Jason Romans
Lifelong Learner - Microsoft MVP
Nashville, Tennessee, United States
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Jason Romans is a Microsoft MVP and data platform engineer based in Nashville, TN, specializing in Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, and SQL Server. He started his career as a DBA before finding his passion in business intelligence and data modeling, and has since become a regular conference speaker at events including SQLBits, PASS Summit, and FabCon. His sessions focus on practical, real-world application — things you can use the moment you're back at your desk. His first computer was a Commodore 64, and he's been hooked ever since.
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The Data Professional's Power Toolkit: Free Tools to Supercharge Your Workflow
In the fast-paced world of data and technology, efficiency isn't just about algorithms—it's about having the right tools at your fingertips. This session introduces a curated collection of free, powerful tools that will transform how you organize information, visualize ideas, and manage your daily workflow as a data professional.
Discover how Obsidian can create a "second brain" for your technical notes and documentation, learn to sketch complex data architectures with Excalidraw, boost Windows productivity with Microsoft PowerToys, and unlock VS Code's potential beyond just coding. Whether you're a data analyst, engineer, scientist, or business intelligence professional, these tools will help you work smarter, not harder.
Attendees will leave with practical knowledge they can implement immediately, complete with real-world use cases, best practices, and a resource guide. No vendor pitches—just honest recommendations from one data professional to another.
DuckDB 101: From Desktop to Notebook
Meet DuckDB, the in-process analytical database that’s making a splash with data professionals everywhere. Think of it as SQLite for analytics — fast, lightweight, and perfect for local data exploration. In this session, we’ll see how DuckDB can query CSV and Parquet files directly from your laptop, with no server setup or cloud dependency required.
You’ll also learn how DuckDB integrates seamlessly with Jupyter Notebooks, bringing together SQL and Python in one environment. Whether you’re exploring datasets, prototyping transformations, or testing ETL logic, DuckDB can be your local analytics engine that just works.
Come learn how to make your data fly (or at least quack) — with live demos, notebook examples, and practical takeaways you can start using today.
Key Takeaways:
1. Run fast SQL queries locally on flat files — no cluster required
2. Combine DuckDB with Jupyter for powerful hybrid SQL + Python workflows
3. Learn how DuckDB fits into modern data exploration and lightweight ETL scenarios
Data on Fire: A Hands-On Intro to Spark in Fabric
Curious about Apache Spark but not sure where to start? This hands-on session introduces you to Spark in Microsoft Fabric Notebooks—a powerful and accessible way to process and analyze big data using familiar tools in the Microsoft ecosystem.
We’ll break down key Spark concepts like distributed computing, DataFrames, and lazy evaluation, then show how they come to life inside Fabric’s notebook experience. You’ll see practical demos that cover loading, transforming, and analyzing large datasets—while leveraging Fabric’s modern data stack, including OneLake, Dataflows, and Pipelines.
You’ll also learn how to choose between Spark and pure Python notebooks in Fabric, based on execution needs, data integration, and use case fit.
Whether you're a SQL pro, BI developer, or data engineer, this session will give you the tools and confidence to start using Spark in your own projects—no cluster management required.
The Data Detective's Toolkit: Diagnose, Monitor, and Fix with Semantic Link Labs
Your Fabric workspace has problems the UI will never show you — Semantic Link Labs will. This free, Microsoft-backed open-source Python library brings notebook-powered diagnostics to Fabric, no extra tooling or licensing required. In this demo-heavy session, you'll investigate semantic model issues, monitor workspace health, and uncover hidden errors before users ever report them — tracing relationships, validating measures, and flagging Best Practice Analyzer violations along the way.
Walk away with ready-to-run notebooks covering relationship health, report analysis, Best Practice Analyzer, and workspace monitoring, so you can start applying these checks the same week. Built for Power BI developers and Fabric admins who'd rather catch the problem than hear about it from a Teams message.
Stop reacting. Start detecting.
European Microsoft Fabric + SQL Community Conference 2026 - Sessions Sessionize Event Upcoming
Day of Data Albany 2026 Sessionize Event Upcoming
Day of Data Baton Rouge 2026 Sessionize Event
Power BI Days DC 2026 Sessionize Event
Scenic City Summit 2026 Sessionize Event
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