SPEAKING

Have you ever sat through a presentation, watching the presenter struggle to find the next browser tab, code window, slide deck, etc., to continue the show? Or watch that awkward transition from slides to demos and back? Or the presenter uses Alt-Tab, but has dozens of apps open and struggles to find the right one? I know you have and it might have been one of my sessions! I learned a while back about a technique to make your presentations just flow from one section to the next. If you are using Windows, multiple desktops make these transitions fast and seamless.

updated from 2022-01-22

I am thrilled to announce I was selected to speak at this year’s Microsoft 365 Conference in Las Vegas on April 30th-May 5. This is always one of the premier conferences, with a large supporting cast from Microsoft and the MVP community. I am really looking forward to connecting with attendees and learning how they are using Microsoft technology to make the world better.

I am so exited to announce that I will be traveling to Slovenia this May as a speaker at the Thrive Conference! I will be presenting a session on “Custom List Formatting.”

Thrive is not as well known as some of the bigger conferences in Europe, but it has an amazing reputation for being a smaller conference where interactions with the speakers and sponsors are much easier to arrange. There is even rumors that some sessions are held under the trees in beautiful Lipica, Slovenia.

Wow! After several attempts, I was finally selected to speak at this year’s European Collaboration Summit (ECS) in Düsseldorf, Germany! This is considered by many to be the premier conference on Microsoft 365 and relate technologies and I have wanted to attend or speak for several years. (Full disclosure, I was selected to co-present in 2021, but Covid-19 caused the conference to be cancelled.)

At ECS, I will be presenting a session titled “Simplify SharePoint Development with Containers”. In this session, we will explore how containers can be used to reduce some of the pain points associated with needing multiple development environment available on a single device. We will look at both Docker Desktop and Github Codepsaces and how to automate environment setup right from your project solution.

Last week, I had the privilege of doing a live demo during the bi-weekly “Viva Connections & SharePoint Framework” community call hosted by Microsoft. This was my first time presenting in one of these calls, so I was a little nervous, but once the lights are on, all nerves disappear and there is no other option but to press on.

The topic I chose to demonstrate was “Upgrading SPFx solutions to the latest version using the CLI for Microsoft 365.” Whew, that’s a little wordy, but accurately describes the subject. You can watch the full video below, and find the links mentioned in the video at the bottom of this post.

In just under 2 months (May 9-13, 2022), I have the opportunity to present several sessions the the Microsoft 365 EduCon Conference. I’m really excited to join this conference as we move back to more in-person events. As I have stated many times, I think the real value in conferences is networking at all levels: Business Partners, Speakers, Vendors, as well as fellow professionals and enthusiasts. Content is awesome, but meeting people that you can contact after the conference is key to advancing your skills and professional development. Bring your business cards and collect as many as you can for your future.

Conferences are slowing coming back and I am personally looking forward to talking to attendees, sponsors, and speakers in person again. First on the agenda this year is the M365 Collaboration Conference (formally the SharePoint Conference) in Orlando, FL, Jun 8-10. The “big” conference is still scheduled for Las Vegas in December, but this is a hybrid event that promises to be an exciting time as we transition from the virtual world we have lived in for the past year. I am honored to be chosen to deliver a couple of sessions during the conference and am looking forward to the trip.

There were definitely doubters, but the North American Collaboration Summit has successfully executed the first “hybrid model” conference. And the results were better than any of us imagined.

• To read a full summary, including lessons learned, from conference organizer Mark Rackley, click here

The decision to go

Honestly, my beautiful wife, Tracy, and I were excited to just get out of the house and go somewhere. We have tried hard to abide by the recommended protocols of social distancing and protective measures. For months, we have limited contact to just our family and a very small number of selected friends. I was nervous about attending such a public event, but after talking to Mark about the measures that were going to be taken by the hotel where the conference was being held, the “contract” that all attendee and speakers would abide by and the current COVID-19 situation in the Branson, MO, area, we decided the risk was within reason to attend the event in person.