Day three at the Microsoft Ignite 2019, it is unbelievable how fast the time flies. It is halftime again and my day started with a premiere for me.
Greg Taylor, Director of Product Marketing for Exchange Server and Exchange Online has invited the MVP’s which are connected to Exchange and Office 365 to a Breakfast with some Microsoft employees. I can’t go deeper to that Topic here, but what I can tell is that we had an awesome conversations ant that session ended at around 10 a.m.
Every IT professional needs to stay updated during his career, one very recommended way for that is to keep yourself certified with Microsoft exams. For that reason it was clear for me that my next session to visit is EXAM PREP: MS-101 | Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security (BRK1052) from Ed Baker.
At that session MCT Ed was presenting where we need to start to prepare that exam, what it will be about and shared his advice about the traps which are waiting the students who wants to pass that exam.
It was the only session I was visiting this year referring that topic. However, it was a good one, because it is always interesting to see, how a Certified Microsoft Trainer like Ed is one is advising the preparation for an exam like that.
My next session was Everyone is hackable. How long it take you to notice? (BRK2194) presented from Shira Shamban.
Before that session started, I had to wear my Jacked again, there was a super strong air conditioner in that Hall, it felt like winter in Switzerland.
This Session was presented from Shira Shamban, her main topic is security. Even with the best cloud security team, solutions, and best practices, we are not bullet-proved. There are so many perimeters and attack vectors, it’s no question of IF, but WHEN we can be a victim of an attack.
Shira was showing us ways and her field experience about that to make the audience understand how we can protect yourselves better.
Like last year, Microsoft has created a Hang out zone this year too.If I look back to last year we didn’t have a connection problems this year like one year ago. All sessions I saw and also when I was passing by that area I did not notice that there is a connection issue anymore. This is a big plus to Microsoft comparatively to last year. BUT, one thing I did not understand. Microsoft did not take Tables and provide electricity to that area. So attendees were not able to use their Notebooks in a used way and we also had no chance to charge them by watching the sessions.
This I don’t understand at all, even more because at the first day there was a Press corner which had all that things I have just mentioned. However, after the first day instead of leaving all tools, they have removed everything.. This is sad a thumb down from me to the organization. I really hope they will change that on the next Ignite.
However, this was just a short side story about the Hang out area. By the way, what I really liked about that area was, that there was a Pet zone with Dogs for petting. This was so heartwarming and every time I was passing by, I had to think about my Pets at home…
🙂
The next session I went for, was a Theater Session from Brian Reid, Real-world hybrid Active Directory join and compliance (THR2047).
What I really liked at that session was, that Brian had no PowerPoint slides at all, it was a 100% live session about hybrid Active directory and how to use it.
To be more precise, one of the easiest ways to secure our cloud journey is to ensure that the end user is on a company device. This session was about how this works for Active Directory domain joined workstations. Steps to get there and what we can do once our devices and users are synced to Azure Active Directory.
Brian is a Microsoft Certified Solution Master for Microsoft Exchange and a Microsoft MVP as well. First time I have met Brian personally one Year ago was also at the Ignite. It was a pleasure to see him at one side speaking and at the other side in private again. After he finished his session, we hat a funny chat about the MVP Breakfast from the morning and some other topics.. Guys, if you are not following Brian on Twitter yet, I just can highly recommend to do it now.
What I have also liked at the Ignite very much this year was the refreshing side stories. When I moved from one Session room to another, I met this special Microsoft employee…
🙂
However, up to my next session, Microsoft Teams Messaging Extensions deep dive (THR3040) with Wictor Wilén.
This advanced level session was about Messaging Extensions what are one of the core features of the Microsoft Teams extensibility story. By using Messaging Extensions to enhance the conversational experience and to create a deep integration to line of business applications and workflows, the end-user experience can be enhanced and the adoption of Microsoft Teams even higher. This session deep dived into all the nuts and bolts, including best practices, when creating Microsoft Teams Message Extensions.
After this session and before the last one for this day, I went to the HUB and wanted to make some short brake. A few minutes after I have sited down Shafina Hassam, Microsoft Ignite Community Reporter was passing me by. She had a cool mission this year. She went through the whole convention and was collecting stickers from the Ignite all over the world as well. All that stickers she took on a Luggage and this Luggage will be traveling with her all around she goes for Microsoft.
My main topic is definitely not .NET, but I had a sticker from the .NET Dasy Switzerland by me, as far she did not had that one, I sponsored it to her Luggage. 🙂 Can you see it? Black, left corner on the top.
🙂
Third day at the Ignite is slowly going to an end.
However, I still had one session left for that day I did not want to miss. It is the session about Microsoft Teams: Real-world tips for success (THR2069) from Tom Arbuthnot.
Based on real-world experience, Tom presented these tips to ensure us success with Microsoft Teams. From business transformation to technical tips.
So, this was the third day at the Microsoft Ignite. Before my buddy’s and I went back to our house, we grabbed a Beer for that very successful day. It was the last “classical” evening at the Ignite this year, for the next day there was another plan how to end it. More about that in my next Ignite Splitter.
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