2020 was a year of many challenges and changes for all of us. However, I have always believed that every challenge is an opportunity for growth if you choose to face that challenge.

The MS Excel Toronto Meetup Group started the year by delivering content once a month to the members who could join us at a location in Toronto. When the pandemic times began, we decided to move the sessions from in-person to online. This decision alone offered us the opportunity to learn many new things, starting with how to operate Microsoft Teams for meetings and live events. After that, we needed to streamline our system to make it easier to manage all the steps that lead to a new session, from the moment we approach a potential speaker to when we have the pleasure of bringing everyone together to learn from our presenter.

During this journey, I am proud to say that we ran 22 sessions, with the help of 24 fabulous speakers and the support of our dear members (aka “Excel Lovers.”) The MS Excel Toronto Meetup Group went from about 200 members in January 2020 to over 1400 as of today!

When I look at the collection of photos of all the experts who so generously offered their time and knowledge to the community, I feel overwhelmed with gratitude. A big thank you to each one of you who joined our community, attended our sessions and shared your thoughts with us.

I wish to extend a special thank you to Dick Moffat and Vivek Patel, who have accompanied me on this journey since the beginning. I also would like to thank Gráinne Duggan, who has been helping us with valuable feedback since the first session and building the chapters list for each session video recording so that our YouTube channel visitors can find the content they need faster.

For the records here is the list of all the 2020 sessions:

 

Session Title MeetUp Page Youtube Link Presenter LinkedIn Profile
Dick Moffat’s Best Practices for Spreadsheet Design Link Dick Moffat Link
Modern automation in Excel with Power Automate Link John MacDougall Link
Excel add-ins development with JavaScript Link Nilesh Shah Link
Dynamic Arrays & your New Favourite Function: FILTER! Link Link Alan Murray Link
8 Quick Tips on Power Query Link Link Oz du Soleil Link
Integrating Excel with AI Builder to Leverage the Power of Image Recognition Link Link Denis Molodtsov Link
Integrating Azure Machine learning with Excel to build Predictive Models Link Link Ashraf Ghonaim Link
Real-time Data from Devices in Excel with Data Streamer Link Link Cristiano Galvao Link
Excel SaveAs File Types & Excel and the WWW Link Link Oakley Turvey Link
Yes, it is Excel! Link Link Karen Abecia Link
Introduction to PowerPivot and DAX Link Link Abdelrahman Abdou Link
Predictive Analytics in Microsoft Excel (Forecasting & Regression) Link Link Rahim Zulfiqar Ali Link
Excel and Power BI: better together! Link Link Vivek Patel Link
Create a Powerful Office Script from Scratch Link Link Paul Kelly Link
Financial Modelling in Excel Link Link Danielle Stein Fairhurst Link
Learning Statistics in Excel Link Link George Mount Link
Tips for Auditing Excel Workbooks Link Link Paula Guilfoyle Link
Mastering Ranges: The Building Blocks of Excel Link Link Mark Proctor Link
Spreadsheet Day Celebration – The History of Excel Link Link Bill Jelen, Dan Fylstra, Rob Collie and David Monroy Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4 
Five Awesome Dynamic & Interactive Charts in MS Excel & Data Storytelling Tips Link Link Rahim Zulfiqar Ali Link
Build Better Excel Models Faster Link Link Ken Puls Link
Extracting from the Data Model with Cube Functions Link Link Brent Allen Link

We are already preparing the sessions for January and February 2021, so stay tuned so that you do not miss a learning opportunity.

May you all have a very happy and peaceful Holidays Season and wonderful New Year 2021!