The year flew by pretty fast! With 2019 in the books, it’s time to have a look back at all awesomeness that happened this year! Time to say goodbye to 2019 and welcome 2020 with a short look ahead to everything that’s coming up!

Events

After 5 events in 2018, I started to like the public speaking more every time I was on stage. Based on that, I decided to extend my public speaking in 2019. I submitted to a whole lot of events with a bunch of different sessions.

In total I presented 26 sessions, split in 17 on-site events and 2 webinars. Split in 6 different Power BI related topics and all this, by traveling to 11 different countries within Europe. Shall 2020 cross the borders of Europe?

Looking back at all events where I have presented in 2019, I am more than happy with the results. I want to do a massive shout-out to every event organizer or volunteer for all the time and effort they put in the community. Above all, thanks for having me at your events and giving me the chance to stand in front of the group again to share my passion for Power BI.

Finally, I want to do a special shout-out to Chuck for inviting me in his session back in March. This really made a positive change for me in my self-confidence on stage! Thanks once again!

Growth of Data-Marc.com

Back in 2018, I started this website to share my experiences, knowledge, tips and tricks on Power BI topics. At first, I was a bit challenged to keep motivated to write new blogs. The views weren’t that outstanding. In 2019 this grew above my expectations!

After a few bigger events where I presented, some retweets and mentions on other sites, the numbers really went up! Getting more responses on my blogs, really motivates me to write new blogs and continue sharing my experiences. A total of 22 blogs have been posted this year. Let’s be honest, I was planning for more, but writing blogs is kind of time consuming.

Anyway, I’m happy with the results for this year. Co-writing with my colleague, Ton Swart, on the more advanced topics topped this year with over 2.500 unique viewers in a single month!

Power BIer

What all started as a joke at the Friday afternoon drinks, started to become exposure for Power BI and my website. The joke was too easy to be true, somebody working with Power BI, called a Power BI’er and us enjoying a Power Beer (Bier in Dutch).

Inspired by the Dutch Data Dude, I decided to go for it and creating some shirts on Teespring, which was just the beginning. After a while, it turned out that others like it as well. Nowadays I have a whole bunch on items such as shirts, sweaters, mugs, coasters and stickers. Especially the last two are a great success and already spread over the world, thanks to people spreading them at their user groups and such things.

Want your Power BIer swag? Find it here on my website. All profit goes to charity!

Most Valuable Professional (MVP)

By far the highlight of the year, happened on the first of August in 2019. I was on holiday with friends and family at Lake Garda, when I received the best email ever!

After being in the process for several months, I received the redeeming mail that I was awarded as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for my technical leadership and community contributions. The most beautiful appreciation you can get as a professional for the execution of your passion!

For this special award, I have a complete list of people who worked with me and supported me in any way to achieve this life-time goal! Even though I probably forget a lot of people (sorry!), I want to do a special shout out to Ida Bergum, Charles Sterling (Chuck), Saswata Acharya, Dave Ruijter, Jeroen Luitwieler and my employer, Macaw, for supporting me in any possible way! Not forget to mention, also a big shout out to Tina and the MVP team for making this happen and answering all my questions.

What’s coming in 2020?

Although the plans are not quite ready yet, I’m happy to share the first things to happen in 2020. Obviously, I continue blogging and public speaking. The first two events which are planned, are:

• Scottish Summit, Glasgow – Scotland, 29th of February.
• Power Platform Community Summit, Barcelona – Spain, 9-12 March.

Besides these two awesome events, I’m still looking for more events. Do you have any suggestions, I really appreciate if you let me know via the contact form! Both remote and on-site event suggestions are welcome. During the year, all events will be announced on this page.

Last but not least, two MVP related things. As any other MVP, I’m hoping to extend my MVP Award with another year. Before the renewal period starts, I’m traveling to the MVP Summit in Seattle for the first time! March will be a busy, but awesome month for me! After all the great stories I’ve heard from fellow MVPs, the summit is something I’m definitely looking forward to!