![North Wales Digital Skills Week flyer](https://i0.wp.com/sherylnetley.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/NW-Digital-Skills-Week.png?fit=1024%2C508&ssl=1)
M-SParc ... a very special place!
The North Wales Digital Skills Festival 2021 ran from 22nd to 27th November. It was organised by the team at M-Sparc (Menai Science Park). M-Sparc is a ground breaking technology and collaboration space in Anglesey, North Wales. And M-Sparc has very close links with the local community and in particular to Bangor University.
I must admit, I hadn’t heard of M-Sparc prior to my involvement with the Skills Festival. I had been contacted by the Microsoft MVP co-ordinator in the UK. And she asked me whether I’d be interested in getting involved, as I live on the border with Wales. Although she didn’t know this, my youngest son was born in Wales. And I have lived in Wales at different points in my life. So I immediately said ‘yes’, I was delighted to get involved. I was even more excited when I began to see the wonderful work being done at M-Sparc.
The team
While I was preparing for my session, I decided to speak with the team. I needed to understand what they wanted to achieve from the Festival. And more importantly, how I could help them. My first call was with the Marketing Events and Engagement Officer Jamie Thomas, who was co-ordinating the sessions. Jamie was super helpful. He explained the high level requirement and helped me find a good spot during the programme.
Next, I connected with Pryderi Ap Rhisiart. Pryderi is the Managing Director at M-Sparc. I found it really helpful to understand the vision for M-Sparc. And also the way in which M-Sparc supports the local economy. Lastly, I got in touch with a contact at Microsoft with a local connection to Anglesey. My Microsoft contact gave me some great ideas on how to engage with the community.
![Power Platform 101 Slide](https://i0.wp.com/sherylnetley.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Power-Platform-101.png?fit=1024%2C572&ssl=1)
![Power Platform 101 Slide](https://i0.wp.com/sherylnetley.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Power-Platform-101.png?fit=1024%2C572&ssl=1)
Power Platform 101
The purpose of my session was to provide an overview of the Microsoft Power Platform. In my session I would be explaining it’s features, it’s uses and the career opportunities it can present.
I started by explaining how the Microsoft Power Platform provides a rapid application development platform. I went on to explain how the Power Platform empowers collaboration. Power Platform allows business users to build and collaborate with pro-developers on solutions using low-code tools.
I then went on to describe each of the key elements of Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI and Power Virtual Agent. I explained how they can be used by organisations large and small to provide enterprise class capabilities. And then I gave an outline of how the Power Platform can be seamlessly connected with business applications. And I discussed how this enables delivery of exceptional end-to-end solutions.
My session was targeted toward further and higher education students, graduates and those working in industry. Hopefully I was able to convey how awesome the Power Platform is, and inspire some future developers!