Category Archives: SharePoint Saturday

SPS Events Shutting Down… Events WILL Continue

Overview

  • SPS Events, the organization behind many SharePoint Saturdays, is coming to an end
  • The events, however, will continue – as “SharePoint Saturdays” or under new and evolving names (like ours, see below)  

Details

Last week – Friday August 20th, 2021 – the SPS Events crew posted announcements on their Facebook page and web site that the SPS Events entity as we know it will be shutting down this coming Fall. Check out the details here: 

This is certainly the end of an era – the end of an amazing legacy built and managed by awesome people. Eric Harlan, Susan Lennon, and a ton of folks and organizations behind and alongside them created a community like no other.

SPS Events did a LOT, but two things for me stood out:

They maintained a “master schedule” for our community of events. This was, and is, hugely important and useful. It helped with visibility to folks in a city, in a region, in a geography to find local events. It helped speakers and vendors with locating events outside of their usual regions. It also helped prevent overlaps and confusion in some cases. All of this was good for the community. I’m not sure where this master schedule will be maintained going forward. With SPS events alone this was a pretty big list. Now with SharePoint Saturdays evolving (as we are) to different names, to physical events, virtual events, hybrid events, etc. it seems like a challenge without an owner at the moment.

They also provided a platform, a framework, and support for new and smaller events to get a foothold when they needed it. This is such an important part of our community. Helping new folks, new speakers, new organizers, etc. across the board where and when we can is a cornerstone of what we do. I’ve never seen it in any community – technical or otherwise – as much as I have in our SharePoint, Office, Microsoft community.

There will likely be a lot of chatter and reminiscing about SPS Events this week. A lot of us have “grown up” through this community, found our paths, built careers, and so much more. A huge thanks to Eric, Susan, and all who have been and continue to be a part of this community. I count myself lucky to be a small part of it in our little corner of the world.

SPSTC –> M365TC

We’ve already had folks reach out and want to get ahead of the rest of it… We aren’t going away. Our local organization here in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, the Upper Midwest – is still here. As we mentioned a few months ago, we’re in the midst of renaming and rebranding. That rebranding effort will continue and we do plan on returning to events as you’ve known them as soon as is practical with the pandemic and all the repercussions of it.

Latest on events

I’ve been holding out hope for a Fall/Winter event in 2021, but between COVID’s Delta variant and venue limitations, an event similar to what we normally do twice a year is not looking likely this year. Normandale is closed to events through 2021. My interpretation of this is that we will look to early 2022 for a bigger event – with all the usual “it depends” that comes with pandemic details. We might look at doing some smaller events in the meantime, but that is very TBD.

SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities – What would have been… Spring 2020

With the ongoing COVID situation we had to cancel our Spring SharePoint Saturday event scheduled for tomorrow 5/30 (we did this a while ago). Today I’m bummed – seeing calendar reminders for when we would have been setting up for the event and having our speaker dinner tonight – with the actual event and follow-up events tomorrow and tomorrow night.

It’s unfortunate and sad that we won’t be hosting speakers, sponsors, attendees and friends here in the Twin Cities today and tomorrow. I and others are missing our friends at a time we could really use those visits and quality time with the community we’re all a part of.

Stay safe! We’re looking forward to seeing you all again soon!

Back at it: Spring Conference Schedule

Well, it’s been a nice little break for a few months, but time to ramp it up again:

North American Collaboration Summit, aka ‘SharePointalooza’

Preston - PowerApps New Approaches to the Traditional SharePoint List View

Branson, MO – March 14-15

http://www.collabsummit.org/ – Use code: Microsoft

 

SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities

Bloomington, MN – April 6

www.spstc.com
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sharepoint-saturday-twin-cities-spring-2019-tickets-55007874032

What? You’d like to sponsor? Awesome! Contact me at sponsors@spstc.com

 

SharePoint Fest DC

DC19Banner728x90SPSTC15
Washington D.C. – April 29 – May 3
https://www.sharepointfest.com/DC/ – Use code: SPSTC15

https://www.sharepointfest.com/DC/index.php/ourspeakers

 

The SharePoint Conference

Wes Preston-Preston Social Banner-254
Las Vegas, NV – May 21-23

https://sharepointna.com – Use Speaker Code: PRESTON when you register.

https://sharepointna.com/#!/speaker/Wes%20Preston/1913

SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities–May 2013

Another great event this past weekend – for those of us that were able to navigate the monsoon in the morning. Almost 500 attendees made it in.

Slide decks should be posted to the www.spstc.com soon. Until then I posted mine out on Slideshare if anyone wants to take a peek at them.

SharePoint 101: What is this thing called ‘SharePoint’?
This is a really high level overview of what SharePoint is and what it offers to an organization…

Understanding SharePoint Roles
This is an overview of all the different roles and responsibilities that can play a part in a SharePoint implementation… lots of discussion during the session…

Idera ACE Program

This past summer, Idera introduced a program to the SharePoint community – an expansion of an existing program for the SQL Server community – called the Advisor and Community Educator (ACE) program for SharePoint.

The ACE program is one of Idera’s ways of contributing to, and investing in, the SharePoint community by assisting active community members by sponsoring their travel to SharePoint events. This allows those of us who don’t have large companies supporting our community efforts to go to events we might not have submitted to.  In exchange, we recognize Idera for that sponsorship and community contribution.  We don’t advocate for their products or company as a salesperson would, but we are given access to their products to learn about them ourselves and provide feedback to Idera.   

I was lucky enough to be selected to be part of the first ‘class’ of SharePoint ACEs along with John Ferringer, Liam Cleary, Nedra Allmond and Michael Lotter.  We only get to participate for a year, after which a new class will be chosen. Being this was the first year that Idera offered the program, the community exposure was pretty low – spread by word of mouth.  We hope there will be a lot more interest in it next year as word gets out.

My first trip through the program was to attend the Ozarks SharePoint Saturday a few weeks ago.  I hope to get some more trips in and make the best of the opportunity.

ACE_SP_badge2

SharePoint Saturday – Twin Cities – Fall 2012

Yep, it’s that time of year again.  We’re ramping up for the Fall 2012 SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities event.  We’ll be meeting on November 3rd this year, still at the Normandale campus down in Bloomington.  

We’re not planning on covering a lot for 2013 in our sessions just yet – too many folks are still interested in and using 2010 and the final 2013 version hasn’t been released yet. So, we’ll be focused on 2010 for one more round at least and then see where things are in the Spring.  You’ll likely hear a LOT of news about 2013 the following week with the big Microsoft SharePoint Conference in Vegas happening and most of it centered on the 2013 platform. 

Speakers and sessions have all been posted – take a look when you have a chance.  We’ve got great folks coming from all over and bringing a ton of great sessions, content and experience. 

We are also continuing with our 101 Track – so if you have folks that are new to SharePoint, the event has content for them as well.  We’ve got 4 sessions specifically in the track – starting with my ‘What is this thing called SharePoint’ session – but there are other sessions throughout the day not in the 101 Track that folks new to the platform can certainly benefit from as well. 

Keep an eye out for registration to open next Monday – Sept 10. We will be limiting registration to 600 people again this time as it seems to be getting us to about the level we can manage at the current location.  The Spring event had over 460 attendees…  Smile  We’re one of the largest SPS events in the country. 

There are lots of great sponsors again as well, we hope to fill up our space with 30 vendors – they’ll be added to the site as soon as they are validated. 

Finally, when putting the event in your calendar, don’t forget to set aside Friday night as we’ll be having our SharePint (the night BEFORE the SPS event).  More info to come on that…

If you have any questions about the event, let me know!!  I look forward to seeing you there. 

SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities – April 14, 2012

It’s that time of year again. Planning is full speed underway, speakers and sessions have been selected, the schedule is posted, sponsors are lining up and we have registration open for the next SharePoint Saturday here in the Twin Cities, MN. 

For the official event site with Session, Speaker and Sponsor information – go HERE.

For the Registration site – go HERE

  • We’ve got some great returning speakers and some exciting new presenters
  • We’ve got 8 concurrent sessions planned, including a 101 (Intro to SharePoint) track, Development, IT Pro/Admin, Information Worker track and a Hands-on Lab. 
  • Good food, great networking, T-shirts, bags and other fun swag and give-aways

We’ve got 600 tickets open for the event. At a minimum we’re hoping for more than the 500 (sold out) registrations we had at the last event. I’m hoping we sell out again.

Sign up, tell your friends and co-workers and start figuring out your schedule for the day!

Microsoft SharePoint MVP 2012

January 1, 2012 – Got word early that I was re-upped for 2012.

(yea yea, I’m slow.  But hey, I’ve been busy…)

A big Thank You goes out to Microsoft and the SharePoint community for another year being recognized as a Microsoft SharePoint MVP.  I am honored and humbled to be recognize in such a rich community filled with great speakers, authors, forum participants, consultants, vendors, users, and customers.

I don’t want to say that the honor is bitter-sweet, but while I am very excited, it does make one stop and think about all the people that make up our community: both those that are recognized and those that should be.  The SharePoint community wouldn’t be what it is without everyone that participates and contributes on a regular basis. It’s risky to name a few because there are so many, but a few I want to mention are:  Raymond Mitchell (@iwkid), Sarah Haase (@sarahhaase) and Mark Rackley (@mrackley). 

So, what do we have to look forward to this year?

  • Lots of ongoing user groups, both locally and online
  • More SharePoint Saturday and mini-conference events
    • We are planning 2 this year in Minnesota (Twin Cities) starting with the first on April 14th. Last fall we had over 400 people in attendance!
  • SharePoint Conference 2012 !!
    • Likely with the first tidbits about vNext!
  • Lots of other conferences and summits
  • More SharePoint books on all kinds of topics
    • We’ve got one coming in March… another post coming on that

Another fun year ahead in the SharePoint world – I hope to visit with lots of you throughout the year.  Now, keep an eye on the SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities site.  Registration will be opening soon!

SharePoint Saturday Twin Cities–October 29th, 2011

The next SharePoint Saturday event in the Twin Cities will be taking place in just over a week on Saturday, October 29th at Normandale College in Bloomington, MN.  If you haven’t already registered – do it now.  We’ve already got over 400 people registered to attend a day of fun with the SharePoint Community in Minnesota and surrounding areas.  Come and learn about SharePoint and Office 365 in sessions for for users, developers, administrators and people new to SharePoint and SharePoint Online. 

We’ve got 25 speakers giving 27 sessions in 7 tracks through out the day.  This includes two new tracks that we’re excited about.  We have a SharePoint 101 track featuring several national speakers as well as a Hands-on Lab track being managed by Mindsharp.  Be sure to come and visit all of the sponsors that make the event possible. 

I’ll be kicking off the SharePoint 101 track with a “What is this thing called ‘SharePoint’” session that’s been described as a SharePoint session you could send your mom to.  Smile   (and one attendee did)

Check out the schedule and tell us which track you’re likely to attend most of the day. 

Also, check out GuideBook as an app for your iPhone or Android device or m.guidebookapp.com on other devices as we’ll soon have our event information available there as a tool to use during the event. 

Register Now!

SharePoint Saturday – Columbus, OH

(FINALLY posted…)

SharePoint Saturday Columbus (OH) was held a few weeks back on August 20th.  The organizers did a wonderful job organizing the event and pulling everything together at a nice venue and pulled together about  130 or so attendees. 

I presented my Lists: Used, Abused and Underappreciated session in the first time slot of the day, had decent attendance (25 or so) and fantastic participation throughout the session.

If you weren’t able to stick around until the last timeslot of the day, Jennifer Mason did a session on simple dashboards which was an excellent follow-up to the content introduced in my session.  Check her slides out – HERE.  

My apologies for the delay in getting the slides out there – I had a slight detour on my way home and was off the grid for 5 days or so – only now getting back up to speed.  My slides can be found on SlideShare – HERE

Please let me know if you have any questions!