I know, I know – that Microsoft Convergence is a really great, worthwhile experience shouldn’t be news to me. After all, Tensoft is a Microsoft Dynamics ERP re-seller and we use a lot of their business productivity tools in-house. But I’ve been on the Worldwide Partner Conference detail for the last few years, and this was the first Convergence that I’ve been to since, well, I can’t even really remember when – Denver? And, I have to say that I was very, very pleasantly surprised!
I guess I’d forgotten how great it is to have so many sessions focused on relevant topics for our customers, as well as sessions aimed at helping me do my job better. While I was waiting for my connecting flight on my way home last night, I flipped through the Sessions Guide and counted 56 Microsoft Dynamics GP sessions and 30 Microsoft Dynamics NAV sessions – there’s just no way that you could hit all of these, plus the excellent Dale Carnegie sessions, keynotes, ISV partner sessions, and on and on.
Microsoft has taken care of that though – they videotaped 300+ sessions to make them available to attendees like me who just couldn’t do it all. I’ve got a list that I’m going to go through, at my convenience (and maybe in my slippers on the sofa at home). And, if you’re not an early bird, you can also watch the keynotes live from you hotel room. (Not that I know anyone who’d do that, of course….)
And, I’m pretty excited about some of the announcements that I heard, and being able to act on them right away. On the top of my list is that InsideView is now available – free – to Office365 users like me, which adds great data and insight into our Microsoft CRM records. I’m already using it too – just stopped by the InsideView booth, got some quick instructions on how to enable it companywide, and our support team had it running for us in a couple of minutes. That’s worth the price of admission right there.
So, I’m already planning on attending next year, and bringing as many colleagues and customers with me as I can. They’ve already announced the dates and locations: April 4 – 7 in New Orleans. Hope to see you there!