Thursday evening, June 26. After three days of Power BI Summer School, we’ve made it home in one piece. Barely. What a ride it was — again! Our brains are now packed with fresh knowledge, carefully stored on our personal hard drives (a.k.a. our tired heads). We drop our bags, hug our kids and partners… and secretly want to open that laptop again to try out all the new stuff. But first, let’s rewind.
Monday evening – 18:00 We arrive at the Fletcher Hotels in Ter Heijde. Familiar faces, warm greetings, and the annual “Oh hey, you again!” moments. Before diving into the Power BI deep end, some of us brave the sea, others jog along the dunes (or “hardlopen,” as the locals say 😊).
21:00 – Kickoff time! Henk Vlootman and Michiel Rozema welcome us with the essentials: intros, planning… and bitterballen. Spirits are high. Bring on the data, the formulas, the Power Query wizardry!
Tuesday – 08:00 sharp Dutch punctuality in full force. We kick off with sessions on Data Interactivity and Fabric. Spoiler: Fabric is everywhere now — resistance is futile. @Ines Pascal Iglesias challenges us with creative exercises that spark both collaboration and mild panic. Cheers erupt when we crack the puzzles. After lunch, Henk returns with a deep dive into Copilot. It’s smart, it’s helpful, it’s… still learning. But hey, aren’t we all?
Q&A sessions are buzzing. The usual suspects — Marjolein Opsteegh, Mark van Kimmenaede, Ad Kamsma , and Arne van Dijck — keep the speakers on their toes with business cases and curveballs. After 8 hours of brain gymnastics, we reward ourselves with drinks and BBQ at beach bar Bugaloe Beach Bar & Grill. Heaven.
Wednesday – 08:00 again (yes, really) Time for the techy stuff. Rishi Sapra ACA, MCT, Microsoft MVP and Leon Gordon show us how to achieve AI greatness in finance. Former CFOs nod approvingly. Then comes Štěpán Rešl (aka “Steve”), a human energy drink, who blows our minds with Power Query magic. We’re already planning updates to our Excel Black Belt course.
Afternoon? Time to cool off — literally. We hop on a speedboat in Rotterdam, flying over the Maas at 60 km/h. “Take off your cap,” the captain warns. “Or it’s gone in 5 seconds.” He wasn’t kidding. Back in Ter Heijde, we network, walk, jog, swim, or just collapse. Dinner is delicious, and even mid-bite, we’re dreaming up new data models. These people really love their jobs.
Thursday – Final round. Michiel shows us the new DAX Query View. Finally, a feature we didn’t know we needed — but now can’t live without. Rishi returns with a session that makes finance brains boil: building a credit rating model in Power BI. So much better than juggling 80 XLOOKUPs. 😊 We wrap up with a shoutout to the Power BI User Group Belgium. Founder Luc Debois hands out goodies and, of course, Belgian chocolate for the speakers. Sweet in every sense.
One last Q&A, one last brain stretch. So much knowledge, so little time to practice it all. But hey — that’s what next year is for, right?
Massive thanks to Quanto, especially Michiel Rozema and Henk Vlootman, and all the amazing speakers: Leon Gordon, Ines Pascal Iglesias, Rishi Sapra, and Štěpán Rešl. The 2026 dates are already in the calendar (well… they will be, once we find it). Be sure EXsport BV will be present again next year.😊
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