Top Microsoft and industry experts will be sharing their knowledge and insights at the inaugural PASS Business Analytics Conference in Chicago, April 10-12, leading an all-star speaker lineup from across the world of business analytics.

Over 1,200 business analysts, data scientists, architects, and BA/BI practitioners are expected to take part in the 2-day conference, which will deliver the real-world insights, prescriptive guidance, best practices, and strategic vision for successfully analyzing, managing, and sharing business information and insights through Microsoft’s collaborative BA platform.

Community speakers already confirmed for the main conference program – featuring over 60 business and technical sessions across five topic tracks – include ZDNet big data blogger Andrew J. Brust; BI experts Alberto Ferrari, Stacia Misner, Peter Myers, Marco Russo, and Chris Webb; data mining and predictive analytics gurus Mark Tabladillo and Cristian Vava; data science expert Mark Whitehorn; and Decision Sciences professor, Mathletics expert, and two-time Jeopardy! champion Wayne Winston.

The BA Conference will also feature top Microsoft speakers Kamal Hathi, Director of the BI Group for Microsoft SQL Server; Ashvini Sharma, Group Program Manager in the Office Data Experiences team; and Tim Mallalieu, Principal Group Program Manager for Microsoft HDInsight, leading program management for Hadoop on Windows Server and on Windows Azure.

Presentations will cover data discovery, data exploration and visualization, predictive analytics, big data, information architecture and delivery, collaboration, information strategies, and more. You can see the current lineup on the conference Sessions page, with more sessions to come from an open community Call for Speakers ending Dec. 21.

Conference organizers have also announced five optional full-day pre-conference workshops:

• Big Data and NoSQL for Database and BI Pros – Andrew Brust
• Power to the Business Analyst: Self-Service Microsoft BI – Peter Myers
• Self-Service Business Analysis with DAX in Excel 2013 – Marco Russo
• Architecting the Next Generation Information Analytics Platform – Robert Skoglund
• A Best Practices Cookbook for Data Mining – Mark Tabladillo and Artus Krohn-Grimberghe

A Day 1 Microsoft keynote will kick off a full schedule of technical sessions, customer and partner presentations, an exhibit hall showcasing the latest partner solutions, evening receptions, and networking opportunities designed to give attendees the contacts, tools, and expertise they need to get the most out of their organization’s data and information.

For more information and to register, visit http://www.passbaconference.com.

About PASS

PASS is an independent, not-for-profit association dedicated to supporting, educating, and promoting the global Microsoft SQL Server and Business Intelligence community. From local user groups and virtual chapters to webcasts and the annual PASS Summit, PASS enables knowledge sharing, in-depth learning, and the ability to influence the direction of Microsoft Business Intelligence and Analytics technologies. For more information, visit the PASS Web site at http://www.sqlpass.org.

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