I’ve been a CPA for more than 5 years, and until recently, I had never heard about two of the most exciting Excel events out there.
It wasn’t until February 2024 that I discovered the Global Excel Summit.
The Global Excel Summit is the most prestigious Excel event out there (yes, Excel events do exist 😊). It lasts three days and is packed with high-value training sessions.
Last year, I attended for the first time (in-person, but there is also the online version!). Not only is it hosted in the iconic city of London, but it’s also where the best Excel trainers in the world come together to share their passion for Excel.
At first, I went mainly to network because, let’s be honest, I thought, “What else can I learn about Excel? I do this full-time!”
Believe me: You can still learn a LOT, yes, every single day. Excel is such a massive tool. I’ll quote Miss Excel (Kat Norton) on this one: Excel is a Ferrari, and you have to look under the hood.
The event was held in a beautiful venue, and I got to meet so many Excel pros. The first person I bumped into? The legendary Oz Du Soleil. I had only talked to Oz on the phone once before and, of course, watched his videos. But seeing him in person? He’s such a lovely person.
The first two days were filled with in-person training sessions covering topics like the Excel Labs addin, Power BI, Power Query, and so much more. The 2024 event had a strong focus on AI (no surprise there!), and I enjoyed every second of it.
Not only did I collect 42 hours of CPE credits for my CPA annual training requirements, but I also had the chance to chat with some of the most talented Excel experts in the world. I never thought I’d meet Leila Gharani, Emma Chieppor from Excel Dictionary, and the AI in Finance legend Nicolas Boucher.
My Excel events journey started with the Global Excel Summit, where I not only deepened my knowledge of Excel but also connected with incredible people who are now collaborators. Being an "ExcelFluencer" (is that even a word? 😂), my decision to go to London truly changed my life by introducing me to so many talented individuals. Even if I weren’t creating content, the value of learning the tool itself and meeting all these amazing human beings would have made the trip worth it.
I loved the event so much that, guess what, I went to the Microsoft Excel World Championship in Vegas in December 2024.
This story is absolutely crazy, so keep reading:
Microsoft Excel Word Championship
May 2024: Microsoft finds me on YouTube and asks for my feedback on Copilot in Excel.
August 2024: I get to chat with Cuong Pham, the Excel Community Manager at Microsoft. He notices my World of Warcraft game boxes in the background (we’re on a Teams call). He says: “Hey Dave, would you like to co-author the Excel World Championship use case this year? It could be themed on World of Warcraft!”
At this point, I’m holding back tears of joy.
I’ve spent over 20,000 hours playing this game, and now it’s inspiring a global Excel competition? I just couldn’t believe it.
Fast forward to December 2024, and I’m flying to Vegas to attend The Active Cell event, a 3-day Excel training during the day and the Microsoft Excel World Championship in the evening. 😍
Once again, I had the chance to meet new people in the Excel community and reconnect with friends I’d made back in London. The training sessions were phenomenal, but what I loved most was the incredible sense of community in the air.
This year’s event featured not only the Excel World Championship for professionals but also a College Championship for students. So there are two competitions: one for the “old people 👵😂” and one for the young people. It was so amazing to see the synergy of two generations in the same room. About 200 people from all over the world, in the same room, sharing one passion: Excel.
And if that wasn’t wild enough, the Financial Modelling World Cup (the company behind the event) asked me to be the MC for The Active Cell.
Now, I’ll admit, at first, I thought MC meant rapper. You know, I’m French Canadian. 😂 But no, they meant Master of Ceremonies! So there I was, hosting the event… Unreal!
But wait, there’s more…
Three of my videos even aired on ESPN! YES, the sports network. I couldn’t believe it…
It was chills from start to finish. The WoW competition, being the MC and then seeing my big face on ESPN? 😱😱😱
I’ll stop here because this article could easily turn into a 200-page book. It was such an incredible experience!
And this Excel event madness isn’t over yet. In fact, it’s just getting started. I’ll be back in London in February 2025 for the Global Excel Summit, where I’ll be speaking about Copilot in Excel. It's on day 3 and absolutely free for everyone to watch!
Hope you had fun reading this article, more to come !
Best,
Dave 💙