What features would you add to Excel or Power BI & Starting your own business Unpivot 2024-11-10 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🟢 Mark lays down a challenge to who has the easiest dependent drop down list technique🟢 Giles is glad not to be in charge and has become a Lambda Lover🟢 Sue has run ANOTHER marathon!🟢 Wyn has an embarrassing rant online.QotW: What Features would you add to Excel or Power BI? Main Topic: Motivations and Challenges of starting your own business🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Thanks to Gráinne Duggan for pulling together the Timestamps :00:00:00 Chat about the Rick de Groot episode.00:02:55 News: Running; LAMBDA as a strategy for Excel World Championship Finals; Power BI roadmap; dashboarding competition. Mark lays down the gauntlet - Who has the easiest Dependent Drop Down List technique?00:10:32 Mark lays down the gauntlet - Who has the easiest Dependent Drop Down List technique?; Ranges vs arrays.00:20:00 Question of the Week Part 1(QotW): What Features would you add to Excel? Suggestions included: Name Manager; Office Scripts; object-based functions; Data model; multiscreen Power BI; 00:38:55 QotW Part 2: Dropdown slicer; Additional only refresh in Power Query and Power BI or append refresh; controlled tables input; row level & sheet level security in Excel; an admin sheet that defined who had access to each area; colour code measures in Power BI00:48:00 Main Topic: Motivations and Challenges of starting your own business. Advice, anecdotes, mindsets, and insights, emphasizing the value of your time.01:14:20 Closing thoughts
Conference & Networking Hacks Unpivot 2025-09-27 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Overview: In this lively episode of Unpivot, hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male dive into the world of conferences, networking, and community building. From hilarious travel stories and marathon plans to deep dives into Power BI features and data culture. Practical tips from Wyn, Sue, Mark, and Giles cover everything from how to join conversations with confidence to surviving long conference days with snacks, water, and a sense of humor. Whether you're a seasoned speaker or attending your first tech event, this episode is packed with insights and laughs.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan00:00:00 – Welcome to Unpivot with Wyn, Sue, Mark, and Giles 00:01:26 – Giles’s rap video reactions, Spotify shoutout & Apple review ask00:03:33 – Vienna Fabric Conference recap and community vibes 00:05:50 – Running stories and marathon connections 00:07:00 – Meeting Microsoft folks and schnitzel overload 00:08:16 – Dataflows Gen2, performance boosts, big screen fame, MVP video teaser 00:14:20 – Giles’s podcast infidelity and AI tool review plans 00:16:25 – Copilot demo fails and LLM integration news 00:17:20 – Mark’s membership conference and transformation focus 00:20:40 – How meetups built lasting friendships 00:24:00 – DAX user defined functions, Git & Version Control 00:36:10 – QoW: Conference tips & networking hacks - Just go to them00:44:30 – How to politely exit conversations 00:47:35 – Community lounges and sticker games 00:51:00 – Survival tips: snacks, water, and pacing 00:56:01 – Falling asleep in sessions and polite exits 01:00:10 – Time capsule idea and future predictions, and wrap up
Hardware Takes a Turn Unpivot 2025-09-14 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Question of the Week: What's your favourite hardware?In this episode of Unpivot, the team dives into hardware favourites, Excel quirks, and Giles’s unexpected rap career. From neck pillows to portable monitors, the hosts share their top tech picks and debate the practicality of XLOOKUP tricks. They also preview the Excel UK Championship Finals and celebrate a colleague’s leap into pro basketball. Expect laughs, insights, and a few surprising tangents.⌚Tardy Giles🎤 Rap Review❎ Sue's XLOOKUP admission⌨️Fn Backspace🕜Sue's mysterious object🤬Cross(ed) Wires - the most boring topic so far goes off!⏲️ They call him Mark "High-Tech" Proctor🦶🏻Foot Fans?✈️Cabeau cabeau.com/products/evolution-s3-neck-pillow💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan00:00:31 – Welcome to Unpivot with Wyn, Sue, Mark, and tardy Giles 00:06:01 – Giles’s rap video series and TikTok debut and furry mics00:13:06 – LinkedIn feed quirks and mistaken identity 00:14:44 – Sue’s birthday and cider tasting 00:17:26 – Luke leaves Access Analytic for pro basketball in Cyprus 00:18:27 – Excel UK Championship Finals, Esports setup and livestream details 00:21:50 – XLOOKUP vs VLOOKUP performance debate 00:24:00 – Sue’s shift to Power Query and PowerBI 00:31:09 – Mark’s M code course update 00:33:00 – Question of Week: What’s your favourite hardware 00:35:00 – Pens, notebooks, keyboards, Mac’s, Tide clock, 00:43:01 – The most boring topic ever - bag of wires debate00:52:00 – Coffee machines, toastie maker, portable monitors and training setups 00:57:00 – Wyn’s neck pillow and flight prep, Mark’s minimalist tech philosophy01:04:49 – Giles’s upcoming Humble MVP music video.
=COPILOT and AI Hype, plus Competitive Excel Pressure Unpivot 2025-08-30 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/⌚Tardy Mark😥Competition Pressure🧘🏻♀️Sue's Zen advice🎤East 17 Tribute Band request😡Wyn's =COPILOT rant💡Mark's =COPILOT use case🥰Brian Julius Shout Out moderndata101.com/network/brian-julius🔢 32,767💚XLOOKUP day🫶🏻 - Fwends🐁Mark's wiredn this episode of Unpivot, hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male dive into the hype around Excel’s new =COPILOT function, share personal stories from recent travels and competitions, and debate the real-world usefulness of AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini. From Excel World Championships to marathon training, the crew blends tech talk with laughs and life updates.They also explore the limitations of Copilot in Excel, discuss PowerBI updates, and reflect on the evolving role of AI in productivity. Expect rants, revelations, and a few fur coat references.EAST 17tiktok.com/@80s_90s_nostalgia/video/7517754308046228758?q=stay%20now%20E17&t=1756521084633gov.uk/government/publications/microsoft-365-copilot-experiment-cross-government-findings-report/microsoft-365-copilot-experiment-cross-government-findings-report-htmlmetr.org/blog/2025-07-10-early-2025-ai-experienced-os-dev-studyHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan• 00:00:00 – Welcome to Unpivot with hosts, Wyn, Sue, and Giles and the tardy Mark• 00:03:45 – Sue’s ultra marathon, Giles Excel World Championship experience• 00:08:10 – The pressure of live demos and esports Excel• 00:14:00 – Wyn’s rant: Copilot hype vs reality• 00:18:00 – What =COPILOT actually does (and doesn’t)• 00:21:00 – Real use cases vs gimmicks for Copilot• 00:29:00 – AI illusions: Are we really saving time?• 00:36:00 – Learning with AI, teaching prompts, vibe coding macro recorder vibes• 00:44:30 – PowerBI updates• 00:46:30 – XLOOKUP Day and Wyn’s Excel legacy• 00:53:40 – Hardware talk: gaming mice, stream decks, and shortcuts• 00:57:00 – Upcoming meetups: Vienna, Amsterdam and wrap up
Technology Avoided - with Ken Puls Unpivot 2025-08-16 | Special guest Ken Puls returns to the pod this week.Question of the week: What technologies are you currently ignoring and why?Other topics:😴 Falling asleep during presentations🐻 Out running a bear🙊 Don’t say the C word💬 Arguing with AIA light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.🐒🔨🪛Ken Puls: excelguru.caWyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Overview and Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne DugganIn this lively episode of Unpivot, hosts Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male welcome guest Ken Puls for a candid and humorous conversation about the technologies they’re currently avoiding. From Excel Copilot skepticism to the challenges of AI prompting, the group dives deep into the tools that frustrate, overwhelm, or simply don’t fit their workflows. Along the way, they share stories from recent meetups, running adventures, and even a surprise musical tribute to Ken. Mark shares his gravestone epitaph “One day, Mark taught Dim something!” Whether you're a data enthusiast, Excel wizard, or just curious about the evolving tech landscape, this episode offers laughs, insights, and plenty of relatable moments.________________________________________⏱️ Timestamps00:00:00 – Introductions and guest, Ken Puls raises the quality bar00:02:20 – Charles fell asleep during Mark’s talk, and tough crowds at Excel events00:06:18 – Sue’s weekly meetup success and chilled community vibes00:07:33 – Running in bear country and the Grizzly Ultra challenge00:11:22 – Ken’s Vancouver meetup history and PowerBI mixtape plans00:14:00 – How Sue and Ken find speakers, encourage new voices, Laura Szepesi becomes an MVP00:24:03 – Ken’s long courses vs. short, learners finish longer courses more often00:30:01 – Cheat sheets: useful tools or annoying clutter?00:32:30 – Mark’s AI-generated musical tribute to Ken00:36:31 – Question of the week: What tech are you ignoring?00:37:08 – Ken avoids Excel Copilot and prefers ChatGPT00:39:01 – Sue overwhelmed by AI trends, focuses on Python00:40:00 – Giles runs tech-free and enjoys the simplicity00:44:56 – Ken avoids Python in Excel and Office Scripts00:47:00 – Mark reflects on context and audience needs00:50:58 – Copilot Studio frustrations and prompting challenges
What are your Favourite and Wish List Defaults Unpivot 2025-08-03 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/We all learn something new in this episode!!🗣️ Wyn's emphasis game and talking to a wall💙 Join us on BlueSky⚓ Giles's ever-growing tattoo🎬 Editing v just getting it out there👁️Strava , social networks and why Mark left Facebook00:00 Lots of random chat (see list above)27:45 Question of the weekQuestion of the Week: What are your favourite defaults and what would be on your wish list? Links to hosts and other contentUnpivot Show Links PageHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes and Giles Male.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan00:00:00 – Opening Banter & Show IntroHosts joke about the emphasis on different words in the show’s intro and reveal Wyn has been doing it intentionally for 30+ episodes.00:03:00 – Behind-the-Scenes Setup, Tattoo Talk & Family ReactionsDiscussion about OneNote, camera/mic setup, and Giles’ travel plans and course updates. Giles shares details about a new Viking tattoo and reactions from family members.00:06:00 – Excel Functions Beginning with “J”Giles mentions a mysterious set of Excel functions starting with “J” teased in a previous episode.00:07:00 – Wyn’s YouTube Interview Setup & Clipchamp vs CamtasiaWyn explains his recent YouTube shorts and how they were filmed and gear setup. Wyn talks about behind-the-scenes video from the office and discusses using Clipchamp for music and editing.00:11:30 – Melbourne Trip & Rugby MatchWyn recounts a trip to Melbourne to see the British Lions play at MCG and reconnect with old friends. Sue met old friends in Penzance00:12:30 – Meetups & Upcoming PresentationsSue hosted a recent Power BI meetup with Peter van den Bos, praising his teaching style. Upcoming presentation in Turkey00:14:30 – YouTube Analytics & Editing ChallengesVideo editing time, retention curves, editing fatigue, and the trade-offs of polished vs. quick content.00:20:00 – AI Tools in Financial ModelingGiles vents about the hype around AI tools in financial modeling and calls for transparency.00:21:00 – London Excel Meetup AnnouncementMark is presenting in-person at the London Excel Meetup on August 7 about dynamic arrays.00:22:00 – Podcast Milestones and Social NetworksCelebration of 10,000 downloads and 11,000 YouTube views for the Unpivot podcast.00:27:45 – 🎵 Question of the Week: Wish List DefaultsDiscussion kicks off on favorite and wish list defaults in Excel and Power BI. Stay in same cell after pressing Enter. No prefix in Power Query merges. Turn off auto summarize in Power Bi. Avoid implicit measures. Disable auto detect relationships 00:33:00 – Training vs. Personal DefaultsDebate on keeping defaults for training vs. customizing for personal use.00:34:30 – Power Query & Pivot Table DefaultsDisable promoted headers and type changes. Turn off background refresh. Keep fonts the same. Prevent column resizing. Use tabular format. Disable editing directly in cells. 00:41:20 – Control + Enter ShortcutTip shared to stay in the same cell using Control + Enter.00:45:00 – More Default SuggestionsShoutouts to LinkedIn contributors with ideas like: Default to one sheet in new workbooks. Increase recent workbook count. No spaces in step names in Power Query. Remove gridlines. Set default fonts. Avoid duplicating tabs to end. Mark explains how dragging chart ranges resets formatting and how to prevent it.00:54:00 – Power BI Page, Font, VBA & Advanced Formula Editor DefaultsSuggestions to standardize fonts and page sizes for better readability. Turn off auto syntax check. Avoid red error popups mid-edit. Enable expert mode in Power Query01:00:00 – Wrapping Up & Blue Sky ShoutoutsFinal thoughts, shoutouts to fans, and encouragement to join the Unpivot community on Blue Sky.
What happens when youre away? Unpivot 2025-07-19 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Mark's course:exceloffthegrid.com/modern-excel-formulasOther topics🔄️Pivot Auto-Refresh☠️ Giles's new Tattoo↔️ Excel compatibility versions🐻 Running in the woods with Bears🧑🏻✈️ Power BI CopilotHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan00:00:36 – Welcome & Introductions - The hosts, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, Giles Male, kick off with travel stories (Croatia, Canada), and tattoos. Giles shares his elaborate pirate-themed tattoo journey.00:06:55 – MVP Renewals & Summit Plans - MVP renewals, the anxiety around notifications, potential attendance at the Microsoft MVP Summit in Seattle.00:10:45 – Excel Auto-Refreshing Pivot Tables - New Excel feature: auto-refreshing pivot tables, benefits, limitations, and the need for referencing pivot outputs.00:14:26 – Downsides of Auto-Refresh - Concerns about inconsistency between pivot types and the need for a function to detect stale pivot tables.00:16:50 – Excel Version Usage Stats - Mark shares insights from Dave Bruns’ survey on Excel version usage: ~67% on 365, ~10% on older versions.00:18:38 – Power BI Compatibility Versions - David Benaim’s LinkedIn post sparks a discussion on Excel’s new compatibility versions for functions like LEN, MID, and SEARCH—especially for emoji handling.00:22:20 – Copilot in Power BI - Copilot in Power BI, its strengths and limitations, DAX Query View and Copilot’s quirks.00:24:15 – Greg Deckler’s New Book - Greg Deckler’s new book “DAX for Humans” and approach to simplifying DAX without CALCULATE.00:25:28 – Copilot & Power BI Integration - Discussion on Copilot’s standalone use, capacity consumption, and the need for better setup and filtering.00:26:40 – Power BI Field Parameters Go GA - Preview features, Field parameters, long in preview, are now generally available (GA). The team reflects on Microsoft’s preview feature strategy.00:27:41 – Translytical Flows & Writeback - New Power BI feature “Translytical Flows” enables writeback to Fabric databases. Sue shares her successful Python training day, including Beautiful Soup demos and AI-powered customer review analysis.00:29:50 – Day-Glo Party & Arcade Games - Sue recounts a loud, chaotic party with go-karts and arcade games - fun for some, not for all.00:34:25 – Free Excel Course - Mark announces a free course on modern Excel formulas, focusing on dynamic arrays and foundational concepts. Wyn is using 2 mice at the same time!00:38:27 – Question of the Week: Automation vs Documentation: How to ensure work continues when you're away:• Mark shares a story about being backfilled for two weeks of paternity leave.• Wyn and Sue discuss the balance between automation and documentation.• Everyone agrees that automation is great—until it breaks.• Power Automate and procedure notes are debated.• The team reflects on the importance of backup plans, realistic urgency, and the value of being reachable (or not) on holiday.01:09:10 – Final Thoughts & Dolphin Sighting - Sue ends on a high note: a morning swim with dolphins. The team celebrates nearing 10,000 podcast downloads.
Bill Jelen a.k.a. Mr Excel Unpivot 2025-07-05 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Find Bill's Channel hereyoutube.com/@MrXL/videosIn this special episode of Unpivot, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, and Giles Male are joined by a surprise guest—none other than M rExcel himself, Bill Jelen! With Sue away on holiday, the team dives deep into the fascinating backstory of Bill’s Excel journey, his legendary website MrExcel.com, and how his early struggles with book signings evolved into authoring over 70 Excel books. Expect plenty of laughter, great storytelling, and insights from decades at the cutting edge of Excel and Power BI.From rocket launches in Florida to power queries with cryptic errors, this episode is packed with valuable lessons, Excel updates (like the new Copilot pane features), and fun behind-the-scenes tales from the Excel World Championships. Whether you're a casual spreadsheet user or hardcore data geek, this episode is a masterclass in both tech and camaraderie among the best in the business.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps ( Courtesy of Grainne Duggan ) :00:00:00 Introduction, Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Giles Male, introduce special guest Bill Jelen, aka Mr. Excel, Bill launched MrExcel.com in 1998 and is working on book #71, book signing can be brutal, motivation to write00:09:45 Mark and Giles won awards at Gen CFO event for social media of the year (Giles) and resource of the year (Mark), debate ensues about which is the more important award, recent updates to Excel's Copilot pane, including the promotion of chat history, concept of "flighting" for gradual feature rollouts 00:16:00 ChatGPT or Copilot? Bill prefers ChatGPT Pro for daily use due to its reliability and customizability, Copilot deeper analysis mode can affect functionality, inconsistent AI behavior and user confusion00:20:00 Technical frustrations with Power Query, issues caused by a hash symbol in a file name, complexity of Excel's multiple versions, beta channel, insiders and updates, 00:28:10 Question of the week (turned in to Ask Bill a question): Bill Jelen’s jingle story, duelling podcasts with Mike Garvin, hosting and competing in Excel World Championships on ESPN00:45:00 Queston of the week – Where is AI heading? content creation and copyright theft, AI content scraping, importance of genuine readers, efforts to block bots from websites, in person presentations, human experts vs AI, biggest spreadsheet encountered, Power Pivot and Power Query with large files, Rob Collie story and book, Excel fan stories, virtual exercise, MVP summits, 01:06:50 Closing Remarks
Interview and CV Advice - 1 Year Birthday Unpivot 2025-06-21 | It's our 1 year anniversary and our Question of the week is: What should and shouldn't you put on your CV and say in an interviewAlso discussion around:💚Excel Stats for Accountants💛 Visual Calcs updates💚 Clip-Champ💛 Visual Calcs updatesA light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Timestamps courtesy of Grainne Duggan00:00:00 Introduction and Birthday Song: The hosts, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male, celebrate the one-year anniversary of Unpivot – there are no words to describe this intro! Just watch it… Fun with AI animated cartoons00:03:10 Events: Sue loved Data Céilí in Dublin, SQLBits is coming up, Sue asks for advice on how to enjoy the experience and connect with the audience – relax and enjoy it, have more content than you need but don’t try to jam it all in, practice and adapt to the audience's pace00:09:30 Sue ran an ultra marathon in Dartmoor in torrential rain, Giles got a weighted vest (25 kg) to cheat his workouts but ruin his knees. 00:12:00 Wyn’s Excel Skills Quiz: Wyn gave a quiz at a CPA conference to assess Excel skills, how will you do? 00:16:25 AI and Power Query or automation: Misconceptions around it and the potential impact, use of AI in competitions, AI in chess,00:22:20 News: Clipchamp (in Office 365 license) can do video editing, closed captions and transcripts, Giles and Mark are both nominated for the digital finance social media of the year award 00:26:25 Tech News: Power BI Visual Calculations simplify creating formulas directly within visuals, Power Query in Power BI Service coming soon - edit Power Query directly in the Power BI service00:30:50 Question of the Week: What should, and shouldn’t you put on your CV when applying for a job in data or finance? Avoid confidential data, check for errors, be specific about skills, tailor your CV, avoid overselling, keep it concise, highlight achievements, include demos, stay up to date, certifications, reputation matters, careful on social media, prompting skills 01:04:20 Wrap up and closing animation
Ken Puls, AI theft and the Myth of Keeping Up Unpivot 2025-06-07 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Special Mention:The Secrets Behind the Graph: Mastering Any Chart in Excel | Laura Szepesiyoutu.be/Hd_yfUr7pDo?si=giYOFS3i_EtDB3_xHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Ken Puls: excelguru.ca00:00:00 Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, Giles Male, and guest Ken Puls introduce themselves, Ken’s experiences with bears and cougars on Vancouver Island, drawing comparisons wildlife experiences with those in the UK. Wyn mentions drop bears and other animals in Australia. Ken’s first book was not a best seller RibbonX: Customizing the Office 2007 Ribbon00:07:50 ChatGPT: Concerns about AI's impact on content creators and content stolen without credit, shift from blogging to YouTube, importance of face-to-face training, in-person training during COVID00:18:50 Discussion about Ken and Oz Du Soleil heated debates about the future of AI etc., Giles go to Japanese heavy metal concert, Sue runs an ultramarathon, being the best you can be, Ken, an 18-year MVP, and his experiences at his first MVP summit00:29:30 Praise for Laura Szepsei's data visualization session Vancouver meetup, the challenges of keeping up with rapid technological changes, strategies for managing change, deciding when to ignore new changes, change is not always a good thing, the goal is to be better than you were, you can’t keep up with all the changes, going deep or going wide.00:46:50 Question of the Week: What motivates us? What keeps us going? Solving puzzles, helping others, the joy of teaching, the importance of balancing work with personal interests, challenges of staying motivated in a rapidly changing environment, the future of AI, data security, and the ethical implications of AI-generated contentTimestamps courtesy of Grainne Duggan
Staying relevant in Excel Unpivot 2025-06-06 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
MVP Part 2 the wrong way to do it Unpivot 2025-06-04 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
What is an MVP Part 1 Unpivot 2025-06-02 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
Data Hall of Fame Unpivot 2025-05-24 | QotW: Who or What is in your Data Hall of Fame?Other chat:🤷🏻♂️Trying to start the pod without Wyn🚳Bike Thief #YouveBeenHumbled😠Giles Issue with Cheat Sheets explored🤔Is it still worth writing blog posts?🎶Jingle Theft!A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00 Starting Without Wyn02:56 The Proper Start: Show intro with all hosts present, discussion of Yorkshire puddings, British food in Australia, and barbecue habits.06:00 Giles Bike Thief Story: Giles stops a bike thief in Copenhagen and rewards himself with a croissant.13:00 Power BI Naming Rant: Wyn rants about Microsoft’s naming conventions (e.g., “translytical task flows”), discussion of Power BI’s write-back feature and UI terminology changes.17:30 Why is Giles Anti-Cheat Sheets: Mark explains Giles’ dislike for low-value, mass-produced cheat sheets. Good cheat sheets have meaningful content.23:04 Are Blogs Dead: Concerns over AI scraping and diminishing blog traffic, use of AI for personal documentation, thoughts on the evolution of content discovery (Google vs. AI).33:33 QOTW Music Theft: Light-hearted complaint about Dim Early’s new podcast humming the Unpivot “Question of the Week” jingle.34:48 Question of the Week: Data Hall of Fame: Sue, Giles, Mark and Wyn name their top picks for the Data Hall of Fame. Picks include Chris Webb, Bill Jelen, Chandu, Oz du Soleil, and Guy in a Cube, Excel Jet, Ken Puls, Rob Collie’s Power Pivot book, Laura Graham-Brown, Mike Girvin, John Peltier, ChatGPT controversially added to the Hall of Fame, mentions of Tabular Editor and Excel Tables, hosts personal projects, Mynda Treacy, Chris Newman.1:03:00–End – Wrap-Up and Closing Thoughts: Reflections on the difficulty of narrowing down Hall of Fame picks.Thanks to Grainne Duggan for timestamps
Excel Updates Mini Pod May 2025 Unpivot 2025-05-16 | Mark and Giles do a mini pod discussing recent Excel updates including- Copilot- Copilot- Dark Mode- Copilot 🙄- Tokensand more...🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Hosts Mark Proctor and Giles Male.💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Mark: exceloffthegrid.comGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
What is a Microsoft MVP & Is it all getting too complicated? Unpivot 2025-05-10 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.In this episode of Unpivot the Show, Excel and Power BI fans are in for a treat as Deb Ashby returns with her most hilarious story yet—her attempt to conquer the London Marathon! Deb shares her brutally honest experience of running the marathon and why she’d never do it again.But that’s not all—this episode dives deep into whether it’s even worth striving for the Microsoft MVP title. The panel gets real about what MVP really means, the pros and cons and misconceptions. Expect laughs, rants, dogs faking injuries, and brutally honest takes on what it takes to stay relevant in the Excel/Power BI world.EVERYTHING Search recommended by Wynlinkedin.com/posts/brianjuliusdc_windows-tipsandtricks-search-activity-7187144578196492288-6SmGHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Deb Ashby, and Giles Male.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comDeb: linkedin.com/in/deborahashbyGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:30 Introductions 01:51 Deb’s London Marathon disaster begins 04:30 NOT( DUREX = ANDREX )08:50 TikTok content preview & reaction ideas 11:22 Excel skill gaps & job spec issues 15:56 Lowest common skill sets in organizations22:58 Wyn's challenges Teams Owners and Left-Handed Mouse25:25 Search with Everything Toolbar 26:35 Dogs faking injuries & chocolate emergencies 29:25 Teams pop up Rant, CoPilot inconsistencies & training headaches 38:10 What is a Microsoft MVP, really? 45:43 Don't Ask to be an MVP 48:00 Gaming it? 49:28 Do you have to be complimentary50:02 Technical vs community MVPs & Upsides 1:00:58 MVP Heroes - summit stories & famous Excel names 1:03:30 Why would you turn down a nomination1:08:00 Application Rejections
Power BI Updates Mini Pod - April 2025 Unpivot 2025-05-03 | 💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/Today's Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Sue BayesApril Blog:powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-april-2025-feature-summaryAzure Maps powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-april-2025-feature-summary/#post-29602-_Toc195631038UNPIVOTA light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
The Value of Experience Unpivot 2025-04-25 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🎧Podcast Episodes: https://unpivot.bio.link/In this lively and laughter-filled episode, the crew dives into everything from stylish Microsoft swag and fitness influencer antics to training insights and the evolving value of experience in tech. Sue shows off her customized MVP hoodie, while Wyn, Mark, and Giles discuss how Microsoft Learn and AI tools like ChatGPT are transforming the data game. Personal fitness journeys even sneak in, with tales of sub-20 bike sprints and the power of the right playlist.The conversation turns heartfelt and insightful when they explore what experience really brings to the table — smarter problem-solving, navigating people as much as tech, and making smarter long-term decisions. There’s also discussion around AI-powered development, training as a craft, and the quirks of learning in remote environments. Stay tuned till the end for side notes on KitKats, hash browns, and a motivational daily Giles mirror routine you’ll never unhear!Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.00:00 Introduction00:50 Microsoft MVP hoodie reveal04:05 Becoming fitness influencers07:19 Sit-stand desks and productivity hacks10:30 Sue’s upcoming Python meetup11:02 Anaconda Code in Excel 13:17 Editors Notegate21:18 Excel Speedrun showdown with Dim23:46 Create your own GPT24:34 Brian Julius DAX Helper26:10 Power BI course announcement28:00 Main topic: What value does experience have?43:14 Advanced vs beginner training challenges52:02 The danger zone of “enough knowledge to be dangerous”58:00 Outro: Staying Humble, Merch ideas and Giles motivation routineBrian Julius DAX Helperlinkedin.com/posts/brianjuliusdc_dax-ai-prompting-activity-7298279526210387968-qhHM/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios&rcm=ACoAAAJrY_QBWQHQpSN8U1UK8kGKjuTbZI0iCR4Wyn's DAX GPTchatgpt.com/g/g-zCDnEznGt-dax-helper-by-access-analytic💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
Unpivot Podcast Live Unpivot 2025-04-10 | Join us in the chatwww.youtube.com/@OzduSoleilDATAOz's songs (YouTube)Tin Man by America youtube.com/watch?v=zGl4PP9xaaQOn and On by Stephen Bishop youtube.com/watch?v=1uztRCOFYycimestamps:00:00:00 - Hosts, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor and Giles Male welcome Oz du Soleil. Oz introduces himself and his kaleidoscopes.00:06:50 - Sue Bayes joins the conversation. Chat about road trips00:10:20 - News updates: Giles’ TikTok posts, the UK Excel Championship, Oz’s MS Excel collegiate challenge regional competitions, Mark’s TRIMRANGE video and custom buttons on his ribbon, Sue’s training day at SQL Bits and her sessions on Python, web scraping, and AI.00:19:30 - Mark’s running goals (or non-goals) and Giles’ eating well updates, and the importance of moderation, Oz next road trip to MECC challenge in Texas, keeping yourself occupied on long drives00:25:30 - Techie news and co-pilot in Fabric, cost and risks of using it, Copilot and ChatGPT use cases, ChatGPT tasks, Terms and Conditions00:32:06 - Quiz with questions about Excel and related topics.00:46:00 - Question of the week: What drives us to do things differently and push our boundaries. Quite deep and personal stories and insights into motivation01:24:20 Wrap up and Oz sings ( timestamps courtesy of Gráinne Duggan )
Time Quotes, 100k Subscribers and Black Box Lambdas Unpivot 2025-03-29 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.In this episode of Unpivot, the crew dives deep into the world of Excel, Power BI, and the ever-evolving challenges of working in data. From reflections on the Excel World Championship to mastering lambda functions and scripting, it's a goldmine for data enthusiasts. Wyn celebrates hitting 100,000 YouTube subscribers, while the team discusses TikTok strategies, building a channel, and the unpredictable nature of viral content. There's also a thoughtful debate on Excel's lambda functions vs. built in functions like VLOOKUP—raising great points on black-box formulas and building for clients versus yourself.Later in the episode, the group shares real-world consulting experiences—quoting projects, managing client expectations, and dealing with scope creep. Sue opens up about estimating project time and the team jumps into practical advice for freelancers and in-house professionals alike. Whether you're interested Consulting, data or general data chat this episode is packed with humour and major nerd-out moments.QotW: How to quote for work and estimate time.Other chat:🟢 What's the secret to 100K subscribers🟢 Are Lambdas a black box?🟢 Giles toys with occupational ruin.🟢 Sue is not happy with Mark🟢 Mark drops shade on Wyn's REGEX idea🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00 Introduction00:34 Meet the hosts & competition reflections01:39 Excel World Championships and custom lambda functions03:00 Humility and Excel ego checks03:50 Atomic Habits, running, and healthy habits chat06:00 Celebrating 100,000 YouTube subscribers and discussing what makes viral content16:40 Lambdas vs VLOOKUP – black box risks in Excel32:06 Question of the Week – Time Estimation Tips54:00 Excel Wings, Python updates, and Excel plug-ins58:14 Upcoming live stream, Unpivot podcast shoutouts
Data Visualisation Choices in Power BI and Excel Unpivot 2025-03-15 | Links and more 🔗Podcast and Host Links https://unpivot.bio.link/💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Links Mentioned:💊GilesAli Torban : linkedin.com/in/allisontorban🏃🏻♂️MarkStephanie Evergreen stephanieevergreen.comBook: Effective Data VisualizationRobert Mundigl: clearlyandsimply.com/clearly_and_simplyRoberto Mensa: sites.google.com/site/e90e50chartsCarlos Barbosa: spilledgraphics.comJon Peltier: peltiertech.com🏅SuePsychology and data viz: youtu.be/Qa4740dZGl8?si=NfTlHrN6HLMyR0sKApril 2025 Accessibility Colours : meetup.com/d-c_powerbi/events/305646055/?eventOrigin=group_upcoming_events🦘WynPowerToys: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/install?WT.mc_id=M365-MVP-5002589Books: https://pbi.guide/resources/#BooksWorkoutWednesday: workout-wednesday.com00:00:00 Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male introduce themselves, chat about missing episode on Spotify due to file format issues. Sue’s marathon personal best time and Boston qualifying time00:09:45 Giles is living it up despite his high cholesterol levels. Mark started running now that the weather is nice. Wyn has not started his goal and issues with blacklists. 00:14:10 Power Toys software: Color Picker, ZoomIt, Advanced Paste for file conversion and PowerRename, Image Resizer. Health New Zealand spreadsheet issues, importance of reviewing and validating complex spreadsheets, the need for external reviews and proper validation to ensure accuracy and reliability. Matt Allington waffle chart00:26:00 Question of the week: What data visualization choices do you make? Data visualization, the importance of simplicity, clarity, and understanding the audience's needs, colours, accessibility, consistency, context, Stephanie Evergreen’s content on LinkedIn and books, reports vs data analysis tools, get rid of clutter, pie charts – good or bad? Small multiples, squint test00:56:00 Giles met with Carlos Barboza in Porto. Visualizations using Python, Seaborn and other tools, pie charts again, Giles is a grumpy old man according to Sue. Recommendations for books, websites, podcasts, LinkedIn and people who are amazing with charts and visualizations and other resources.Thanks to Gráinne Duggan for TimestampsHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
Jon Acampora, Shirts, Coding and things people get stuck on. Unpivot 2025-03-01 | Thanks to Jon Acampora of @ExcelCampus excelcampus.comyoutube.com/@ExcelCampusQuestion of the Week: Which features, techniques or concepts do most people get stuck on? How can we make it understandable?General• Sue discovers the Automate tab in Excel• Mark takes researching guests too far• Jon reveals how many shirts he has• Giles dances while cheat sheets fall from the skyA light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Links to other platforms and podcasts🎧 https://unpivot.bio.link/💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/ @AccessAnalytic Mark: exceloffthegrid.com @ExcelOffTheGrid Sue: linkedin.com/in/suebayes @sue_bayes Giles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15 @TheHumbleMVP00:00:00 Introduction and General Chat: Hosts, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, Giles Male and guest Jon Acampora introduce themselves; general chat, Jon talks about his work with Excel and his YouTube channel, Excel Campus.00:11:00 Sue's discovery of the Automate tab in Excel and Office Scripts; Jon ‘s challenges with teaching Excel features like tables and structured references, and turning off structured references by default00:20:30 Guess how many shirts Jon has contest; Excel World Championships hosting and competitors’ skills; Cheat sheet-gate with Giles00:33:30 Question of the Week: Which features, techniques or concepts do most people get stuck on? How can we make it understandable? Power Query and Power Bi; LET and Lambda and Dynamic Arrays; DAX and Data Modeling; User knowledge and learning curves; Programming and programming languages in Excel01:08:15 Summary of ‘how can we make it understandable?”; invest time; use analogies or relate to everyday examples; practice on something you are passionate about; explain with examples01:11:30 Wrap up; this episode has the greatest number of action items for a guest. Bonus: Shirt count
Excel Summit, ABBA and Presentation Tips Unpivot 2025-02-15 | ❓QotW: What are you tips for delivering good presentationsOther chat:🟢Mark explains why he doesn't like Chris Webb🟢Giles is sick but soldiers on🟢Sue did DP700 exam and presentation🟢Wyn needs to work on Irish namesLinks mentioned: http://www.fmwc.ukDp700: youtube.com/watch?v=_vMvyOl0QmgA light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00:00 Introductions by Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male. Sue and Giles went to an ABBA concert. 00:04:50 Global Excel Summit, Mark Proctor discusses his presentation on Office Scripts and the challenges faced, the concept of "zero click dreams" and his presentation setup. The Unpivot stickers were popular at the summit and missed photo opportunities. 00:17:00 Chandeep Chhabra's presentation and handstand walking. Sue's experience with the DP-700 exam and presenting for Microsoft Reactor and imposter syndrome.00:24:20 Giles' experience on a radio show, UK Financial Modeling Championships and team dynamics.00:31:00 News: Power Query in Excel Online is coming, Wyn’s video about Table.Skip, Chris Webb, Phil Seamark and Ken Puls are admired00:43:20 Queston of the Week: How do you prepare for an Excel presentation? YouTube vs conferences, the audience, timing and pacing, in person vs virtual, engaging the audience, the use of humour, the importance of pauses and tone of voice. Tips for dealing with nerves doing a presentation.01:19:25 Closing remarks and goodbyes.Timestamps courtesy of Grainne, thank you!
Copilot Fail and Work Life Balance Unpivot 2025-02-01 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.00:00:00 Intro00:00:30 Mark's Late00:01:00 Mark arrives, goals updates and recent activity including exercise, videos and reading habits.00:09:40 Plans for attending the Global Excel Summit and an ABBA concert, Mark’s GES Office Scripts presentation, 00:15:30 Tech news: Frustrations with Microsoft Copilot and its integration into Office products.00:23:15 Issues with automatic document attachments in Outlook, experiences with other AI tools for managing emails and contacts, Giles' experience in the Excel World Championship and his goals for improvement.00:28:40 Mark shares Celia Alves’ tip about regional settings and custom number formats, news from Giles and Sue and Wyn’s holiday00:37:25 Main topic: Work life balance and the impact of technology on productivity, strategies for managing stress and workload, the importance of finding a job you love, the balance and priorities change depending on the stage of life01:00:00 Wrap upThanks to Grainne Duggan for the timestampsHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
When does a business outgrow Excel and Power BI? Unpivot 2025-01-18 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.QotW: Can majority of businesses run on Excel and Power BI alone?-Commitments update-Giles rants about LinkedIn copyright enfringement-What makes for good visuals-At what point do you outgrow ExcelMain Topic: Once again we ran out of time!Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00:00 – Introduction of our hosts Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male. But, where’s Wyn? He's off on an adventure, racing huskies in Lapland!.00:03:00 – Sue’s fascinating VBA project involving RFID tags and converting them from decimal to hex. Mark shares his experience with VBA and color codes. VBA and Python security concerns, use of ChatGPT for coding00:09:00 - Mark converts a VBA solution to a Lambda function. Python, Power Query, REGEX solutions also explored00:13:44 - Time for personal updates: Mark shares his progress on his running. Giles and Sue celebrate their achievements. Chat abouts Wyn's progress. Giles claims victory.00:21:10 – News: Chandeep Chhabra’s Power Query book is available as pdf, David Benaim’s summary of 100 Excel feature released in last 5 years. Giles started a LinkedIn Blacklist to call out copyright violations and the importance of addressing such issues00:26:50 - Sue is excited about running the Napa Valley Marathon and being hosted by a community member. Giles and Mark express their interest in receiving invitations for their dream trips00:29:00 - Question of the Week: Sam McKay’s LinkedIn post sparks question “When does a business outgrow Excel and Power BI?” Tools needed for such businesses, use of Excel as a database and the importance of data validation and well-structured data, advantages of using Power BI and SharePoint, Power Apps. The importance of focusing on business needs rather than complex designs.00:55:30 - When does a business outgrow Excel and Power BI and the need for more advanced tools. Factors such as the number of stakeholders and data complexity are considered.01:04:45 – Ironically, the main topic about achieving work-life balance with technology was deferred for the second time to next session. Wrap-upThanks to Grainne Duggan for the timestamps
Should Power BI be part of Fabric Unpivot 2025-01-04 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00:00 – Introduction to "Unpivot" with hosts, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes and Giles Male, New Years resolutions, running and holiday eating.00:07:00 Goals for 2025, setting achievable/manageable goals and holding each other accountable, staying motivated, Giles needs to loose weight, Mark is too short00:18:15 Should Power BI be part of Fabric? Some hosts express concerns about the complexity and others highlight the benefits, integration of Power BI with Fabric, complexity might deter new users00:24:00 Learning curve associated with Power BI and Fabric, the importance of making the tools accessible to users with varying levels of expertise00:29:00 Python for data integration within Fabric – a powerful tool for data manipulation vs complexity for typical business users, the differences between enterprise and business users of Power BI and Fabric. 00:39:00 Know what tools are available and choose the ones you need to use, importance of proper training to help users adopt new tools like Fabric, organizations need to invest in training to ensure users can effectively utilize these tools, robust systems vs flexibility00:50:25 Just because you can does not mean you should discussion, understand the consequences, triangular slicers, Mark’s rant on organizations incentives for all staff to exceed expectations leads to staff having to over deliver and waste effort. 00:56:30 Final Thoughts and ReflectionsThanks to Grainne Duggan for the timestamps
Unpivot Christmas Livestream UTC 12:00 Unpivot 2024-12-20 | A fun chat about Excel, Power BI and the general world of data00:00:00 Intro: 2024 highlights and jingle. Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes and Giles Male exchange holiday greetings, and express relief that they are not just talking among themselves.00:08:15 Giles shares his experience presenting at the Excel World Championship in Las Vegas, including stepping in as a commentator and its challenges. Joy of social interaction and networking00:15:00 News: Excel Compatibility Versions handle emojis correctly and the potential for future updates to legacy functions. Sue updates about her running, Mark’s 24 days of LAMBDA’s, Wyn gives the Australian Christmas weather report00:21:35 More jingles00:24:55 Mark’s Christmas Quiz00:45:40 Favourite 2024 features plus Discussion about each host’s choice of Christmas background00:55:20 Chat about Christmas plans, including running goals and the tradition of Christmas stockings for adults and pets. New Outlook and VBA issue01:06:55 Thank you to our audience for your support, and happy holiday season to all.(Thanks to Gráinne Duggan for the timestamps)
Year in Review : 2024 - a 3 minute montage Unpivot 2024-12-19 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
With Chandeep Chhabra - Wow Factor Demos - Adapting when moving from Excel to Power BI Unpivot 2024-12-07 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🟢 Chandeep gets us chatting on everything from best ways to engage course attendees to handstand practice.🟢 Mark closes the door on "number plate gate" and discusses the nature of unplanned popular YouTube videos🟢 Sue has a fan girl moment and is very enthusiastic about Indian food and data models🟢 Wyn tries to steer the conversation from handstand practice to DAXSpecial Guest Chandeep Chhabra youtube.com/@GoodlyChandeepQotW: What’s your show off / wow factor demo / trick? Main Topic: How to think about Power BI and DAX and the transition from Excel Power BI?Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Thanks to Gráinne Duggan for the timestsamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction to "Unpivot" hosts, Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes and guest, Chandeep Chhabra00:01:45 - Chandeep shares his YouTube journey, celebrating 100,000 subscribers, the challenges of content creation and the strategies Chandeep used to grow his channel.00:04:55 - Power Query challenges and tips, Mark and Chandeep challenge video, insights on learning Power Query, overcoming initial fears, and the importance of community knowledge sharing, techniques writing M, optimizing Power Query and DAX, including query folding and profiling steps00:16:35 - News: Chandeep's trip to Mumbai, Mark's "number plate gate" resolved, Lambda a day, dropdown collaboration with Mark and Wyn, importance of video titles and thumbnails for engagement, Sue’s trip to Goa, Indian food00:27:15 - More News Global Excel Summit and the World Excel Championships in Vegas, SQL databases in Fabric, Python00:31:20 - Chandeep walking on his hands training techniques and progress00:38:10 - Question of the Week: What is your "showoff wow factor" in presentation demos in Excel or Power BI? Automated Reporting System, combining data from multiple files, auto-filter shortcut, Stock History function, importance of the Data Model00:46:25 - What is your “wow factor” to end a training session?00:58:25 - Transitioning from Excel to Power BI: Challenges and strategies for transitioning from Excel to Power BI, focusing on data modeling and DAX, filter context, importance of understanding data structure before writing any formulas, measure branching, avoiding Calculate, variables in DAX, interactive learning1:28:00 - Closing Thoughts
With Dim Early: Thoughts on Challenges & Competitions plus our Productivity Toolkit recommendations Unpivot 2024-11-26 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.00:00 Timestamps will be added in the next few days - thanks for your patienceHosts Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male plus special guest Diarmuid Early🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Dim: linkedin.com/in/diarmuidearly00:35 Introduction00:35 Welcome to the Show: Hosts Introduce Themselves02:20 Discussing Dim Early’s Background and Expertise04:40 Insights on Competitive Financial Modeling08:40 Everyone Gets a Jingle12:27 News Round-Up and Personal Updates from the Hosts16:35 More Running Chat19:40 Mark’s easier easiest Dependent Drop Down23:41 Question of the Week: Do Competitions Help in the Real World?48:47 Main Topic: Practical Tools and Tricks for Productivity 1:10:00 Wrap-Up and Closing Remarks
With Rick de Groot: When are you an expert and are technical books still relevant Unpivot 2024-10-26 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.🙏🏻 Special Guest: Rick De Groot https://gorilla.bi/https://powerquery.how/Listen via Podcast: podbean.com/eas/pb-bs93m-171c1ffHosts Giles Male, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Rick de Groot🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Giles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesRick: linkedin.com/in/rickmaurinusWyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Thanks to Gráinne Duggan for pulling together the Timestamps: 00:00:36 - Hosts Giles Male, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and special guest Rick De Groot introduce themselves. They discuss Giles' leadership, a jingle, and Rick’s sound effects.00:03:50 - Rick shares his background in accounting, his transition to Excel and Power BI automation, and talks about his websites: Gorilla BI, powerquery.how, and Power Query documentation.00:06:45 - Rick explains how he automates his website's contents and table of contents using Power Query.00:09:45 - News segment: Sue’s marathon experience, Rick’s running and soccer background, highlights from a Budapest trip, Rick’s love for a special jingle, and news about his upcoming Power and Query M course.00:18:15 - Question of the Week: When are you an expert? Insights into when good becomes good enough, the concept of expertise, solving common problems, creating unique solutions, and understanding one's skill level.00:29:55 - Community Feedback and courses: The importance of sharing knowledge and learning from community feedback.00:35:10 - Exploring features and tools: Balancing broad knowledge with expertise in a specialized field.00:40:00 - Learning from global experts, giving back to the community, and the continuous improvement required to be an expert.00:47:15 - Technical books: The value of structured learning through books and courses in the age of AI, with insights on specific technical concepts and their practical applications.00:59:00 - Rick discusses the collaborative process and challenges of writing a comprehensive technical book.01:14:20 - Closing thoughts.
Late to the Party & Presentation Tips #Excel and #PowerBI Unpivot 2024-10-12 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.com/e/late-to-the-party-and-presentation-tipsPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:34 Intro07:50 Giles brought down to earth10:12 Number Plate Saga11:50 Sue's Welcome Back Song16:34 Giles's Shock Statement17:36 Other News 20:09 Question of the week: What feature were you slow to adopt40:44 Main Topic - Presenting Tips and Tricks
Giles MVP Award and advice to your 20-year-old self Unpivot 2024-09-27 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Links mentioned:1️⃣ Giles MVP award videolinkedin.com/posts/giles-male-30643b15_mvpbuzz-microsoftmvp-mvpsong-activity-7244663706968555520-WJLZ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios2️⃣ Spreadsheet Best Practice Rulesicaew.com/technical/technology/excel-community/20-principles-for-good-spreadsheet-practice-2024-edition3️⃣ Question Of the Week on LinkedIn linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7242769964200255489/?actorCompanyId=102998164🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Giles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15Mark: exceloffthegrid.comDeborah: linkedin.com/in/deborahashby00:00 Introduction00:05 Celebrating MVP and the Video Creation01:00 Hosts Introduction01:30 Story Behind the MVP Video06:56 Sue's Absence and Event Updates12:33 New Excel Features Discussion including CoPilot features13:29 What does Generally Available Mean 15:37 What's not in Excel 2024 (spoiler - we don't know)17:13 Power BI Dark Mode Release19:48 Focus Cell23:42 How do Microsoft decide what features to work on28:14 QotW: Question of the Week - Advice to Your 20-Year-Old Self41:53 Best Practice in Excel and Power BI
Essential Functions and when formulas go wrong Unpivot 2024-09-14 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Links mentioned:Data Scotland: datascotland.orgChris Barber: starschema.co.uk/ Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00 Introduction & Music00:35 Hosts Introductions01:00 Sue's Upcoming Conference and Discussion About Rankings03:40 Giles on Financial Modeler's Podcast and Simplicity in Data06:05 Excel Features and Trim Ranges Use Case07:30 Discussion on GroupBy and PivotBy in Excel07:54 Giles and Deb's Oasis Ticket Story09:10 Wyn Discusses IntelliSense Issues in Power Query10:35 Data Scotland Conference Mention12:49 Jingle and Question of the Week 35:45 Discussion When Functions Don't Work
Excel and Power BI Dangerous Features, Plus what technology to learn? Unpivot 2024-08-30 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Training Resources:https://pbi.guide/resources/learn.microsoft.com/en-us/?WT.mc_id=M365-MVP-5002589exceloffthegrid.comfullstackmodeller.comhttps://skillwave.training/w3schools.com/python/default.aspHosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b1500:00 Introduction00:36 Welcome to Unpivot: Meet the Hosts01:47 Mark's Welcome Back Banner and Jingle03:19 Return of the Mark Jingle04:41 Power BI Dynamic Formatting05:54 Discussing Solar Panels and Running-Themed Data07:40 XLOOKUP Anniversary Discussion09:03 Cryptic Challenge: Guess What I'm Doing Tomorrow10:23 Client Story: Inflatable Palm Tree Purchase11:02 Power BI Paginated Reports Update12:01 Excel Update: New Period Symbol Feature13:05 Discussion on Full Column References14:49 Manual Calculation Mode in Excel16:02 Ultra Running Chat16:47 Listener Feedback on Running Chat17:57 Question of the Week: Most Dangerous Excel Features19:35 Grouping Sheets in Excel23:43 Power BI's Auto Date/Time Feature25:25 Bookmarks in Power BI28:12 Password Protection in Excel31:07 VBA and Security Risks34:04 Merged Cells Discussion37:36 Learning Resources for Beginners in Excel and Power BI43:43 Python in Excel and Its Use Cases45:03 Dynamic Arrays and Lambda Functions in Excel47:04 Understanding Different Types of Lambdas49:03 Python in Excel: Use Cases and Relevance in Finance50:46 Learning Python: W3 Schools Recommendation52:26 Power Automate, Office Scripts, and VBA54:19 Power BI vs Excel: When to Use Each Tool56:08 Recommended Learning Resources for Power BI and Excel58:00 Importance of Structured Courses vs. Sporadic YouTube Learning1:00:03 Discussion on Excel and Power BI Books1:01:08 Final Thoughts and Outro
Excel v Power BI and what would you change? Unpivot 2024-08-17 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Submit ideasPower BI ideas.fabric.microsoft.com/ideasExcel feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/forum/c23f3b77-f01b-ec11-b6e7-0022481f8472Timestamps (created by ChatGPT)00:00 Introduction00:36 Hosts Introduction01:06 Guest Introduction - Christian Angel02:01 Power Query Discussion Begins03:01 Power Query's Role in KQL04:15 Marathon Stories and Running Experiences05:29 Data Community Connections05:53 Christian's Speaking Gig in Stockholm06:49 Power Query on Steroids07:27 Fabric and PowerBI Overview09:08 Giles' LinkedIn Achievement10:26 Discussion on Running and Fitness13:08 Oz's Excel Challenge14:39 Dynamic Arrays and Power Query Techniques17:01 Excel Grouping Tip19:23 Power BI Hidden Tips and Techniques22:06 Organizing External Tools in Power BI23:28 Financial Modeling vs. Financial Reporting24:11 Power BI vs. Excel Discussion36:36 Power Query and SQL Integration52:26 Importance of SQL Knowledge56:30 Question of the WeekHosts Wyn Hopkins, Cristian Angyal, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for Unpivot💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Cristian: linkedin.com/in/cristian-angyalSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
TikTok, Training and Top Voice Unpivot 2024-08-03 | A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and the data community💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.🙏🏻Thanks to special guest Deb Ashbytiktok.com/@cellmates_linkedin.com/in/deborahashby🔗Links mentioned in showPowerToys: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/installForums:Mr Excel: mrexcel.com/boardPower BI Community: community.fabric.microsoft.com/t5/Power-BI-forums/ct-p/powerbiExcel Tech Community: techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/excel/bd-p/ExcelGeneralReddit Excel: reddit.com/r/excelReddit Power BI: reddit.com/r/PowerBIStack Overflow: stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/excelTimestamps (created by ChatGPT):00:00 Introduction00:36 Introducing the Hosts01:45 Guest Introduction (Deb Ashby)04:50 Deb’s Running Story06:34 Giles’ LinkedIn Top Voice Award09:57 Discussion on Microsoft’s Checkbox Feature in Excel14:54 Power BI Updates and Features20:03 Question of the Week: Weirdest Social Media Comments32:25 Recommended Forums for Excel and Power BI37:41 Content Creation and Training Discussion57:07 Online vs. In-Person Training01:23:50 Closing Remarks and Outro🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.comPodcast also available on Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4EYX2SFt4BQ80EZ6SKzhRK Apple Podcasts podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/unpivot/id1755670498Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.Wyn: https://wyn.bio.link/Mark: exceloffthegrid.comSue: linkedin.com/in/suebayesGiles: linkedin.com/in/giles-male-30643b15
Episode 3 - Mistakes, LinkedIn and Conferences Unpivot 2024-07-20 | The one where Giles has a mild rant about LinkedIn, we discuss community and conferences and our worst mistakes made.A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.🎧Podcast Episode: unpivot.podbean.com/e/worst-mistakes-linkedin-and-community/?token=0b541875212aacec51538e521a555843Podcast also available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just search for UnpivotTimestamps created by ChatGPT00:00 Introduction01:06 Introduction to Unpivot Show02:00 Discussion on Latest News and Updates03:45 Power BI Paginated Reports Features07:00 Importance of Cloud Features and Microsoft Strategy10:00 Issues with Backups and Data Loss in Cloud Tools16:00 Biggest Mistakes in Professional Work23:00 LinkedIn Rant and Discussion on Social Media Content38:00 Using Twitter and Forums for Learning43:00 Recommended Conferences and Meetups56:00 Upcoming Guest Announcement and Closing Remarks💓Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.
Episode 2 Tables and Imposter Syndrome Unpivot 2024-07-06 | The one where we discuss Jon Acampora's post that he's stopped recommending Excel Tables and whether we fear we are falling behind with the rapid pace of change.A light-hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.[sorry YouTube won't let us post links here yet]Podcast version available on Spotify and Podbean. Just search for Unpivot (The Kurt Buhler post Does it feel like too much?"data-goblins.com/power-bi/whats-new"
Episode 1 Introductions and AI Hype Unpivot 2024-06-29 | Episode 1 of the Unpivot show. Like, Subscribe and leave some comments and questions.Podcast version available on Spotify and Podbean. Just search for Unpivot (not able to post links here yet )The one where we introduce ourselves, chat about Excel World Championships, REGEX, Power BI, Copilot, ChatGPT, running, Sue discovers she’s a programmer, and Mark’s ability to now fit in an old suit.A light hearted discussion about Excel, Power BI and some other occasional tech.Hosts Wyn Hopkins, Mark Proctor, Sue Bayes, and Giles Male.
