Which is your “go-to” chart? Pie? Bar? Line? The options are dizzying. Excel alone has 16 different types of charts, and each type has many variations. Add in the SmartArt features in Word and the choices are overwhelming.

Do you feel confident that the visuals you are creating are presenting your information effectively, or are they just there to bring some color to the page?

Overall, it is much easier for the technical and professional people in our firms to understand data (especially financial data) when presented visually, but it is often a struggle to convey complex information such as variances in budget vs. actual, change in sectors over time, or comparison of multiple characteristics using standard charts.

In this session, you will learn: How to clarify the message you want your visual to send; how to select an effective visual to present that message; and how to create a variety of standard and non-standard visuals in Excel and Word.

Presenter: Gretchen Renz, CDFA. With a senior superlative of “Most Likely to Succeed” under her belt and high hopes for a career in hotel management, Gretchen Renz set off from Deer Park High School to conquer. A few years in the hospitality industry taught her that being hospitable all the time is exhausting and so her focus shifted to business. Gretchen is a 28-year employee of Bernardo Wills Architects in Spokane, and as the firm has grown from five people to 40, she has progressed from receptionist to business manager. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Western Governors University, and has primary responsibility for the operations and business strategies of the firm. Gretchen uses Excel everyday (for almost everything.) When she isn’t at work, you will find Gretchen with a hot glue gun in her hand creating props for a local youth theater where her son performs. Gretchen has been guilty in the past of creating very confusing visuals. And you know what that leaves you with, right? A mystified team, and a frustrated creator.

Presenter: Emily Meyer was voted “Most Likely to End up in Entertainment” her senior year of high school, but somehow ended up studying liberal arts in Spokane, WA. Today, she uses her position as office manager to craft entertaining reminder emails in hopes that recipients read to the end. She loves managing the chaos of a busy day and has been known to cause “fun.” Emily has been with Bernardo|Wills Architects since 2017 and joined SDA in 2018. In her free time, Emily loves to thrift shop, work in her garden, and elbow her way to the front row at concerts. Until the architects seek Emily’s help designing buildings, she will stick to SmartArt.

No-shows and cancellations after 12:00 p.m. (Pacific) on June 10 will not be refunded.

5:30 p.m: arrive/networking; 6:00 p.m: welcome/dinner; 6:30 p.m: speaker’s presentation

If you are outside of the greater Seattle, Bellevue, or Tacoma metropolitan area, we have a Virtual attendance option for SDA members and Non-members. Virtual registration allows you one connection on one device.