Wednesday, March 6
JMP 18: It just works.
And Discovery Summit Europe is live! Jeff Perkinson opened the conference by welcoming 204 delegates to Manchester. Using Manchester’s history as the site of industrial innovation in the late 18th century, he outlined how one technical advancement in textile manufacturing spurred the next one. That never-ending cycle of innovation continues today, as is evidenced in this week’s presentations, posters, and hallway conversations. “You are here to learn new techniques, exchange best practices, make connections, build culture of analytics, and most important, to get inspired,” Perkinson told the delegates.
He was then joined by Jon Weisz, who challenged delegates to get out of their comfort zones by meeting and talking to JMP users in other industries. “Go to talks on topics you know nothing about. Some amazing innovations have come to fruition as a result of the cross-pollenization of disciplines,” explained Weisz.
The first plenary began with John Sall giving an overview of the newest features and functions to be found in JMP 18. He and five other developers each detailed on one of the six Ps of JMP 18:
- Profiler: Improvements to Profiler
- Peaks: Exploring peak data in Functional Data Explorer
- People: New reports in JMP Clinical; Basic Expression Workflow in Genomics in JMP Pro
- Pipes: Enhancements to JMP Live to make it even easier to share data and reports
- Python: Easy Python integration that just works
- Presets: Streamlining work makes users more productive
Sall focused on the improved Profiler. “You may have thought JMP had prediction intervals in the past. It really didn’t, but it does now,” Sall told an appreciative audience. Two other new features he highlighted were data points and overlaid interactions. “Profiler is 30 years old in JMP and still growing up,” concluded Sall.
Next up was Senior Research Statistician Developer Ryan Parker, who demonstrated new tools in Functional Date Explorer (FDE) to explore peak data. “With FDE, you can examine the variability of your function by breaking it down into smaller shape functions,” said Parker. He then showed various ways to do this in FDE, including Penalized SVD. Peak Finding, the last tool Parker debuted, allows users to find and summarize peaks more easily. Parker told attendees, “With the new peak enhancements in JMP 18, you can more easily gain insights from the data you already have.”
Life Sciences Researcher Statistician Developer Meichen Dong focused on how JMP helps people, specifically through the use of JMP Clinical and Genomics in JMP Pro. Dong said, “JMP Clinical has new reports available, including Risk-Based Monitoring and Drug-Induced Liver Injury. Risk-Based Monitoring helps identify patient risk factors, with risk indicators that can be used at various levels: site, country, or monitor.” Genomics is improved with the inclusion of Basic Expression Workflow. More genomics data importation has been included in JMP Pro 18, as well as additional marker functions and mixed models.
Eric Hill, Distinguished Technical Leader, focused on the pipes of JMP, specifically JMP Live. Hill first outlined the different data connectors, first introduced in JMP 16, ranging from ODBC to historians to Snowflake. JMP Live addresses the problem of how to get data and visualizations out of a computer so that it can be shared with anyone in an organization who needs to see it, even if they don’t have JMP. “It’s not just a snapshot; they can actually interact with it,” said Hill. “In JMP 18, we’ve added @mentioning to facilitate conversations.” But what if you want to limit who can see specific data? JMP Live now allows users and groups to be imported so you can decide exactly who can see it. “If you want to get the most out of JMP, your investment in JMP, you need to use all the plumbing,” Hill concluded.
Principal Systems Developer Paul Nelson was the next speaker, elaborating on how Python has been integrated into JMP 18. “The goal of Python integration is to just get it to work,” said Nelson. “JMP 18 now has an embedded version of Python. We know it work because you will be using what we’ve been using.” JMP 18 also allows Python to be easily extended in JMP. “Think of Python as a peer to JSL, not a replacement,” he said. “There’s much more to come.”
R&D Director Julian Parris closed out the plenary extolling the virtues of presets. “Presets,” said Parris, “make your work feel more streamlined so you can be more productive in JMP. They help with the purpose of your different platforms; presets are not about the column or the data table, but they are about the platform.” By demonstrating how to drag and drop presets, Parris drew oohs, aahs, and sporadic applause from the crowd. He then used presets to settle a bet with his partner, Margot, to determine which character in Star Trek: The Next Generation is the most like Hermione Granger. Parris championed Wesley Crusher, while Margot thought it was Jean-Luc Picard. Using a database of fictional character attributes, Parris was able to demonstrate presets. After setting up all the presets, he then came to the irrefutable conclusion that Picard was the Hermione of TNG, thus proving himself wrong. As a result of losing the bet, he had to send a video to Margot of the Discovery crowd booing him; they enthusiastically complied.
Perkinson closed with an explanation of how My JMP will make using JMP easier. Or in other words, rest in peace, the .per file. He then boiled down all the presentations with just one simple phrase: “JMP 18. It just works."
Tuesday, March 5
The Welcome Dinner
The signs are up. The tables are set. The rehearsals are in full swing. It’s nearly time to shine a light on JMP in Manchester.
While JMP staff from around the world settled in, delegates have begun to arrive. Some came early for additional training and were welcomed by the smiling faces of Chris Sanger and Amy Bullock.
Meanwhile, Jon Weisz, Jeff Perkinson, and Jeff Hudgins put their finishing touches on tomorrow’s opening session. You could event say they are in-vest-ed in Discovery’s success.
The conference officially opens with tonight's Welcome Dinner. And then we're off and running tomorrow morning with the Opening Plenary, breakouts, and more. Stay tuned!
Monday, March 4
Our JMP colleagues will soon kick off JMP Discovery Summit in Manchester, UK connecting and sharing with JMP users over the next few days. Not in Manchester? Stay tuned here on InsideJMP throughout the week for photos, quotes, and videos from the event.
How can you be involved from afar? Be sure you follow JMP on social media channels LinkedIn, Instagram, and X! You can share posts you see on your personal profiles, tag @JMP, use the #JMPDiscoverySummit hashtag, and encourage people to join us for the Discovery Summit Europe Online April 16-18.
Look for #JMPdiscoverysummit for everything being posted online. And come back here daily for updates as well.
