A family affair ...
The Birmingham D365 and PP UG January 2023 was held at the Wesleyan building in the centre of Birmingham.
We often talk about our Dynamics and Power Platform ‘family’. But on this occasion, it was even more of a family affair as I was joined by my daughter Daisy and her friend Matthew.
As both Daisy and Matthew are intending to pursue careers in the Power Platform, they are both keen to take part in Community events.
They were both massively excited to attend their first User Group, but also a little apprehensive. Of course, they needn’t have been, the hosts for the evening, and the other attendees were exceptionally welcoming. I’d like to give a big shout out at this point to Imtiaz Hussain, who really went out of his way to put Daisy and Matthew at ease. And also to Neil Parkhurst, who chatted to them both as if he’d known them forever. This is the amazing world we live in!
Learning from the master!
The first session of the evening was from Neil Parkhurst, a Microsoft MVP and all round Dynamics and Power Platform guru. I’ve literally lost count of the number of certifications Neil’s awesome blog has helped me with. One of the organisers of the Birmingham UG, Neil is a regular speaker and his sessions never disappoint. This one was no exception!
On this occasion, Neil was talking about Canvas Apps and Custom Pages. I was really interested in this as I have been doing quite a bit of work on those recently. As part of his session, Neil talked us through how he’d been using a custom app to catalogue his extensive music collection.
Always making it look easy, Neil definitely inspired me to think about how I could use technology to make my own life more organised!
A touch of Gravitas
Next up was the team from Gravitas, a recruitment agency based in the North East. They delivered an excellent session on all things career based, focussing specifically on Dynamics and the Power Platform. I was particularly interested in the contracting element, which is their specialism.
The whole team from Gravitas took part, each speaking on their particular area of expertise. The presentation was exceptionally professional. Even when hit with a WiFi issue, they continued as if totally unfazed and clearly knew their subject inside out.
The session was rounded off with a really funny game of ‘buzzword bingo’ that I particularly enjoyed. This was based on all of the buzzwords recruiters are looking for and that attendees should put on their CVs. While delivered in a light hearted and fun way, this was really informative and definitely useful to anyone needing to brush up their CV.
The first of many ...
It was a great event, I really enjoyed it. But more importantly, Daisy absolutely loved her very first user group and has definitely caught the Community bug! I’m sure this will be the start of a long and exciting journey for her and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.