Dynamics User Group Canadian Regional Meetup a Success

Throngs of Dynamics and Power Platform lovers attended a sold-out conference last Tuesday, braving the chill of a Toronto winter at the first Dynamics User Group (DUG) Canadian Regional Meetup since before the pandemic.

The 200-attendee event included three tracks – Customer Engagement/CRM, Power Platform, and Business Central – divided between three breakout rooms at the Pantages Downtown Toronto Hotel. Microsoft’s John Sullivan provided the keynote address, and Limelight, Own, and Endeavour Solutions sponsored the mini-conference.

“Sharing the passion for the technology, how it’s being used, the innovation – you cannot get a better vibe for that than in a community like this,” says John Sullivan.

Whether chatting over a buffet lunch or sharing insights during planned sessions, the community spoke openly about their challenges and triumphs within the ecosystem.

In fact, the free flow of information was itself a common conversation topic at the event.

Speaker Malcolm McAuley said, “The sense of community (is) the biggest draw for me. One of the best things I’ve ever realized coming to these (conferences) is you can come here and say, ‘I’m struggling with this’ and people will start nodding and saying, ‘Us too.’ That sense of community is what builds everything around it.”

And building the community is just what the event’s organizers say they plan to do. Microsoft Business Applications MVP Rick McCutcheon, who helped plan the event, says he expects the Canadian User Group to expand across the country in 2025.

“Pre-COVID, we had a national footprint,” he says. “I think we’re going to move into that. We’re seeing the (…) communities around Business Central and F&O really come together. So, if we do this again next year, who knows how big it’s going to be?”

If last week’s event is any indication, 2025’s DUG Canadian Regional Meetup will be massive.