Past Experience and Testimonials:

1. NASA - International Space Station Power Systems
   
   1. The team has created a tool that takes their analysis info and puts it all into excel. This has allowed them to chart their information, making it much more readable when reported to the entire team of flight controllers. The tool is essentially a one touch button that completely automates the process from start to finish. One stumbling block for them, however, was that they had no way to easily put it into a static report, so the PROs had been exporting the excel charts to GIF files. Needless to say, these didn’t scale well and could become difficult to read.

      They are now using a modified version of my Printing Worksheets To A PDF File to automate the process of printing all of their chart sheets to PDF files, getting their reports out in better detail, and little hassle.

   2. To read a more complete description, see my blog post on this feedback.

   3. And said in their own words...
      There was definitely no way that I would have been able to do this without your code, so thanks a million, we appreciate it. The guy who usually writes our macros is going to integrate this into our existing tools so that you can input your own path for file saving and this routine should become an integral part of our group’s (Electrical Power Systems for the International Space Station) existing tools. So, you’re a part of NASA now!!! Again, thanks a million for the code.

      ~ J. Yimin, ISS Power Systems, Power Resource Office

1. The BC Farm Machinery Museum, Langley, BC, Canada
   
   1. Built a custom search utility to search the client's database of over 12,000 library books.

1. Interserve Technologies Corporation, Nanaimo, BC, Canada
   
   1. Built a menu of custom routines to add functionality to a technician's client task list file.
      
      1. colour code tasks by priority level
      2. open an existing Word document containing critical client network information
      3. open an existing Visio document containing the client's network map
      4. launch a client's website
      5. launch their internal ticketing system
      6. add a new client to the list

1. 3 Point Motors, Nanaimo, BC, Canada
   
   1. Built a custom utility for the Controller of the Nanaimo Mercedes Benz dealership, to delete duplicate records in a file exported from their customer database.

   2. And said in their own words...
      WOW! WOW! WOW!!!! I just used that tool you built for me, and am I impressed or what!!! That worked like a charm. Thanks a bunch Ken, that saved us a bunch of time for sure.

      ~ Doreen Gatt, CMA, Controller, Three Point Motors Nanaimo Ltd.

1. My Experts Online
   
   1. The projects here are varied, and have encompassed automation within Excel alone to those which tie Word and Powerpoint together as well.

   2. And said in their own words...
      Ken Puls has provided my clients and I with some incredible applications in Excel, Word and Powerpoint. It seems that nothing I put before him is beyond him; he gets me what I need without fail. Ken has been gracious in the face of numerous change requests and his prices are great, whether you're the end user or the seller of his services. Whether a quickie macro or an extensive application, I can count on Ken to give me a fast turnaround on any project. Not only does Ken contract for me, but in getting to know him, I find him a great guy, too, which makes it very easy to work with him.

      ~ Anne Troy, Project Manager, My Experts Online

1. Fairwinds Community & Resort, Nanoose Bay, BC, Canada
   
   1. The tasks completed here are varied, and range from very simple to complex. This is Ken's full time place of employment, and much of his time is devoted to automating manual tasks, with a focus on development and maintenance of solid internal controls. Some of the more interesting projects developed here include:
      
      1. Liquor Inventory Management system: Constructed purely in Microsoft Access and maintains the product information and inventory valuations for two liquor inventories. Built to retrieve count lists from a hand-held Palm scanner, it cuts inventory tasks from twenty to four man-hours per month.
      2. Flash Food Reporting system: Uses an Access 2000 database as the back-end, and has an Excel front-end. Data is captured through templates and uploaded to the database, with almost all reports being drawn back into Excel.
      3. Cash-Out Reconciliation tools: A collection of Excel templates managed by a central add-in, which helps reconcile the cash-out information for up to twenty employees on a daily basis. The add-in is deployed over the network and is used by four users at least once each day.
      4. Property Management Tools add-in: The property management system (a non-Microsoft product) has a lot of shortcomings. An Excel add-in was developed to reformat ASCII files from the property management system into useful reports. It also manipulates data from our Palm scanner for import to the property management system as well.

Web Forum Contributions:

My contributions to web forum communities can be found under the user ID 'Ken Puls':

1. VBAExpress.com
   
   1. A website forum devoted specifically to VBA where I volunteer as the Senior Administrator

1. JMT Excel Forum
   
   1. A website forum devoted to Microsoft Excel questions where I volunteer as a JMT MVP and Global Moderator

1. MrExcel.com
   
   1. A website forum devoted to all things Excel

1. OfficeArticles.com
   
   1. OfficeArticles is a web site which has loads of useful articles about using Microsoft Office in addition to a support forum. I am also an Administrator there.

1. Professional Office Developers Association
   
   1. I am a charter member and administrator of the Professional Office Developers Association. This association is dedicated to supporting Microsoft Office developers and promoting excellence and professionalism within the industry.

1. Tech Support Guy
   
   1. A fairly busy forum when you can find me in the Business Applications forum on a semi-regular basis.

1. Tek-Tips
   
   1. I contribute to the VBA and the MS Office forums here, under the name KenPuls.

1. Patrick Schmid's Office 2007 UI Forums
   
   1. I am a moderator and poster at Patrick Schmid's forum, which is focussed specifically on working with the Office 2007 ribbon.

1. Office VBA: Macros You Can Use Today
   
   1. My contributions to the book Office VBA: Macros You Can Use Today, include helping with writing the instructions for using macros, and proofreading.

1. VBA Express Knowledgebase
   1. In addition to my forum contributions at VBA Express, I have also contributed over 40 KB entries.

1. Article - Spreadsheet Design Tips
   
   1. This article has also been published at www.officearticles.com

1. Article - Printing Worksheets To A PDF File
   
   1. This article was also published as the August 2006 Office Newsletter at Cimaware.com, makers of ExcelFIX. (The history of these newsletters is no longer available on their site.)

1. Article - Export A Range Of Excel Data To A Database
   
   1. This article was also published as the January 2007 Office Newsletter at Cimaware.com, makers of ExcelFIX. (The history of these newsletters is no longer available on their site.)

1. Article - Using Help in Your Applications
   
   1. This article was also published in October 2006 at the Professional Office Developers Association on their Public Blog

1. Article - Using A Treeview Control
   
   1. This article was also published in March 2007 at the Professional Office Developers Association on their Public Blog

1. Article - De-Mystifying Excel Macros
   
   1. This article was published in the Summer 2008 issue of CMA Update Magazine, and distributed to all Certified Management Accountants in the BC society.

1. Article - Using Custom Number Formats
   
   1. This article was published in the Winter 2009 issue of CMA Update Magazine, and distributed to all Certified Management Accountants in the BC society.

1. Microsoft MVP (Excel)
   
   1. The following quote from Rich Kaplan and Sean O'Driscoll of Microsoft, best explains the MVP award:
      "The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Program recognizes and thanks outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. The program celebrates the most active community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that enriches the community experience and makes a difference in technical communities featuring Microsoft products."

      "MVPs are credible, technology experts from around the world who inspire others to learn and grow through active technical community participation. While MVPs come from many backgrounds and a wide range of technical communities, they share a passion for technology and a demonstrated willingness to help others. MVPs do this through the books and articles they author; the Web sites they manage; the blogs they maintain; the user groups they participate in; the chats they host or contribute to; the events and training sessions where they present, as well as through the questions they answer in technical newsgroups or message boards."

      "Microsoft MVPs are simply an amazing group of individuals. We are excited to recognize and award MVPs as our way of saying "thank you" for their demonstrated commitment to helping others in technical communities around the globe."

   2. This award is, without question, quite an honour to receive, and it was awarded to me on October 1st, 2006.
   3. My Microsoft MVP profile can be found at https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Ken.Puls
   4. This award also spawned a Press Release by my accounting body (CMABC), which in turn led to a mention in the Vancouver Sun's Kudos section on June 25, 2007.
   
   
2. Cell Master
   
   1. I have been given the honour of receiving the 30th Cell Master award at Colo's Excel site. You can read my interview here.