presentation Skills for Maximum Impact
  • Spell of Transmutation - Using Debezium to Transfer Realtime Data Changes to Event Hub
Grant Fritchey
  • Using Query Store to Understand and Control Query Performance
  • Mechanisms for Implementing Database DevOps
  • Answering Questions Using Extended Events
Charles-Henri Sauget, Matthieu Roy
  • Industrialize data transformations using dbt on Azure
  • Lessons learned: Migration journey from Azure Analysis Services to Power BI Premium
Dennes Torres
  • Solving big problems with Query Store Hints
  • Power BI: Incremental Refresh - Why load everything?
  • Deployment Pipelines on Power BI
  • Power BI: Datamarts and Aggregations for Better Performance
  • SQL Server Query Store Wonders
  • SQL Server 2022: Intelligent Query Processing new Features
  • SQL Server 2022: Parameter Sensitive Plan Optimization
  • Power BI In an Enterprise Environment
  • SQL Server 2022: Query Optimization Evolution
  • Data Intelligence All-in-One : Synapse Analytics
Sander van de Velde
  • Model your real-time metaverse with Azure Digital Twins
  • Turn streaming data into Azure Data Explorer time series
Jafar Shayan
  • The Future of Software Engineering: Navigating the Impact of Generative AI on Career Growth
  • How to apply the lessons learned from a PhD journey in software engineering
  • Exploring the Dark Side of Agile Software Development and Software Architecture
  • Deciphering DevSecOps to ensure security by default
Wilko van de Velde
  • How to improve data quality in Azure Stream Analytics
Marco Dal Pino
  • Cracking the Code: Selecting the Best Database for Your IoT Endeavors
Juan Manuel Perafan
  • M-fu: I did not know this was possible with Power Query
Brent Meersman
  • Mastering Deep Work in the Age of Hybrid Working
Tushar Kumar
  • Comprehensive approach to prevent data exfiltration with Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention
Nathaniel Rose
  • Real-Time Feature Stores for Blockchain
Frank Geisler
  • Data Wranglng the PowerShell way
Kris Wijnants
  • How to get your Azure bill back under control: Lessons from the trenches
Gethyn Ellis
  • A Step-by-Step Guide to Building a Data-Driven Culture in Your Business Using Power BI
Koen Verbeeck
  • Building the €100 data warehouse with the Azure Data Platform
  • How to integrate Azure Logic Apps in your data pipelines
  • Analyzing Cosmos DB Data with Azure Synapse Link
  • Building Effective Data Warehouses and Power BI Models - Guide to Dimensional Modelling
Rob Verschoor
  • Break free from SQL Server with Babelfish for PostgreSQL
Michiel Hamers
  • Demystifying Azure app service's performance and scaling
Henny Speelman
  • Graph Literacy – The best proof of data are graphs
Erland Sommarskog
  • Don’t Let Your Permissions Be Hijacked!
  • Deadlocks – Analysing, Preventing and Mitigating
  • All You Wanted to Know About Collations
Michael Lynn
  • Scaling with Confidence: How MongoDB Helps You Build Resilient and Scalable Cloud-Native Application
Damir Matešić
  • MS SQL New functions, syntaxes, tips & tricks
Juarez Junior
  • Multi-cloud App Dev for Java Developers with Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Johnny Winter
  • Long Live Star Schema! Collaboratively design your dimensional model with business users
  • Adventures of an Analytics Engineer: Bringing Power BI to Databricks
Guido Sicuro
  • Power BI and Excel: How to Integrate and Leverage Both Tools
  • Accelerate Your Sustainability Journey with Microsoft: Data, Power Platform & Sustainability
Kevin Chant, Sander Stad
  • GitHub database deployments workshop for Data Platform professionals
Kevin Chant
  • KevOps for Azure Databricks
Robbe Van Laere
  • Making Power BI Reporting Come to Life (Power Automate/Logic Apps)
Falek Miah
  • Deploy Synapse using Terraform & DevOps
  • Spark Execution Plans for Databricks
Falek Miah, Anna-Maria Wykes
  • Introduction to the wonders of Azure DevOps
  • Mastering Delta Lakes in Azure
Floris Berends
  • MLOPS with Azure Machine Learning and Mlflow
Oskari Heikkinen
  • Best Practices for building a Data Lakehouse with Azure Databricks
Joey D'Antoni
  • From Cloud APIs to Your Screen: A Demo of Retrieving, Storing, and Serving Data in Azure
Brian Bønk
  • A love story between Power BI & Azure Synapse Analytics
  • The love story between Power BI & Azure Synapse Analytics
  • Understanding SQL Server Execution plans
  • Azure Synapse serverless - CETAS vs Views vs Parquet
  • Kusto Query Language (KQL) and Power BI - a love story
Sebastiano Galazzo
  • Blackmirror - Creating your digital twin
Iona Varga
  • Managing your change management!?
Wouter Trappers
  • Land your data projects: a philosophical lens
Uwe Ricken
  • User Definied Functions – From SQL 2000 – SQL 2019
  • Security techniques for cross database access
  • How to handle Timeseries with Microsoft SQL Server
  • Simplify data management with partitioning
  • Improve your skills as a database developer
Dr. Joe Perez
  • Leveraging Art and Science for Effective Data Storytelling: From Concept to Reality
  • Facilitating Innovation in a Post-COVID19 World: Cultivating a Climate for Paradigm Shift
  • Driving Decisions with Data: Delight or Disaster?
  • Bringing Data to L.I.F.E. and Life to Data
  • Avoiding Death by PowerPoint: The Four "Essential E's" of Dynamic Speaking
Natalie Johnson
  • Function at Full Capacity: Through Energy, Connection and Courage
  • Stress: It's Your Superpower
Erwin de Kreuk, Mathias Halkjaer
  • Designing and managing a cost-effective data platform in Azure Synapse Analytics
Jeff Harry
  • Navigating Difficult Conversations Through Play
  • Why Ted Lasso’s Feminine & Masculine Leadership Matters
Wim Vancuyck
  • Decentral organization of central dat platforms
Marijn Somers
  • How to organize the right Teams meetings: Practical scenario's and implementations
  • Unlock the Potential of Citizen Development in Your Organization
  • 40 tips on how Microsoft 365 protects your mental health
Usman Khan
  • Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure
Rob Litjens
  • How to protect your crown jewels against Ransomware
  • How to get the most out of your (selective) Defender for SQL deployment?
James Bartlett
  • PowerShell Hacks for Power BI
Pedro Reis
  • From Power BI to PowerPoint Presentation - Done in 5 seconds!
Lonneke Opsteegh
  • Double up the Power: combining Power BI with PowerPoint for strong storytelling
  • The three layers of dashboard design
Fawaz Ghali
  • Building High Performance Real-time Stream Processing Microservices
  • Real-time Fraud Detection Challenges and Solutions
  • Running Real-time Machine Learning Analytics On Traces
  • Real-time Stream Processing without Migraines
Lode Cools
  • Unleashing the Power BI Embedded in an ISV: the good, the bad an the ugly
Jan Van Meirvenne
  • Demystifying MLOps on Azure
  • DataOps on Azure: treat your data as code!
Linda Torrång
  • Leveraging Power BI's capabilities for Next level Access control
Els van Vessem
  • SQL for absolute beginners
  • Time and stress management for data people
Maarten Ameloot
  • Your IT brain is wired differently, and that's okay.
Tim Schaeps, Wesley Backelant
  • Data Mesh in Azure
Leon Gordon
  • The power of color in Data Visualization
  • Solving Business Problems Using Machine Learning in Power BI
Rui Romano
  • Troubleshoot Power BI - Dr. House Style!