Microsoft reIMAGINE 2016 - Day 1 (Part 2)

Microsoft reIMAGINE 2016 hosted by Dynamic Communities is now over, but I did not want to let this week go by without giving you an account of my experiences at the conference, which sure brought a lot of surprises to all the partners in attendance.

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Monday, September 19, 2016 - Part 2

Monday morning was sure a busy one and with the General Session over, it was time to go find a place to continue prepping for our sessions in the afternoon.

It was time for our first session, NEW Development Tricks & Hacks, which centered around Microsoft Dexterity development. David and I had done this session at GPUG Summit 2015 in Reno-Tahoe, where we presented 25 tricks and hacks. This time around, we would add 25 new tricks and hacks to the arsenal, so attendees could walk away with new stuff to try. To note, the slide deck for this session contains the original 25 tricks and hacks and can be downloaded from the reIMAGINE 2016 materials page.

New 25 Tricks and Hacks session

Following our NEW Development Tricks & Hacks session, David and I would be joined by Brian Roney, Principal Engineering Lead at Microsoft, and Rob Anderson, Sr. Software Engineer at Microsoft for our Dexterity Panel session. This session was meant to be a free form, ask-whatever-you-want-type session where all 4 of us panelist would address any development related inquiries from the attendees.

Dexterity Panel session

I must say, all conferences should have more of these type of sessions as you can get some really engaging questions.

It was the end of our presentations for the day and it was time to go mingle with partners and ISVs at the reception, which would be held downstairs in the lunch room. Walking around, I had a chance to say hello to the folks from Rose ASP who were giving away some really cool workout t-shirts promoting their cloud solution.

I also had the opportunity to say hi to a number of folks from Njevity, Jet Reports, and Vicinity Manufacturing.

Jonathan Oesch (Jet Reports), Belinda Allen (Njevity), Gayle Giguere (Vicinity), Randy Smith (Vicinity), Melissa Sandrovich (Njevity)

As the reception was winding down, I left to my hotel to put down my stuff and get ready to go hang out at Shotgun Sally's, where the folks from eOne Solutions would be hosting their now popular Smartner Party. Upon arrival, I had a drink and proceeded to mingle with the folks in attendance. A few minutes into my arrival, something special happened: my dear friend of many years, Mark Anderson announced that he would be shaving his beard and head in benefit of the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Now, this would be a non-consequential, non-issue only if Mark was another person, but those of us who have known Mark for a long time (and in my particular case, for the better part of 20 years), have not seen him EVER without a beard - EVER! In fact, Mark made it public knowledge that his children had NEVER EVER seen him, in over 30 years, without a beard.

Mark and wife Donna

To make matters even more interesting, Mark's wife, Donna would be doing the honors of getting rid of his hair, both head and facial. Mark's only request was for the mustache to stay. In an effort to support the cause, Mark would be requesting donations from all partners in attendance with the goal of collecting $1,000.

Mark hadn't shaved for the last 30 years 

And there goes the first pass, with the Vikings wings on each side

A man must have a drink though

The deed is completed

Congrats to Mark, all for a good cause

After completing the shaving, Mark had collected over $3,000, putting him at the top of the funds raiser's list. To protect the identity of the innocent, this is where all accounts of the party ends.

Trouble makers: Sheila Jefferson-Ross and Tanya Henderson

Follow me on Monday for the accounts of Day 2.

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP