Reid Havens

Power BI Desktop shines with the right tooling. This workshop dives into external tools, governance services, modern modeling features, and scalable self-service patterns so you can build reliable, high-quality semantic models end to end.

This session breaks down the practical decisions behind designing and implementing a AI ready modern data platform, without diving into heavy technical detail. A clear, non-technical roadmap from two Microsoft MVPs who run a data consultancy.

Build a Lakehouse using Microsoft Fabric and create a Medallion Architecture pipeline. Use Pipelines, Spark Notebooks, T-SQL, and create orchestration and monitor pipelines for optimal performance.

A practical guide for data pros to start creating content and speaking confidently. Learn how to generate ideas, make simple videos, overcome stage fright, and use YouTube and community talks to build credibility and unlock new career opportunities.

Learn which tools in Fabric to use and when. No coding knowledge required. This session will cover: - Delta, Parquet, and Onelake - SQL vs. Spark: - Notebooks vs. Dataflows vs. Pipelines - Warehouses vs. Lakehouses:

Power BI has great tools, but using them haphazardly creates clutter. This session shows how to choose the right feature, compare UDFs and calc groups, simplify navigation and formatting, and use governance tools to keep reports clean.

We’ve all been there—excited to try a cool Power BI feature that ends up making things worse. In this fast-paced talk, I’ll share a few real-world lessons from features that caused more complexity, confusion, or chaos than they were worth. You’ll leave with a sharper eye for evaluating what features serve your users… and which ones might just be adding noise.

In this rapid-fire lightning talk, you’ll learn about often invisible but important Power BI settings that quietly wreck performance, inflate models, and scramble results. With quick demos and instant fixes, you’ll walk away knowing exactly what to check so your reports stop fighting you.

A showcase of how report-scoped objects like measures, calc groups, field parameters, custom calendars, and visual calcs boost flexibility and insight, and how composite models let you add this logic without polluting the core semantic model.

Learn how to design and maintain a clean, scalable Power BI semantic model that supports growth and self-service. We’ll cover what belongs in the core model vs. the report layer, how to extend safely with composite models, when to use UDFs vs. calculation groups, and how tools like Tabular Editor, Semantic Link, and the Power BI MCP server can automate refactoring and model governance.

Think public speaking isn’t for you? Think again. In this quick, energizing session, I’ll share bite-sized, practical tips for delivering talks when you’re not a natural performer. From managing nerves to structuring your opening lines, these tricks come from years of speaking at events—with all the awkward stumbles along the way. Whether you're prepping for your first user group or a big-stage conference, you'll walk away feeling a little less terrified (and a lot more prepared).

This course teaches users to create, manage, and secure enterprise-grade Power BI models, covering semantic modelling, deployment pipelines, sharing strategies, and access control, enabling scalable, collaborative, and secure analytics.

F is for Fabric explains Microsoft Fabric in a fun, Sesame Street–style session. Using simple language and analogies, you’ll learn what Fabric is, what it’s good for, and what each workload does—leaving with a clear, practical understanding of the platform.

In a fast, fuzzy 20‑minute tour of Microsoft Fabric, we reveal the one thing—yes, the only thing—you really need to know. A simple, Sesame‑Street‑style guide to how Fabric brings all your data together… brought to you by the letter F!