Congratulations to these Best Contributed Paper winners! (By the way, do you get extra points for having the most characters in your title?!)

A SAS Macro Utility to Append SAS-Generated RTF Outputs and Create the Table of Contents
Sudhakar Anbazhagan, Ockham Group, Chennai, India
Shridhar Patel, Ockham Group, Cary, NC

Database Tectonics: Assessing Drift in Analysis Data
Brian Fairfield-Carter, ICON Clinical Research
Jasmin Fredette, ICON Clinical Research

Watermarking and Combining Multiple RTF Outputs in SAS ®
Ajay Gupta, PPD INC

Don't have a "Week" Report
Barbara Ross, DataX Ltd

Transform Incoming Lab Data into SDTM LB Domain with Confidence
Anthony Feliu, Genzyme

Common Misunderstandings about ADaM Implementation
Nate Freimark, Theorem Clinical Research
Susan Kenny, Amgen
Jack Shostak, Duke Clinical Research Institute
John Troxell, Consultant

Statistical Graphics for Clinical Research Using ODS Graphics Designer
Wei Cheng, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Personalized Risk Graphs for Intervention Trials – in Technicolor! Using PROC GKPI and CALL EXECUTE to Get the Job Done
Janet Grubber, Durham VA HSR&D
Cynthia Coffman, Durham VA HSR&D, Duke University Medical Center
Will Yancy, Durham VA HSR&D, Duke University Medical Center
Corrine Voils, Durham VA HSR&D, Duke University Medical Center

Using the SAS System as a bioinformatics tool: a macro that calls the standalone Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) setup
Kevin Viel

Could Have, Would Have, Should Have! Adopting Good Programming Standards, Not Practices, To Survive An Audit.
Vincent Amoruccio, Alexion Pharmaceuticals

A CareerView Mirror - Another Perspective on your Work and Career Planning
Bill Donovan, OckhamSource

Giving Data a Voice: Partnering with Medical Writing for Best Reporting Practices
Katherine Troyer, REGISTRAT-MAPI
Brit Minor, REGISTRAT-MAPI

Graphs made easy with ODS Graphics Designer
Kevin Lee, Cytel

Computing Initial Values for Pharmacokinetic ML Nonlinear Regression via genetic algorithms and parallel genetic algorithms
Francisco Juretig, Nielsen

Perl Regular Expressions in SAS® 9.1+ - Practical Applications
Joel Campbell, Advanced Analytics

Simplifying Effective Data Transformation Via PROC TRANSPOSE
Arthur Li, City of Hope

A Hitchhiker's Guide for Performance Assessment & Benchmarking SAS® Applications
Viraj Kumbhakarna, JP Morgan Chase

SAS Global Forum Takeout — The Executive Committee selected 17 presentations for you to use in your presentations, SAS Users Groups events, in-house events, etc. These are full slide presentations with narration from the original presenters. FREE!

Best Contributed Papers — To narrow your reading just a bit, here's the list of Best Contributed Papers from SAS Global Forum.

SAS Global Forum 2012 Proceedings — After you've finished with the top papers, you'll want to work your way through the complete list.  This link will also direct you to previous SAS Global Forum Proceedings. Happy reading.

Birds of a different feather

There are many ways to get information - my friends used to say, "Different strokes for different folks." For those of you who are much younger than I, that means that some of you like to read blog posts, while others prefer full-length technical papers. Some like to watch videos and still others prefer podcasts. The content from SAS Global Forum was captured in lots of these ways, and I've tried to pull some of that together here for you.

Blog posts from SAS users

Great summaries of SAS Global Forum:

1. SAS Global Forum 2012, by Dirk Van den Poel, Professor of Marketing, Modeling and Analytical CRM at Ghent University in Belgium.
2. My SAS Global Forum 2012, by Gordon Cox, Technical Consultant, SAS
3. My SGF12 timeline, by Richard Koopmann, (Succinct notes about each session he attended.)
4. It is possible there was drinking: SAS Global Forum Day 1, by AnnMaria De Mars
5. SAS Global Forum: Here’s the Wrap Up!, by Tricia Aanderud, SAS Author

Inspired and ready to work!

1. Requirements. Whose Responsibility? #sasgf12, by Andy Ratcliffe, Managing Director of RTSL.eu
2. Text Miner = Coolness, by AnnMaria De Mars,
3. Papers Without SAS?! #sasgf12, by Andy Ratcliffe, Managing Director of RTSL.eu
4. Bar chart with a log axis, “NEVER”! says the Biz Intel Guru, by John Munoz, Business Intelligence Consultant
5. DS2: DATA Step evolved? by Andy Ratcliffe, Managing Director of RTSL.eu

[I know that I've surely missed some great posts. Please let us all know about them in the comments. We are always looking for other great bloggers to follow!!]

How to find SAS posts

A quick and easy way to find SAS Global Forum posts on the SAS Users Groups blog is to click on the SAS Global Forum tag in the lower right nav. You can also favorite this URL: http://blogs.sas.com/content/sgf/tag/sas-global-forum/.

You'll find that many of your other favorite SAS blogs, including The SAS Dummy, Key Happenings, The SAS Bookshelf, The SAS Training Post and others have SAS Global Forum tags and other SAS Users Groups event tags to make keeping up with event news easier.

Now for the video

Did you know that SAS Software has a YouTube channel? There is also a playlist for SAS Global Forum 2012. You can start with our Welcome video and watch right through until our bloopers and final credits. Check out the Inside SAS Global Forum 2012 videos!

You can also find a great video at AllAnalytics.com that tells the story of why SAS users love to go to SAS Global Forum.

Lots of great information!! Have fun.

The result has been terrific!  Many new bloggers have started posting from user events far and wide. This is making the blog more about you, and that is showing in the number of new readers and in the great conversations we have in the comments section. In short, we’d like to think that we’ve created “the spot” for SAS users groups.

Now we’d like to apply this same concept to the SAS Global Forum LinkedIn Group. It’s our goal to make this LinkedIn group “the spot” for SAS users groups.  

• If you’re already part of the SAS Global Forum LinkedIn group, no action is required – you are now a part of the new SAS Users Groups LinkedIn Group. 
• If you aren’t a member, please join. This group will grow just as the blog has through your contributions and feedback.  
• If you are a member of one or more of the existing SAS users group LinkedIn groups, such as NESUG, IFSUG or WUSS – keep your participation going. Lots of great sharing is happening within these groups. The new SAS Users Group LinkedIn group is intended as a supplement to, and not a replacement for, the many active LinkedIn groups that are already out there.

As social media continues to evolve, we hope that you will embrace our rebranded, centralized “SAS Users Group LinkedIn group.” Come be a part of the growing community of SAS users who are using social media to enhance SAS users group activities and presentations.

The first in the series is a presentation by Jenine Milum from her paper, Creating a report in the SAS Information Delivery Portal using SAS Information Maps. To do a poster presentation, you still have to write a paper, but you also have to prepare a poster representation for display.  

Chris Battiston, a first-timer at SAS Global Forum 2012 and Second place awardee for Best Contributed Paper in the Posters category for his paper, Wake Up Your Data with Graph'n'Go, says that poster presentations may be a great way to gradually learn speaking skills for those who are uncomfortable speaking in front of a large audience. Your presentation is only a few minutes - unless Polilli gets a hold of you.

Be sure to check out Milum's award-winning Coders' Corner Paper. She won Best Contributed Paper for Proc Format, a Speedy Alternative to Sort / Sort / Merge.

Here is a list of some of the SUGI, SAS Global Forum and SUG papers that Lund has published.

QUESTors meet four times each year at a venue in central Brisbane, Australia. At the next QUEST meeting, held May 31, I will be presenting Learning SAS – where to start?, what is available?, how can I network?, who should I know?

Having recently attended the SAS Global Forum in Orlando, Florida I was inspired by Joe Theismann’s Keynote Presentation, Game Plan for Success where he spoke about his life experiences and his steadfast attitude towards life.  What interested me was his approach to life in adapting to change. He spoke about his injuries, and the paths he has taken, with passion and enthusiasm.

Passion and enthusiasm is something I have always enjoyed in my journey with SAS, and I get a buzz out of sharing with other SAS users in the community. Whether you’re a seasoned SAS user with experiences to share, or a newcomer who’d like to interact with other users, a SAS user group and the many internet-based networking mediums are an excellent way to learn, network, share and collaborate with your local SAS community and beyond. And, as in the words of Joe … “People don’t care about how much you know, until they know how much you care”

My presentation is a guide for programmers and non-programmers (analysts, business users, administrators, management) about learning SAS and connecting with SAS users.

Where to start?

First stop is to gain an understanding of the SAS 9 architecture, the components and how they fit together. This can be easily achieved by reading the SAS 9.3 Intelligence Platform: Overview document. This document is available on the support.sas.com website, which contains a plethora of information relating to documentation, training, support and access to the SAS community.

What is available?

Get to know your local and global resources. Reach out to the people in your local SAS office, SAS partners in your area and other SAS users. Or use websites such as support.sas.com, communities.sas.com, blogs.sas.com, sascommunity.org, LinkedIn.com groups, and sasprofessionals.net for resources and experts.

How can I network?

Going to your SAS local user group is a good first step. Of course there’s social media too, which is also a great way for introverts to interact. These include Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Blogs and discussion forums. Pick the platform that you use most often and/or subscribe to RSS feeds and keep up-to-date using a RSS reader such as Google Reader.

Who should I know?

You could start off by getting to know the people in your local community. Perhaps aim to meet one new person at each local SAS user group event and maybe connect with them on LinkedIn. Be involved in the discussion forums in your area of interest and leave comments on blog posts. It comes down to your interests and what you would like to learn. There are many ways to connect, participate and collaborate – taking the first step can be the hardest. As Chris Hemedinger said in the closing session of SAS Global Forum 2012 “Social media has spoiled us … information comes to us, we don’t have to find it.”

I hope you too can see that there are many opportunities available in your QUEST to learn SAS – you just have to use them….

Register for QUEST by Thursday May 24 by emailing us at quest@oz.sas.com. 

OR register online at www.sas.com/australia/usergroups/quest.

According to Peter Eberhardt, SESUG 2012 Academic Chair, the SESUG 2011 Junior Professional Program (new in 2011) was very successful. "I am proud to say, that for 2012 we are continuing the program. Check out our website for more details."

The grant covers conference registration and one four-hour workshop.  Workshops will be offered on Sunday at 11:30 am.  Travel expenses and food are not covered.  Junior Professionals presenting a paper will get priority consideration.

To qualify, applicants must have been using SAS in their job for 36 months or less and would otherwise not be funded by their company to attend the conference.

"The important date to remember is June 4, when applications will be available," says Eberhardt. "But, you don't have to wait until then to get more information. Check out our website and contact Barbara or Deb with any questions you might have."

Aren't these guys fascinating?! They are definitely going to be competing for one of the sexy statistician jobs of the future! How can you use their inspiration in your research?

Here's a link to their paper, "A Week in the Life”: A Visual Analysis of Internet Use by School-Age Students.

SAS users groups conferences are a great source of professional development. They offer workshops and presentations for those with advanced skills as well as those new to SAS who are interested in learning more. They are also a great place to hone your skills as a presenter.  This is a place students can showcase their work and abilities in front of a large number of potential employers. There will be numerous networking and social events and many of these participants are hiring managers who are interested in meeting recent and upcoming graduates who have the knowledge and skills they are looking for.

The SESUG conference will be held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham, North Carolina, October 14-16.  The SESUG Student Grant application process is open now.  There are two levels of support, one of which includes a travel stipend.  This is a great way to build out your resume and network with professionals from a variety of industries.

A message from Deborah Skinner, SESUG Student Grant Coordinator

Students selected for the grant program receive the VIP treatment at our conference.  Grant winners are recognized at the opening session and are guests at a special student luncheon, as well as having special ribbons on their conference badges.  In addition, there are meals and mixers for all of the attendees – so there are plenty of opportunities to mingle and meet.    Previous student grant winners have consistently told us what a wonderful time they had at the conference and what an eye-opening experience it was for them in planning for their future.

I can promise you that you will walk away from SESUG 2012 with new knowledge about SAS, new insights into your future, and lots of new friends and colleagues.    You will have lots of opportunities to learn, grow, and frankly just have a lot of fun.   So what are you waiting for?  The SESUG website contains all of the details and a link to the application.

Learn more and apply now!

NOTE:Originally published on Generation SAS

Watch this great Inside SAS Global Forum interview with Anna Brown and Anthony Perez, Director of Business Strategy with the Orlando Magic.

Read this fantastic SAS Global Forum 2012 paper about creating the customer experience by Toshi Tsuboi. Tsuboi writes, "If you are involved in a consumer-oriented business, you probably get a sense that consumers are never satisfied....while you strive to provide them with what they want, if you mess up just once, they decide to tell everyone around the globe about it using Twitter and Facebook.

This change in customer expectations was foreseen back in 1999 by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore in a book titled The Experience Economy. They described a new economy they called the experience economy, in which experience is the new currency. They argue that businesses must orchestrate memorable events for their customers, and that memory, or "experience," becomes the product. If a business is more advanced in providing experiences, that business can begin charging for the value of the transformation that an experience offers."

Intrigued? Read the paper.

Fogleman says that when he first began learning SAS, he had only six months of mentoring - that was the length of a SAS consultant's contract that he was working with. During that time, he could ask any question that he wanted. After that, he was on his own to learn and figure out the courses to take.

Since that time, Fogleman has refined a mentoring program for junior programmers. He believes the plan should span one to two years, have executive buy-in and include SAS users group conferences.  

"Creating a structured learning environment should be the goal of a mentor," said Fogleman.

Here are some of his tips for success:

• Map training using support.sas.com Learning Paths, training organized by job roles.
• Provide training milestones and keep track of accomplishments.
• Make yourself available as a resource.
• My favorite resources: SAS-L, sasCommunity.org and SAS Samples and SAS Notes
• Provide coding guidelines.
• Advocate SAS users group conference attendance and participation.

"I wish more managers knew about the value of  that local, regional and national SAS users group conferences have," said Fogleman. "I can say very confidently that most of the SAS code that I've learned has been at conferences."

What not to do:

• Micromanage
• Be a substitute manager
• Criticize
• Monday morning quarterback

"It's about guidance. Structured learning is more efficient," said Fogleman. "There are many different ways to solve programming problems, but there are also many blind alleys. A SAS mentor can help programmers avoid the blind alleys."

Read Fogleman's paper for more advice on What is a SAS Mentor? If you are interested in becoming a mentor, I'd suggest you contact Fogleman. In his presentation, he included a slide showing how to structure the learning process and accomplishments.

Analyzing passion

The Super Demo detailed how to use mood statements alongside sentiment analysis to measure in more detail the emotion displayed by people - more than would be possible with sentiment analysis alone. For example, the underlying purpose of advertising is to generate a reaction, hopefully positive, to a particular product or service. The key, therefore, is to understand this reaction through the use of social media to determine the best marketing strategies to implement.

Text analytics can be used here to derive the emotions people are displaying through the words and phrases they use on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. From this data, sentiment and intensity (defined here as the “passion” component) can be derived to determine which commercials hit the mark with their targeted audience. Read this blog post by Richard Foley about analyzing sentiment for more information about the Superbowl research.

Predicting outcomes

Another thought-provoking presentation on a novel implementation of sentiment analysis and forecasting was given on the topic of predicting electoral outcomes. The purpose of this presentation and paper was to try to predict the outcomes of popular elections through social media when polling data is not necessarily available. It also demonstrated the ability to validate election outcomes and check for potential instances of fraudulent election administration.

What was interesting (maybe more than the demonstration on popular elections) was the demonstration of this same methodology on the popular television show American Idol!

The four-step methodology given to achieve this through the extraction, validation, analysis, and prediction of outcomes from the relevant social media data was:

1. Extract a set of Tweets about the candidate of interest.
2. Filter the Tweets to ensure that the keyword pulls are relevant.
3. Analyse the Tweets for positive or negative sentiment around a candidate using sentiment analysis.
4. Predict contest winners based on the aggregate sentiment scores for the candidate of interest over time using forecasting.

This process allows researchers to surface the general opinions of the social sphere at differing time points to determine a view of sentiment before and after a particular event, for example an eviction from the show.

Not only is sentiment analysis crucial for this exploration, but there are also forecasting applications to determine future events given the textual information that has been determined from the sentiment analysis. Check out Jenn Sykes’ full paper, Predicting Electoral Outcomes with SAS ® Sentiment Analysis and SAS ® Forecast Studio. Also take a minute to watch her in this short Inside SAS Global Forum interview.

With regards to the application of sentiment analysis in other sectors, I can see that there is certainly potential here in the financial sector, where there is a great need for information on sentiment from customers, not only for marketing-related activities, but also customer retention and acquisition.

This year’s conference was a fantastic display of what to look forward to in the world of analytics, and the next SAS Global Forum, San Francisco April 28th thru May 1st is already in the diary!

She also says this combination of SAS Sentiment Analysis and SAS Forecast Studio could help predict which toys will sell out early at Christmas, who will win an election or which ATMs will run out of cash. Imagine the possibilities!