Some Useful SAS Information
6/22/04
22S:172
Topic 1: How to learn More SAS (after 172):
Attend SAS USERS Group Meetings – local, regional and international.
Conferences have great talks that help you learn about using SAS. Student
registration is usually very inexpensive.
SUGI – this is the largest users group held each year. Thousands attend.
Regional SAS Conferences – see
http://support.sas.com/usergroups/namerica/allregconf.html
Conference Paper Sections (This past SUGI)
Analytics
Section Chairs:
Kim LeBouton
Paul Slagle
After the data has been identified, collected, transformed into usable formats, and then
used to generate operational reports, the next phase of the process is to glean real
information from the wealth of data available. The challenge is to do more than
generating a balance sheet, but to actually use the data to drive the profitability of the
company through business intelligence.
This new conference section will explore methods for interpreting data using predictive
and descriptive modeling, all facets of data mining, online analytical processing, and
both new and novel approaches that can be used to drive decision making. We are
looking for case studies in areas such as fraud detection, risk assessment and
management, demand forcasting, inventory management, and other areas where the
use of Enterprise Miner™, SAS/Insight®, or Customer Relationship Management has
been used.
Applications Development
Section Chair:
Thiru Satchi
Applications Development focuses on the use of SAS Software in the development of
strategic applications. Presentations in this section cover the application's code and
development process – development techniques and tools used in the design,
development, implementation, and integration of enterprise solutions running in single or
multi-platform environments. They also present any "lessons learned" or "suggestions
for future development" that flow from the process and may benefit other developers.
Applications may include web-enabled, object-oriented, modular, multiplatform,
multiprocessor, or those that integrate SAS software with other software products.
Coders' Corner
Section Chairs:
Helen Carey
Michael Mace
What ONE treasured tidbit of code do you always use? What ONE awesome 'aha!"
moment have you experienced while composing a program? What ONE technique or
trick is in your bag that helps you everyday? Or what ONE practical piece of advice do
you think every one should know and be using? Okay, maybe you have two.
Coders' Corner is the place to share your knowledge and experience for a few brief
minutes - it truly is the quality, not the quantity, that counts here. Most presentations are
limited to the traditional ten minutes; a limited number will have twenty minutes. Whether
you have been using the SAS system for twenty-nine years or twenty-nine months, from
Base SAS to one of the really specialized products, and whether you have presented at
SUGI before or want to make your debut - Coders' Corner can be the output venue for
your input.
Data Presentation
Section Chair:
Warren Stinson
Get out those Crayons and magic markers; it's time to show others how to present data
in new, creative and colorful ways. In today's Information Age, how do you convert data
into information and make it available to those that need to know? Data Presentation
would like to have papers that focus on innovative uses of SAS data visualization and
reporting tools, applications that generate reports and/or graphical displays and present
output customization using the Output Delivery System (ODS). Section topics may
include using such tools as SAS/GRAPH®, SAS/INSIGHT®, SAS/GIS®,
SAS/SPECTRAVIEW ®, SAS/GRAPH with image extensions, the TABULATE and
REPORT procedures, ODS and Enterprise Guide®.
Data Warehousing, Management and Quality
Section Chairs:
Lori Griffin
Vince Timbers
Organizations rely on accurate and relevant information to operate efficiently and
effectively. Data warehousing has become an important data management method for
making an ever-increasing amount of data available for reporting and analysis. However,
data warehousing is more than just data storage. Data warehousing is a process of
extracting raw data from various sources, transforming this data into consistent, highquality business data, and loading the data into a data warehouse so it may be used in
making strategic business decisions.
However, data warehousing alone will not guarantee error-free data. Erroneous data
produces inaccurate reports and analysis results. This can be disastrous to an
organization’s bottom line. Data quality monitoring and data cleansing are an important
part of the overall warehousing effort. SAS offers a fully integrated solution that merges
data warehousing and data quality, resulting in a user benefit called ETLQ (Exponentially
enhance the power of ETL with data quality). ETLQ adds value to the data by pro viding
structured, consistent and well-documented data management procedures, which can
increase the quality of data, used for reporting and analysis.
Proper data warehousing, and management and quality procedures can add true value
to data and provide a foundation for effective decision making. The Data Warehousing,
and Management and Quality section is interested in papers that cover more than just
how your data is housed but also how your data is managed and quality practices that
were implemented. This section is interested in papers covering any and all aspects of
the data warehousing, and management and quality process including data extraction,
transformation, cleansing and loading.
Hands-on Workshops
Section Chairs:
Ginger Carey
Deb Cassidy
The popular Hands-on Workshops feature SAS experts teaching workshop-style
tutorials. The workshops are led by experienced members of the SAS user community
and SAS Institute. The topics run the gamut from 'getting started' to advanced and
specialized. As a workshop participant, you have the opportunity to learn by using the
software. Facilitators are present to assist participants with the computer exercises.
Each workshop is 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Experienced workshop presenters are being sought. If you have a suggestion for a topic
and/or presenter, please contact the Hands-on Workshops Section co-chairs. The cochairs would also like to hear from you if you would like to be a workshop facilitator
Planning, Development and Support
Section Chairs:
Lauren Haworth
Maribeth Johnson
Papers in this section cover two broad areas that are not typically covered in other
sections - the many skills needed to be effective professionals as well as methods to
support SAS users. Papers focus on developing and evaluating the skills in others or
attaining skills for one's own use. Papers describe real-world approaches and solutions.
Some of the many topics that would be appropriate for this section include:


How to evaluate programming skills and needs.
Effective methods for sharing code, setting coding standards and creating
documentation.

How to get the most out of SUGI, regional, local, and in-house users
groups

Methods for providing technical support, and how to best utilize SAS
Institute Technical Support

How to manage a SAS development project

Effective training methods.

Certification issues.
Posters
Section Chair:
Andrew T. Kuligowski
Pete Lund
The Posters section invites papers about any and all uses of SAS software. It is different
from other sections at SUGI, since the oral presentation of a SAS software topic is
replaced by a standalone visual display. The Posters section is ideal for presentations
that include graphics, source code, statistical concepts, or thought-provoking concepts
that invite conference participants to review at their own pace. Posters are on display
throughout the conference, with presentation periods for authors to discuss their work on
a one-to-one basis with conference attendees. Presenters are welcome to enhance their
poster display with computer demonstrations of applications, interactive displays and
multimedia such as video, with the understanding that the equipment and its security are
the responsibility of the presenter.
Solutions
Section Chair:
Robert C. Fecht
The Solutions Section is a new addition to SUGI. Presentations will focus on completed
(or nearly completed) end-to-end, strategic solutions with a significant use of SAS
Software or SAS Solutions. Included in each presentation are:

issues leading up to the need for a solution

framework for the successful implementation

ROI / Competitive advantage realized via the solution.
The presenters and targeted audience for this section are both technical staff and
decision makers. Based on the experiences of the presenters, the attendees should
expect to learn useful information that will assist their organizations in implementing their
solutions successfully.
Statistics and Data Analysis
Section Chairs:
Susan Kenny
Rick Mitchell
The Statistics and Data Analysis section has been a conference cornerstone since the
first SUGI. Whether you are a statistician, a die-hard number cruncher, a curious
beginner, or any permutation of these aspects, this section offers a wealth of knowledge
across many industries on the best practices in statistics and computational analysis.
For SUGI 29, we are recruiting papers that are applicable to one of the following areas of
statistical methodology: categorical data analysis, repeated measures models,
bioinformatics and data mining, experimental design, and computational methods. Of
particular interest are papers that demonstrate new or improved developments in SAS
software, utilize recent statistical literature, present interesting statistical applications or
describe a case study of a statistical analysis in your industry. Focused tutorials on how
to use statistical SAS procedures are also of interest.
Systems Architecture
Section Chair
F. Joseph Kelley
The SAS Intelligence Architecture provides a flexible software foundation for delivering
needed information and business intelligence, and the SAS Intelligence Value Chain
depicts the value added from this Architecture. These concepts were introduced at SUGI
28, and this year the Systems Architecture section is taking a deeper look into the SAS
Intelligence Architecture by examining the interactions of SAS Software with the host
computer and data storage systems, relational databases, and 3rd party tools that
contribute to the success of the SAS Intelligence Value Chain. We’re interested in
knowing about the best-practices that your enterprise has implemented to Plan your
SAS solutions? How have you combined SAS with other computer resources to achieve
high-performance ETLQ? Have you used SAS to implement Intelligent Storage? Tell us
about it. And what about Business Intelligence and Analytic Intelligence? What are the
non-SAS components of your solutions? Our emphasis on real-world implementation of
the SAS Intelligence Architecture combined with papers describing experiences in
implementing and performance tuning SAS System 9 will make this a great section with
lots of valuable information being shared.
Tutorials (Invited Only)
Section Chairs:
Debbie Buck
Helen-Jean Talbott
The Tutorials section offers opportunities for SAS users of all levels of expertise to learn
about a wide range of topics within the SAS System. Papers in this section can cover
any of the SAS products and be related to any of the other SUGI sections, or they could
address a topic that does not fit neatly into one of the other sections.
Papers in the Tutorials section provide users with specific how-to tools to access,
manage, analyze and present data effectively and efficiently, presented in a step-by-step
approach. All papers are denoted as Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced for a given
topic in an attempt to ensure that the attendees have a suitable degree of familiarity with
that particular topic. A paper labeled as Beginning presumes minimal knowledge of the
subject area, while an Advanced presentation is appropriate for individuals who have
extensive working knowledge in that particular area.
A new addition to Tutorials this year is an “Introduction to SAS” track where novice SAS
users can attend a day-long series of sequential presentations which will guide them
through Base SAS DATA and PROC step programming.
All presentations are made by experienced users and are given by invitation only. If you
have suggestions for suitable topics and appropriate presenters, the Tutorials section
chairs would appreciate your input.
If you cannot attend SAS USERS Group meetings Read Papers in the Online
Proceedings - http://support.sas.com/usergroups/sugi/proceedings/index.html
Don’t know what to read?
1. See what papers won for the best in the section.
2. Also look for invited papers – these talks were 50 minutes and papers are up to
10 pages.
3. Search by topic
Take some SAS Training
1. Classes offered at UIOWA
2. Classes are offered by SAS before and after conferences
3. Classes offered by SAS on site and on the web
http://support.sas.com/training/us/curric.html
To learn about a new topic…read the white paper
http://www.sas.com/apps/whitepapers/whitepaper.jsp
Topic 2: What to do when you don’t know how to do something in SAS
1. Read the documentation
http://support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/index.html
2. Search technical support
http://support.sas.com/techsup/tnote/tnote_cindex.html
3. Search the SAS notes
http://support.sas.com/techsup/search/sasnotes.html
4. Look if there is sample code
http://support.sas.com/techsup/sample/sample_library.html
5. See if there is a paper about it
http://support.sas.com/usergroups/sugi/proceedings/index.html
6. If you cannot find it on the SAS pages search google and look on SAS
consultants web pages
Some consultant web pages:
1. WWW.QLX.COM – They have a lot of SAS custom applications you can download
for free.
2. http://www.sconsig.com/sconsig.htm - Information for SAS consultants
Topic 3: Want a job using SAS?
How to make yourself marketable
Attend SAS USERS Group Meetings
Give a presentation/ Write a paper (see the section descriptions above)
Easy place to start is coders corner – examples on Web
If nervous giving presentations do a poster
Network with those at SAS partner booths
Look at the help wanted book at the information booth
Provide copies of your resume at the information booth
Look at other peoples resumes to get hints on making yours better
Get certified
Information on certification is on the SAS web site
http://support.sas.com/certify/
Sample questions so you can see if you are ready are there too
http://support.sas.com/certify/samples.html
Searching for a JOB
SAS Headquarters has job postings
http://www.sas.com/jobs/index.html
Monster.com – www.monster.com search using keyword SAS or go to
http://sas.jobs.monster.com/
ICRUNCHDATA.COM www.icrunchdata.com
SAS-JOBS.com http://www.sas-jobs.com/list.asp
Users groups often have job postings for example the Philadelphia area SAS users
group has http://www.philasug.org/jobs.htm#job