A welcome return ...
The South West PPUG May 2022 was held at the IBM offices in Bristol on 27th May 2022. It was a very welcome return for the Bristol group members, who’d not met in person for some time.
The event had been organised by Dan Barber and Sumit Kumar, who had taken over responsibility for running the group. And they had lined up a strong female presence for the evening.
The speakers for the event were expected to be Tricia Sinclair, Clare Edgson and myself. I was delighted to be invited to speak, as it was a great opportunity to represent Women in Tech. Unfortunately Clare was unable to make it on the night, but Tricia and I were still rocking it for the girls!
All in One Digital Contact Centre
The first speaker of the evening was the awesome Tricia Sinclair. Tricia’s session was on the newly branded Digital Contact Centre Platform, which we’d previously known as ‘omni-channel’.
Hot off the back of announcements made during Microsoft Build that week, attendees got their first look at some brand new features.
Tricia gave an absolutely awesome demo, including using omni-channel voice to make and receive a call. The demo really pushed the boundaries of the technology and I think everyone was on the edge of their seats. The demo gods were definitely smiling on Tricia that day, and the session was totally captivating.
New kid on the block!
After a short break that included some delicious pizza, and great conversation it was my turn to present. My session that evening was called ‘Power Pages (Portals) Primer.
Another new announcement at Microsoft Build had been the evolution of Power Apps Portals into Power Pages. The same portals technology but a whole new design experience, it was now a product in it’s own right. Power Pages had become the fifth product in the Power Platform family.
My session focussed on some of the new design features, and ended with the obligatory discussion on licencing. Always a contentious issue with portals, we’d been hoping for a licencing updates … no news yet, but watch this space!
Until the next time ...
It was a great event, some familiar faces and lots of new ones. I really enjoyed taking part, and meeting everyone, some for the first time. I was particularly delighted to meet Katya Barber as we had chatted online and she was just as lovely in real life!
A quick trip to a local watering hole was the perfect end to a wonderful evening. And I’m already looking forward to the next meeting in a few months time which also promises to be an awesome event. If you are wondering what a User Group is all about, please just come along. I promise you will absolutely learn some really cool stuff and make some lovely new friends!