Microsoft #reIMAGINE 2014 Conference - Day 2

Oh goodness, what happened last night? Well, it's true that if you are going to party into the wee hours of the morning, you must still get up to go to the conference and so I did.

Today was the first full day of breakout sessions, but David and I won't start our first session until the afternoon. I got up and downloaded Project Siena for the live demo I would be conducting during our session on building a Windows 8.1 App so I had just a few hours to learn the product. After obtaining the GP service XML configuration file from my buddy Kevin Racer the day before, the idea was to replicate the demo Kevin and Errol conducted on stage during the General Session.

David and I met at the Microsoft Campus around 10:30 AM and sat for a bit to go over some of the logistics of the interaction between the two of us during the session. As with all our presentations, the improv factor helps more with having a fun and relaxed time. So David went off to another session, while I decided I was too hungry, so I went and order some nice Indian food at the Microsoft Commons restaurant.

It was 2:30 PM and it was time for Service-based Architecture and Building Exciting New Customer Applications and Integrations. During the session we provided an abstract of the new Service-Based Architecture in Microsoft Dynamics GP and proceeded to talk about the different architectural patterns, and Dex serviceable components, without going into the details covered by previous SBA sessions and more looking at the possibilities from a developer's standpoint. The Siena demo went without a hitch and we also demoed the .NET interop capabilities in Dexterity through a Trigonometric functions example which can be found in my article Microsoft Dynamics GP 2015 Developer's Preview: .NET Framework Interoperability - Part 3.

After completing our session at 3:30 PM we wondered off campus and back to the Holiday Inn to relax for a bit before heading out to the Fargo Theater for the keynote speech.

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The frigid afternoon would take us down to the Fargo Theater for the keynote speech featuring Doug Burgum, founder of Great Plains Software and former Sr. VP Microsoft Business Solutions.

Fargo Theater

At the theater, we grabbed a few popcorns and some adult beverages and went to find a seat close to the stage.

Jen Kuntz and David Musgrave

The evening had one more surprise for us. Prior to Doug taking the stage, the MC was no one other than Matt Gustafson, a.k.a., The Fabulous Matt G. For those of you new to the channel, you can read about Matt G in the farewell post over at Developing for Dynamics GP. Matt G, in his unique brand of humor, recruited Errol Schoenfish and

Matt Gustafson
"The Fabulous Matt G"

I will spare you the details on Doug's session, but suffice to say, it was another one of those exceptional keynotes that only Doug can deliver, full of historical references around the life and miracles of American inventor Clarence Birdseye, considered by many to be the inventor of frozen food. Doug expanded into the development and expansion of suburbia and how this phenomena has given way to dilapidated downtowns across America. However, the sustainability issues associated to the suburban expansion are giving way to considerations on reclaiming downtowns across the nation, given the newer generations' desire to stay close to their places of work.

Doug Burgum

After Doug's speech, I went up to take a picture and to thank him for (indirectly) providing me the opportunities I have had around Microsoft Dynamics GP. As a matter of anecdote, I visited Fargo in 1996 where I had the opportunity to talk to Doug one-on-one in several different occasions, as I helped my company back then to establish a product and a presence in Latin America.



A picture for the ages
From left to right: David Musgrave, Mariano Gomez, Doug Burgum, Leslie Vail, and Sheila Jefferson-Ross

Following the keynote, I headed down to Dempsey's Public House for my first stop in the tour through the bars and eateries selected by the sponsoring partners. Drinks at Dempsey's were sponsored by Microsoft partner Njevity.

I had pre-arranged dinner plans with the Barlett, Pringle and Wolf, LLP technology consulting team at Mezzaluna Fine Dining, which was right behind Dempsey's, one of the stops in the bar trail attendees could follow throughout the evening. Intelligent Partnerships - my company - and BPW have collaborated on a few challenging projects and are looking forward to more.

The atmosphere at Mezzaluna was eclectic with a hint of European flair. While I only had the bacon wrapped bison meatloaf, I must say that by far I consider it to be a fantastic dish - to the point where almost everyone on the table ordered it.

Dinner with Barlett, Pringle and Wolf Consulting Group
From left to right: Mariano Gomez, Ross Appenzeller, Michael Weaver, Stephen Korosy, and David Musgrave

The service was impeccable and certainly would recommend anyone visiting Fargo to head down to this place for dinner.

Next stop: HoDo Lounge, a part of the Hotel Donaldson. Drinks at HoDo were sponsored by eOne Business Solutions. As the temperature dropped even more, it was time to find the bus to return to the Holiday Inn and call it a night.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
Intelligent Partnerships, LLC
http://www.intelligentpartnerships.com/