My Perspectives on the Largest Microsoft Dynamics Conference in the World

If you had asked me even four years ago how big the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem is, I would have struggled to answer the question. At that time, I had no idea that you could get more than 4,000 people together at a conference who all want to just focus on Microsoft Dynamics. I did not know that the Dynamics 365 ecosystem is as big and vibrant if not bigger than the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that I have been familiar with.?

Ryan Holiday 's keynote on the second day

During Oct 10 to 13, 2022, the largest gathering of Microsoft Dynamics folks took over Gaylord Palms Convention Center (an amazing location by the way) and I was fortunate enough to experience it as a speaker as well as an exhibitor for our company VisualSP.

Following are my own biased and unfiltered perspectives from the conference. Hope they help paint a picture of what took place at this conference.

This was truly the gathering of who is who within the Microsoft Dynamics world. It felt like majority of business applications Microsoft MVPs, and the most recognized Dynamics related partners in the ecosystem were all there.

This conference definitely is the largest independent Microsoft Dynamics event in the world. No doubt about it!

The event started with a wonderful gathering of attendees in the lawn right outside the convention center.

A perfect chance to mingle within your own Dynamics vertical or intermingle with folks interested in other Dynamics applications. I was there primarily with a focus on Dynamics CE/CRM but met up with many wonderful folks who were there for Dynamics Finance & Operations, Business Central, GP and more.

The next morning, the keynote room for Jeff Havens was filled to the gills. Unfortunately some people could not get in the room because it was already over capacity. That was disappointing because it was a good session.

Right after that, attendees plunged right into 100s of educational sessions being offered.

Session rooms had round tables which was a bit odd compared to other conferences I go to, but I noticed it encouraged good discussion among attendees before the session start. On the flip side, it constrained how many people could fit in the room. Having said that, I didn't see any room turning people away because they were too full so that was a non-issue.

This conference had something for everyone. Whether you are an end customer or a partner in the Dynamics ecosystem, chances are that you were here at this conference. The place to be for all things Microsoft Dynamics.

The Dynamics specific education received at this conference from Microsoft MVPs was exceptional. If you are looking for purely deep Microsoft Dynamics content, I would challenge you to find better unbiased content anywhere in the world. There's just no comparison!

Most sessions were recorded which is very much appreciated because you simply cannot attend everything when there are 10+ tracks going on at the same time. Other conferences who don't do that can definitely learn from their example.

The conference mobile app was a disappointment unfortunately. It was slow and would freeze up all the time when you were trying to explore the sessions. I saw many people gathering around event information screens in the hallway trying to figure out where to go. It should never be that bad.?

Having said that, the CEO of Dynamic Communities (the organization that puts on this event), John Siefert , minced no words?when he got on the stage prior to the keynote by Ryan Holiday the second day and acknowledged the issues with the app and declaring it on the stage that they will no longer be using this app provider ever again. They also made some quick adjustments for the day to make the experience better for the attendees for the rest of the conference.

I very much admire and appreciate the type of leadership John showed by being straightforward with the attendees about all the feedback he had received the prior day and how they were tackling it immediately. Thank you John for setting this example of being an authentic leader ??.

?Me ( Asif Rehmani ) with Aaron Andrews and John Siefert

Our company, VisualSP, had a booth at the conference. Here's a picture of Eric Eaton from our team standing at the booth explaining how VisualSP helps support and train your users in a context sensitive manner to increase user adoption while decreasing the support burden on your team.

On the second day of the conference, our VisualSP team gathered together some of the best minds in MS Dynamics CE/CRM and broadcasted a podcast in which we each talked about our perspectives from the conference.

from left: Asif Rehmani , Dian Taylor , Ashley Steiner , Kylie Kiser , Eric Eaton

In the podcast, we talked about subjects such as which sessions each of us were delivering, what announcements from the latest release we were excited about, what concerns we had about the Microsoft release schedule, and also what was coming up at the conference the next day that we were excited about.

Recording of the Podcast from the conference

I then delivered my session on Increase user adoption by delivering contextual help in Dynamics CE. You can download my slides (with Lots of notes) if you're interested in this subject area.

All in all, I very much enjoyed my experience as an attendee, speaker and a sponsor of the event. I honestly think this is one of the best independent tradeshows within the Microsoft ecosystem.?

The next Dynamics North American Summit is going to be October 2023 in Charlotte, NC. I'm definitely going to be there. I hope You can join as well.