Happy Spreadsheet Day 2019

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October 18, 2019
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Written by Debra Dalgleish from Contextures Blog

Happy Spreadsheet Day 2019! What will you be doing to celebrate today? There’s a special Microsoft event at 12 noon Eastern Time, so catch that if you can (details below).

Spreadsheet Day 2019

This is the 40th anniversary of VisiCalc, which was the first spreadsheet for personal computers, and had its public launch on October 17, 1979.

That’s why we celebrate Spreadsheet Day on October 17th every year.

Video: VisiCalc Origins & Impact

If you’re really interested in spreadsheet history, there’s a VisiCalc video on the Spreadsheet Day Blog, that you should watch.

The Origins and Impact of VisiCalc

The video was recorded by the Computer History Museum, on April 8, 2003, and there’s a distinguished group of spreadsheet experts onstage.

The moderator is Charles Simonyi, and the panelists are:

Dan Bricklin
Bob Frankston
Mitch Kapor

The video is long, but interesting (watch at a faster speed, to save time).

0:07:45 Panel discussion starts
1:15:00 Audience questions (Lots of computer experts in the crowd)
1:45:00 Video ends

10th Spreadsheet Day

This is also a special year for Spreadsheet Day – it’s the 10th year that we’re celebrating!

I started Spreadsheet Day in 2010, and you can see the details on the About page of my Spreadsheet Day Blog

Spreadsheet Day Logo

I created the Spreadsheet Day logo in Excel, of course, using cell OCT17.

It’s a good thing that they added more rows and columns in Excel 2007! I couldn’t have done this in the old versions of Excel.

Microsoft Excel Team AMA

In honour of Spreadsheet Day, Microsoft’s Excel team is hosting an “Ask Microsoft Anything” (AMA) in the Microsoft Tech Community.

It’s an hour-long, live event that starts at 9 AM Pacific Time, today, October 17th.

You’re invited to participate, so get your Excel questions ready. There are details for the Excel AMA event on the Microsoft site.

NOTE: To ask a question, you’ll need to create a profile in the Microsoft Tech Community if you don’t have one set up already.

Other Spreadsheet Day Events

Do you know of any other Spreadsheet Day events that are planned for today?

If you’re looking for an idea, Albert Kroes had a special cake made for his work department, for Spreadsheet Day 2016, and sent me a photo. That cake looked delicious!

Tell Your Friends

Be sure to tell all your co-workers, friends, family, and acquaintances that today is Spreadsheet Day.

And remember to check out the Excel AMA event too! Get a group together in your company meeting room, and participate in the event together.

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