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Greetings Northeast SAS Users!
We're putting on the final touches for NESUG 2011. This year's
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conference is in Portland, Maine September 11-14. Attendees consistently praise the NESUG conference for helping them solve problems and providing practical information they put to use at work. Attending just one presentation can save you hundreds of hours of time. You'll meet other users of SAS who are willing and eager to help by sharing their experiences and tips. You'll leave the conference with dozens of ideas to make your job easier and more productive. Check the NESUG Web site for more detailed information and updates.
You can still register for the conference. Online registration ends September 2. After that you
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can register on-site. Register NOW and save!
The most important thing of course is the papers. Review the list of presentations and posters here.
Make sure you also plan some time out of the hotel to enjoy Portland. Go down to the Old Port and visit some of the shops and wonderful restaurants in the city. Get more ideas here.
See you in Portland!
Paul Gorrell and Warren Stinson
Conference Co-Chairs |
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NESUG Offers Something for Everyone
NESUG 2011 Solutions Center Has a Lot to Offer
 Have a question or a challenge at work you want to discuss? Find solutions in the Solutions Center. That's what the Solutions Center is all about! Open throughout the conference, the Solutions Center includes the Collaboration Café for small group discussion, the Learning Lounge where you can meet experts on various SAS topics, the Solutions Theater with software presentation by SAS developers, and the Code Clinic where expert SAS users answer your particular SAS questions.
New! Conference Mobile App
NESUG 2011 will have available, for the first-time, an app / mobile website available for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, Torch, Blackberry and more. With this app/mobile website, you will have the always-up-to-date schedule in hand, an attendee list on the go, and a virtual message board. You will be able to create your own schedule, map your way around the meeting space, watch the conference Twitter feeds, and find out about our sponsors.
Keynote Address
Opening Session will have a really interesting keynote this year. Darrel Massengill will speak on "Data Visualization: The Big Picture." Darrell is a Senior Manager of Software Development in the Mapping and Imaging Technology Department of Platform R&D at SAS.
PROC TRIVIA!
After the Opening Session, come on over to the NESUG Game Show. This NESUG favorite is back again with promises of more fun and excitement as MCs Rick Mitchell and Daphne Ewing lead this outrageous audience participation event on Sunday evening after the Opening Session. This Jeopardy-style contest has all sorts of SAS trivia questions, so whether you have just started tinkering with SAS or are a seasoned SAS veteran, come out and test your SAS wits and share a few laughs. For those of you who are a little shy, don't worry, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
Mike Zdeb: The Lifetime Warranty
At the Closing Session, held at noon on Wednesday, join us to meet Rob Russell and Lisa Pyle, the new Conference co-chairs for NESUG 2012, and hear about the exciting things they have planned for our 25th anniversary conference in Baltimore.
This year NESUG is pleased to offer a special presentation for all attendees Monday morning 8:00 - 9:00 am. We are fortunate that Mike Zdeb, longtime member of the NESUG and SAS user community, has agreed to present a talk entitled, "The Lifetime Warranty."
Mike is an Assistant Professor in the University at Albany School of Public Health. Mike's courses come with lifetime technical support, and he often gets emails with "Lifetime Warranty" in the subject heading. The feedback Mike gets in these emails inform his teaching and give him additional insight into how SAS skills helped students find positions and how these skills are used on the job.
Mike's presentation explains what he teaches and discusses a number of the lifetime warranty questions he's received, as well as his suggested solutions. There's something for everyone in this talk by someone who is not only At Closing Session, held at noon on Wednesday, join us to meet Rob Russell and Lisa Pyle, the new Conference co-chairs for NESUG 2012, and hear about the exciting things they have planned for our 25th anniversary conference in Baltimore.an accomplished SAS programmer and teacher, but also an entertaining speaker as well.
Spotlight on SAS
On Tuesday morning, join us for "Spotlight on SAS" to hear what's new and exciting at SAS. This year we are pleased to have Vince DelGobbo, Maura Stokes, Darrell Massengil, and Lisa Horwitz from SAS talk about what they are working on. You will be able to participate in a Q&A with them later for a rare opportunity to talk directly to SAS managers and developers.
Relax
On Tuesday evening take a break and relax and party with all your friends at the Kickback party. Entertainment will be provided by the band Wavelength.
... and finally
At the Closing Session, held at noon on Wednesday, join us to meet Rob Russell and Lisa Pyle, the new Conference co-chairs for NESUG 2012, and hear about the exciting things they have planned for our 25th anniversary conference in Baltimore. |
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Networking (and Fun) 
Sunday Bus Trip to Freeport (Additional Fee Event)
Sign up for our bus trip to Freeport, ME. Freeport is a beautiful coastal Maine village with over 200 upscale outlets, designer shops, eclectic boutiques, B&B's, hotels, great restaurants and casual cafes. It is home to world-famous L.L.Bean and to numerous outdoor adventures. We invite you to shop, play, and snack in Freeport! Enjoy an authentic Maine experience. The bus will leave the hotel early Sunday afternoon, drop you off in the center of Freeport, and return in time for the Opening Session dinner and events.
Dinner on the Town
We'll have sign-up sheets so that you can connect with like-minded attendees to have dinner on Monday at area restaurants if you're looking for company. (Dinner will be at your own expense.)
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Volunteer!
NESUG is an all-volunteer organization so we always need your help.
 We particularly need people to help with various operations tasks. If you are arriving early, come on over on Saturday and help us with the "Bagging Party". This is when we take all of our registration materials and stuff them in to the tote bags that you get when you register. It's not rocket science but it's fun. Join the crowd, meet fellow attendees, and help us out.
Click here for more volunteer info and to sign up.
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Fantastic presentations
Here are just a few of the presentations we have scheduled:
Get Started Writing SAS® Macros
Luisa Hartman, Jane Liao and Shuping Zhang, Merck Sharp
& Dohme Corp.
Why Programming Efficiency Should Matter to All of Us
John Cohen, Advanced Data Concepts LLC
SAS® DATA Step Merge - A Powerful Tool
Dalia Kahane
Quick and Dirty Formatted Excel Workbooks Without DDE or ODS
Andrea Wainwright-Zimmerman, Capital One
Using SAS® GTL to Visualize Your Data When There is Too Much of It to Visualize
Perry Watts and Nate Derby, Stakana Analytics
And we could go on, and on, and on... Click here for a full list of the over 150 presentations and workshops! |
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Technical Tip from Kathy Fraeman
Kathy Fraeman will be presenting in the Large Data Sets section this year. She has a great tip for sorting large data sets. Come hear her presentation and learn more!
Kathy H. Fraeman, SM, is the Director of Data Analytics for the Epidemiology and Database Analytics group of the United BioSource Corporation. She has over twenty five years experience in analytic SAS programming and data management for biomedical research studies. Ms. Fraeman earned her master of science degree from the Harvard School of Public Health and a bachelor of science degree from MIT.
Tips for Avoiding Sort/MERGEs with Large SAS Data Sets
Sorting extremely large SAS data sets should be avoided whenever possible because the sort will most likely take a very long time and will require a lot of free disk space in the work directory. A rule of thumb when running SAS under Windows is that a sort requires up to 4 times the size of the SAS data set of free space on the work disk space. SAS can also run out of memory when running an extremely large sort. Two techniques for avoiding SORT/MERGES are the use of PROC FORMAT and the use of Hash Tables.
Combining information from a reference file that contains the variable CODE and NAME into an extremely large file that contains the variable CODE (but not NAME) can be done by using SAS formats as follows:
data namefmt (keep = start label fmtname);
set in.REFERENCE_FILE;
length label $ 30;
start = code;
label = name;
fmtname = "namefmt";
run;
proc format cntlin=namefmt;
run;
data NEW_LARGE_FILE;
set LARGE_FILE;
length name $ 30;
label name = "Name associated with Code";
name = put(code, namefmt.);
run;
Hash Tables are also a very powerful way to join multiple data sets without sorting. Here is one way to get information from a reference file into an extremely large file, as in the example above, except using the Hash Table technique:
data NEW_LARGE_FILE (drop = rc);
declare hash getdrug ();
rc = getname.DefineKey ("code");
rc = getname.DefineData ("name");
rc = getname.DefineDone ();
do until (eof1);
set IN.REFERENCE_FILE end = eof1;
rc = getname.add ();
end;
do until (eof2);
set LARGE_FILE end = eof2);
call missing(name);
rc = getname.find ();
output;
end;
stop;
run;
Many other Hash Table programming techniques are available to join multiple SAS data sets without sorting. |
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Thanks to Our Newsletter Sponsor
Data and Analytic Solutions Consultants
Visit the DAS website |
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Stay Connected with NESUG!
Now it's easier than ever to stay in touch with NESUG throughout the year. Follow the latest developments as we plan for the conference, find out about upcoming local meetings in your area, and much more. Also, NESUG wants to hear from you. Become a fan of NESUG on Facebook and add to our wall and join our group on LinkedIn. Simply click on any of the links below for more information. See you online!
Linked In Group 
NESUG Blog |
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NorthEast SAS Users Group
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