Dear Reader,

Growing up, my brother and I were pretty boisterous young fellows. My grandmother, who lived with us until she passed away when I was 12, dubbed us Loud Mouth Larry and Charlie Chatter for our superhuman lungs. She would joke that we were either making noise or sleeping. There was one time each week, however, when we knew it was in our best interest to keep our enthusiasm, and our voices, down. That was Sunday morning.

My father played saxophone in a very popular local band and nearly every Saturday would "work a job." Most of the time, Saturday evening gigs were wedding receptions, usually big Italian ones that lasted well into the early morning hours. That meant a very late night for him and a very long, unpleasant day for us if we woke him early the next morning.

But those mornings weren't all bad. The tradeoff for having to find something quiet to do those early Sunday mornings was the treat my dad would often bring home for my brother and me. Each Sunday morning we would go to my father's saxophone case, open it and excitedly reach our hands into the bell of the instrument. Most mornings we'd be rewarded with several pieces of wedding cake, which would, of course, immediately become our breakfast.
Now I'm not suggesting wedding cake for breakfast, but I will admit it is one of my fondest childhood memories. And while all that sugar made it a lot harder for us to stay quiet, I remember how much easier it was toning it down when my dad came through for us with his little gift.

At SAS Education, we promise to deliver the goods for our users every time. In this issue of SAS Training Report, you’ll find all the ingredients you need to advance your SAS knowledge and enhance your career. For starters, you can learn about three new courses from SAS, including a new course using text analytics to measure customer sentiment and a course for advanced Enterprise Guide users who want to create customized reports.

You’ll also find two of the latest entries from the SAS Training Post, our blog site providing SAS programming tips and tricks and advice that makes getting certified a piece of cake.

And if you are interested in earning a SAS Certification credential, our best value packages are a sweet deal. Available for Base and Advanced Programming and Predictive Modeling certifications, these bundles combine classroom training, e-learning, a certification practice exam and an exam voucher, everything you need to prepare for an exam. And the icing on the cake (sorry, that was too easy) is that the bundles provide discounts of up to 50% off our standard fees.

So whether you’re just getting started or have years of experience with SAS, SAS Education is here to help, with the courses and programs you need to advance your SAS knowledge. Hey, maybe you really can have your cake and eat it too.

Thanks for reading,
Larry LaRusso
Editor, SAS Training Report