My journey to the Microsoft Power Platform Conference

Hey there and thanks for stopping by. For those who don’t know, let me introduce myself, my name is Norm Young and I am from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada and I am a husband, father, friend to my friends and Microsoft MVP. I work at a company called tyGraph and we make adoption and usage analytic solutions for Microsoft 365. In case you didn’t hear the news, tyGraph was acquired by AvePoint.?

I recently made the journey to Orlando, Florida for the first ever Microsoft Power Platform Conference (MPPC). It was a trip of firsts for me: my first time attending a large conference; my first time meeting so many Community and Microsoft super-stars in person; and finally, my first time giving a talk in front of a large audience. ?

The Conference

The crowds at the MPPC were large, so large that it was standing room only most days. After years of being in lockdown it was a shock to the system and felt overwhelming at times. I know I wasn’t the only one feeling this way and I am not ashamed to say that on more than one occasion I had to find a quiet place to reset. In the sea of people, I did have opportunity to speak with friends that I have only known virtually or through social media. I also had the pleasure to meeting a few new people and appreciated learning more about who they are, what they do and what technology they are passionate about.??

The People?

It was awesome meeting Mark Kashman from the #MicrosoftLists team in person. Mark has been very supportive of my work in the community and is a fellow sci-fi enthusiast. If you don’t do so already, be sure to follow Mark on Twitter, his blog and the Intrazone podcast.?

One of the first people that I met at the conference was ??Luise Freese . Luise is a prolific community contributor and multi-MVP. As I offered my hand in greeting, it was quickly pushed away for a hug and happy greeting. This would be the start of feeling welcomed by the community during the event.?

I had the pleasure of getting to know some of other Community and Microsoft super-stars over a meal, drink and just passing in the hall like Vesa Juvonen , Fabio Franzini , Yannick Reekmans , Adam Saxton , Jason Himmelstein , Galen Keene, MVP , Ryan Schouten , Scott Sewell , Carl Cookson , Lisa Crosbie , Chris Webb , John "Jay" Leask III and Karuana Gatimu and many others. They all do wonderful things with tech, the community and are just nice human beings worth following on social.?

Near the end of the event, I had the chance to catch up with Kanwal Khipple and meet fellow Canadian MVP’s Vlad Catrinescu , Luc Labelle and guest-Canadian Gokan Ozcifci (RD ? MVP) . It was great to chat with these fellow Canucks and I’m looking forward to future Canadian events!?

My Session

I have previously spoken at small, and virtual, events but never too a?large audience. During the keynotes the internet connectivity was questionable. Large crows combined with sketchy internet gave me a bit of anxiety heading into my session and because my presentation style is build-focused I scrambled to pre-record my demo’s so I wouldn’t have the same issues that they had during the keynotes.?

My session was focused on getting started with #AdaptiveCards for #MicrosoftTeams using #Dataverse and #PowerAutomate. These are some of my favorite subjects as they show how #Microsoft365, and the #PowerPlatform are be better together. The session went well, and I am very proud of it. The audience was engaged, asked lots of questions and were understanding when I simply did not know the answer to some of their questions. ?

Public speaking does not come easy to me. I have lived with a communicative-auditory-learning-deficiency my entire life and at times it effects my ability to convey my thoughts effectively. So, to have delivered a session to close to 500 people and have it received so well makes me very proud of how far I have come with technology, in the Community and as a person.?

A Special Thanks?

I owe a special thanks to John White , Corey Roth and Jennifer Mason for making sure that the food and drinks were always good!?

Finally, a special thanks to my good friends Hugo Bernier and David Warner II for the opportunity to be part of the Power Platform Conference. I am humbled by your belief in me and appreciate all that you did to make it possible. ?

Thanks for reading!?

Norm?