Interesting, but what does this all mean?
One of the things we’ve learned, both through research and experience, is that while you can learn a lot by watching videos and reading blog posts, progress is dramatically accelerated when it’s combined with an active element of structured practice.
Power BI Accelerator will be a twice monthly, active problem-solving exercise designed by Enterprise DNA Experts for Power BI beginners. The problems will be based on real-world, practical scenarios, and will parallel the learning topics in EDNA’s “Ultimate Beginners Guide” training series.
I’m pretty busy – will this take a lot of time?
No. We will design the problems with the goal of each one taking less than an hour.
OK, great. But I’m just starting with Power BI – what if I need help?
This initiative will have its own “channel” on the Enterprise DNA Forum, where you can ask questions and get help day and night, 7 days a week from the EDNA Expert and Power User teams. We have a special “spoiler alert” function, where we can answer questions on the forum, but blur the information so that those who are working on the problem and don’t want to see any hints, explanations, etc. won’t see them.
How will I know if my solution is correct?
Each biweekly cycle of Power BI Accelerator will conclude with a live teaching session and Q&A, where the expert leading that cycle will walk through the solution to that problem, and answer any questions from the attendees about that problem and/or the general concepts it covers.
We will record all of the teaching/Q&A sessions and make them available in the learning portal and on the forum.
Can both members and non-members participate?
Yes and no. The biweekly problems and solution videos will be available on the Enterprise DNA forum, which is accessible by everyone. However, only members can post in the forum, so the expert assistance will be available only to them. In addition, at least initially, only members will be able to participate in the live learning session and Q&A.
This initiative sounds similar to the ongoing Problem of the Week series. Will that continue?
Again, yes and no. We’ve loved doing the Problem of the Week series, but have found that the advanced nature of the problems appealed mainly to the Experts, Power Users and a small group of loyal participants (a number of whom became Experts and Power Users…). Given that members at that level already have ample opportunities to challenge themselves and grow their skills (e.g., participating in the monthly Data Challenges, providing solutions on the forum, etc.), we wanted to realign the use of our Expert time to benefit the maximum number of members. Our analytics show that a large segment of our membership is early in their Power BI journey and we think would benefit greatly from this focused attention and structured practice.
That being said, we still likely will be running occasional Problem of the Week cycles for more advanced users.
I’m in! – when do the Power BI Accelerator sessions start?
The first problem will be released Wednesday, June 23, 2021 . Keep an eye on the forum, the weekly Enterprise DNA email and the Enterprise DNA YouTube channel.
We want to make this initiative as beneficial for you as possible, and would love to hear your feedback. You can post your thoughts and suggestions under the Power BI Accelerator topic on the forum, or send your input directly to me at brian.julius@enterprisedna.co.
See you then!
- Brian
