I just got back from the Global Excel Summit in London, and wow - what an experience!

It was incredible to connect with so many talented and driven people.

We talked about everything from Excel to course design, freelancing, and running a business.

Everyone brought their own unique background and approach to Excel, which made for some amazing conversations.

I had the honor of kicking off the summit, talking about all the new Excel features from the past year. I had to trim a lot to fit the time slot (turns out, Excel had a busy year).

All sessions were insightful and inspiring, and we’ve got tons of exciting tips lined up for you in the coming weeks.

But first, here are some highlights…

🔹 Chris Webb (THE go-to person for Power Query, Power Pivot, and Power BI at Microsoft) gave us hope that fully functional Power Query in Excel Online is finally within reach!

🔹 Liam Bastick kept us entertained with an impromptu game of Deal or No Deal... just to prove that nobody reads workbook instructions. He shared some great tips on how to change that and build error-free financial models.

🔹 Ian Schnoor came in with the ultimate quality check - his methodology for reviewing financial models. Whether you’re checking a budget, a report, or a colleague’s formulas, this was solid gold.

🔹 We also got a lesson on presenting financial information in Excel and PowerPoint from Danielle Stein Fairhurst - because numbers should look good too.

🔹Carlos Barboza shared with us his takeaways from Guerrilla Data Analysis by Oz du Soleil and Bill Jelen (a must-read!) and how he applied them in some real-life scenarios.

🔹 George Mount explored the possibilities (and limitations) of using Python in Excel with Copilot.

🔹 Melissa de Korte gave us a masterclass on baby-proofing Power Query code to avoid dreaded errors.

🔹 Chandeep Chhabra showed us how far he can take the CONCATENATEX function in DAX to make even the most demanding boss happy. 😉

🔹 Mark Proctor took us to the future of no-click automation with Office Scripts and Power Automate. Just because VBA isn’t fully replaceable (yet!), doesn’t mean you should overlook these tools.

🔹 Alan Murray showed us just how versatile the new GROUPBY and PIVOTBY functions can be.

We also had two interesting panels:

📌 Raising spreadsheet standards: How to avoid the next disaster with Kenny Whitelaw-Jones, Ian Pay, and Israel Ngombo.

📌 Rethinking beginner, intermediate and advanced Excel - some great insights from Ken Puls and Oz du Soleil.

(Turns out, most people call themselves a "7" on a scale of 1-10. Safe. Too safe. Ken and Oz had thoughts on that.)

Awards

The Global Excel Awards were announced - voted by the community, for the community. Here’s who took home the glory:

🏆 Rising Star in the Excel Industry: Susana Pinto

🏆 Best Microsoft Excel Add-in: ASAP Utilities

🏆 Most Innovative Use of Excel: Mohammad El Medawar (for the Excel Simulator)

🏆 Best LAMBDA: Erik Oehm for Unpivot

🏆 Best Presentation (voted live at the summit): Chandeep Chhabra, The Magic of the CONCATENATEX function in Power BI

Congrats to all the winners (and to all the amazing nominees)! 🎉

I’m buzzing with ideas from all the brilliant speakers - and from all the chats in between. It’s an amazing community, and I’m grateful to be part of it.

More detailed insights coming in future newsletters!

​

🤓 Geeky News

While Excel folks were having fun, other Office (sorry, Microsoft 365 Copilot 🙄) apps were getting updates:

💻 New in SharePoint

Microsoft just upgraded the Edit in Grid experience for SharePoint Document Libraries. It offers faster loading, inline editing, and infinite scrolling. Now you can edit files, assign tasks, and manage images without leaving the grid.

They also revamped SharePoint's Hero web part with a sleek Carousel layout, offering a dynamic and engaging way to showcase content. This update lets you display up to five rotating slides, each customizable with background media, headlines, and descriptions. New style options add visual flair, while features like auto-play enhance user interaction.

👥 New in Teams

Microsoft Teams has introduced Super Resolution, an AI-powered feature that enhances video quality during calls, especially under poor network conditions. Initially available for Snapdragon X-based Copilot+ PCs, this feature improves clarity by restoring video resolution beyond traditional upscaling methods.

The new Teams calendar is now generally available, offering a unified experience with Outlook. It includes features like delegating access, expanded settings, filtering, and time zone support.

📅 New in Planner

Microsoft Planner has introduced the Board view to the My Tasks and My Day sections. This highly requested feature allows users to categorize and prioritize tasks using customizable columns.

​

👏 Power Stories

The Global Summit agenda always includes the Power Stack. Power Query and Power Pivot are crucial data analysis tools in modern Excel.

As Stuart discovered when he completed both of our Excel Power Bundle courses and improved his reports.

I'm so happy he got the deserved praise and recognition from his boss. Upskilling yourself can really make a difference to your career.

Got a success story about using your XelPlus skills? I’d love to hear it! Hit reply to share the details, and inspire other students 😇

See you next week,

Leila

Want more?

▶️ Subscribe on YouTube

🖇️ Follow us on LinkedIn

🥇 Join 400,000+ students in our courses

📣 Want to sponsor Between the Sheets? Get in touch here.

📨 If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free weekly email here.

This newsletter contains affiliate links, which give us a small commission on any purchase made at no cost to you. This helps us run Between the Sheets and bring you updates like this. Thank you for your support!