🎉 For the last time in 2025, the Power BI User Group Belgium hosted a free evening session! A year ago, we weren’t even sure if this idea would fly. Fast forward to November 26th, and we’ve already wrapped up our fifth session – with plenty of curious minds and grateful attendees who still can’t believe these high-quality events are completely FREE 💡, organized by a handful of volunteers and passionate hosts.
This time, the amazing folks at @U2U stepped up as our host 🙌. A beautiful venue near Brussels 🏢, free catering 🍕, a meeting room, and two fantastic speakers 🎤 – what more could we ask for?
✅ First up, Ruben Joosen enlightened us on Calculation Groups & Field Parameters – or, in plain English: how to create 25 measures in DAX instead of 150, and still work like a pro. Brilliant job, Ruben! 👏
☕ After the break, Nico Jacobs, with his trademark smile 😁, showed us how to build Paginated Reports – and, in true SQL-expert fashion, how not to build them. Thanks to Nico, we’re now armed and warned against bad practices. Much appreciated! 🔍
Now that our first year as a user group is behind us, it’s time for a little reflection. As a member of the core team, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed:
- 🙏 Our four volunteers: Luc Debois, Wim Verhaege, Jan De Wilde, Pieter Lust
- 🏢 The companies that sponsored or hosted our events: EXsport BV – Excel & Power BI Experts, RASTR, Sparkle, Bmatix Belgium, Nemeon and U2U.
- 🎤 Our speakers, who generously shared their knowledge: Henk Vlootman, Marjolein Opsteegh, Ruben Joosen, Nico Jacobs, Dietert Gielen, Walter Teixeira, Jo David, Joël Vangrunderbeeck and Michael Schwaenen
- 👥 And of course, all the attendees – because ultimately, we do this for you (and okay, maybe a little for ourselves 😊).
📅 For 2026, the next three sessions and speakers are already lined up. Check them out at www.pbiugbelgium.be.
✅ Sign up, spread the word, block your calendar, and let us know if you have ideas, sponsors, feedback, speakers – anything that can help us keep these events going.
What an amazing first year. Here’s to many more! 🚀
Wim Verhaege
