From Oct 10th till Oct 13th our team enjoyed one of the best events from the Microsoft Community we have ever attended. Held at Nashville, Tennessee, there was a lot to see, great stories, people to meet and special connections that we are absolutely sure will help our business and its Microsoft division to get to the next level.
Aside from the amazing business opportunities, we also got a chance to learn and get some insight on the developments Microsoft is making on the ever changing 365 platform. All the sessions where held at Opryland Hotel and of course, we had our favorite ones. Check out a recap of the best of the event:
Our favorite sessions from the event
The event had many great sessions and speakers, one of the most important thing is how the managed to cover every single relevant topic, from basic to advance, for starters and veterans, here are some of the most valuable:
Designing 365|CRM 101
By Sarah Critchley & Alex Fagundes
Special for CRM Starters, it was a very complete session that included basic but important topics such as best practices in the basic principles, structure, relationships, ownership, activities, terms, and high-level security overview of Dynamics CRM.
The Basics: Where Do I Start as a New CRM Administrator?
By Patrick Wright & Kylie Kiser
At this sessions we learned how we could set personal options and basic customizations, Use wildcards for more efficient and effective searches and Create and work with basic Advanced Find
All Things Reporting – Maximize Your CRM Reporting Toolset
By Christina Tommeraasen
The most important aspects to Understand the CRM reporting toolset and which tools are best suited to different types of reporting needs. Ask leading questions to streamline report request intake and produce reports that meet the objectives (if not necessarily the exact request) of the requested report. And also the possibility to save time and resources by using the right tool for the right report.
Dashboards and Reports That You Can Actually Use
This session gave both an overview and in-depth look at dashboards and extension reports. It also explained the need to create views by security role or team. The main goal would be to create dashboards by team or department and to automate reports. By making CRM user-friendly to management and admins you make it user adoptable for everyone.
Workflows and Business Rules vs Custom Code
Workflows and Business Rules are the most common out-of-the-box features used to automate components of your system. There are many scenarios where they can save you time and money, and others where they are not up to the task. Learn the use cases and limitations for each of these tools, including when to fall back on customization with code.
Top 10 Free Tools for CRM Administrators
By Gus Gonzalez
This session helped users to know the top free tools available out there to connect with Dynamics CRM online and on premise version which can come into use any day for Admins and regular users.
The extra Bonus
The Summit UG App was a nice extra bonus we got from the organizers of the event. The possibility to see the slide presentations on our app and even be able to take notes over it is a real upgrade from the notebook and agenda mess we usually have to go throw after the event.
It also helped quite a lot in the social media interaction, easily connecting with twitter and emailing.
But what was more impressive is the possibility to write direct messages to other attends and colleges, allowing people to easily interact in such a dynamic environment, where sometimes you mix and match conversation in your head and get confuse with all your meetings set up in the agenda – Great and useful App!
The Real Breakthroughs – The Expo Hall & Social Events
Connor Evans and Gopi Krishna
We have to admit (and if you were there you probably know this is true) that the DBSync team put a lot of effort at reaching all the Booths to get to know all of the partners, their offerings, challenges their facing, and seeing the synergy between our organizations.
The Expo Hall was an absolute mad house opening night! It took us 3 hours to walk less than half of the show. It was evident to us after the first night that getting out there and meeting people, exchanging ideas, and figuring out ways to work together is the most valuable part of this conference.
It was great to put a face and personality to the many partners we’re used to chatting on the phone and emailing with. We want to give a special shout to Plus Consulting for an awesome social event at The Falls!
Casual conversations that happened at over drinks at the social events in downtown have begun to lead to new partnerships that simply wouldn’t have happened without chance interactions. I highly encourage anyone who goes to a conference – whether it’s Summit, Dreamforce, or entirely unrelated to software – to talk to as many people as possible. The person you’re standing next to could easily be your next client or partner, and even if they aren’t you never know what you could learn from them!
I do know one thing, you will definitely be seeing us next year in Phoenix!
