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Cathrine Wilhelmsen

Speaking at DATA:Scotland 2019

On Friday, September 13th, I will be speaking at DATA:Scotland 2019. And not just once, but twice, yay :D

I had the pleasure of speaking and volunteering at last year’s event (when it was called SQLGLA) and I’m so happy that I get to go back this year! The organizers have done a fantastic job of making this a fun, inclusive event. They are both supporting newcomer speakers and have a strong focus on building their local community. Woop woop! And if one event wasn’t enough, they are also running two fringe events on AI and Data Modernization. How cool is that! And the best part? It’s all free :)

DATA:Scotland 2019 Schedule

This year, I will be presenting two sessions!

The first is my Pipelines and Packages: Introduction to Azure Data Factory session. It’s… well, it’s exactly what it sounds like! You can read the abstract below.

The other is a new session called Improving Your Presentation Skills – Practical Examples by Two Very Different Speakers. This is going to be SO MUCH FUN! The one and only Alexander Arvidsson (@arcticdba) has agreed to participate in this experiment with me, yay :D We both love presenting and we have both delivered sessions on presentation skills, but we have very different styles and personalities. In this session, we will be sharing our top tips and showing a few different ways of doing things.

We’re super excited!

SUPER EXCITED!!! :D

If Azure Data Factory or speaking is not your thing, check out the full schedule. There are so many great sessions this year!

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Biml Tips and Tricks (SQLBits 2019 Session Recording)

At SQLBits 2019, I presented my Biml Tips and Tricks: Not Just for SSIS Packages! session. The session recording has been available for many months, but I only just now realized I never blogged abut it :) You can view the slide deck on my SlideShare and download my Biml Demos if you want to dig into my code examples.

Biml Tips and Tricks: Not Just for SSIS Packages! Session Recording

Watch the full video on the SQLBits website:

Biml Tips and Tricks Session Recording (SQLBits 2019)

You can increase or decrease the speed, enable closed captioning, and even download the video for offline viewing.

(If you want a laugh, I recommend watching in 2x speed with the not-quite-accurate captions. You’ll see gems like “This is Bemmel. Tips and tricks not just for exercise packages!” :D)

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Speaking at Data Soup Virtual Summit

On August 14th, I will be speaking at the very first Data Soup Virtual Summit! This is a brand new, virtual conference organized by the wonderful Data Driven duo Frank La Vigne (@Tableteer) and Andy Leonard (@AndyLeonard).

Data Soup Virtual Summit Schedule

I will be presenting a new session called Understanding Azure Data Factory: The What, When, and Why. This is an overview session, focused on how Azure Data Factory can fit into larger Business Intelligence, Data Science and Machine Learning projects. We will look at some cool features in Azure Data Factory, but we will not be diving deep into the technology itself. (If you are more interested in that, check out my Azure Data Factory Deep Dives instead.)

I’m also very much looking forward to attending the other sessions scheduled at this Data Soup Virtual Summit:

Check out the full schedule here :)

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Biml Syntax Highlighting in Visual Studio Code

Do you use Visual Studio Code? If so, I have some cool news for you! The Biml Support extension was released on July 19th, 2019. Once you install it, you can view your Biml files in Visual Studio Code with Biml syntax highlighting. Woohoo!

The Biml Support Extension

The Biml Support extension was created by Zachary Becknell. You can find the source code in his GitHub repository.

To install the extension, search for Biml Support (or even just Biml) under Extensions, then click Install. That’s it! :)

Screenshot of the Biml Support extension in Visual Studio Code

Biml Syntax Highlighting

Please note that you only get syntax highlighting with this extension. You do not get the full Biml or .NET intellisense, the BimlScript preview pane, or the ability to generate SSIS packages from Biml. For those things, you will still need BimlExpress for Visual Studio.

However! If you simply want to view your Biml files in a lightweight editor, the Biml Support extension works beautifully :)

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Speaking at SQLSaturday Oslo 2019

Register for SQLSaturday Oslo 2019 now!

SQLSaturday Oslo 2019 is just around the corner! In exactly one month from now, on August 29th, I will be delivering an Azure Data Factory precon. Two days after that, on August 31st, I will be delivering an Azure Data Factory session. It’s going to be a long but absolutely awesome weekend! This is our sixth SQLSaturday in Oslo, and it will be bigger and better than ever :)

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