Summit 2018, now with more community.

We hear community preached a lot around GP, AX/D365FO, NAV/D365BC, etc., but it felt like it was really on display at Summit 2018. Each of the groups had a space uniquely it’s own making it easy for users with common interests to congregate during the day.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed at Summit, especially if you are there alone as the only representative of your company. It ’s tough to split time when there are conflicting sessions. It’s easy to be unmotivated to go out in the evenings. Even if you come with others from your organization, sometimes you don’t want to spend all day and night with them. 

That’s why it was cool to see the Orlando GPUG group hanging out together at a party. This is a group that has gotten to know each other at events throughout the year and now they know each other well enough to have some fun together. It was great that they had picked up a few stragglers along the way, but it’s a lot more fun to be part of the group. 

A number of people commented that they come to Summit to learn, but also to see their friends. I have other friends, but they don’t really understand what I do for a living so it’s fun to hang out with people who do.

Go spend some time with your local UG group this year. Get to know people in your area this year and then come to Orlando and have some fun at Summit 2019. But you have to start now so block out the next local user group on your calendar.

Meeting dos and don’ts – I’m sorry, I was on mute. Podcast 3

Today we’ll be talking about Conference Calls and meetings. Listen in as we talk about do’s and don’ts for attending and managing calls and meetings. Don’t be surprised if we get off to…

Our newest podcast episode is up, and hey we made it to episode 3! Be sure to check out Meeting dos and don’ts – I’m sorry, I was on mute. Podcast 3 available now on iTunes, PodOmatic, Stitcher, and now Google Play. Yes, the “Big G” folks finally recognized our genius. Way to be late to the party Google. They are just jealous that GP doesn’t stand for Google Play.

Don’t worry Millenials, Spotify is in the works. They require 2 or 3 episodes before they’ll include a podcast in their service. Belinda will be her usual self and pleasantly badger them into submission. That southern drawl/New York attitude is a winning combination for getting things done. It’s sunshine and flowers until you see she’s holding a lead pipe behind her back.

If all of that is too mainstream for you, let me know and I’ll make a scratchy cassette recording and tape it under a bench in a dark alley so you can feel edgy. Actually, I’ll make Shawn tape it under a bench in a dark alley. Who puts a bench in a dark alley anyway? But I digress…

In episode 3 we take on conference calls, web meetings, IRL meetings (that’s In Real Life for the boomers out there) and every kind of meeting annoyance we can think of. My favorite is still “Sorry, I didn’t hear the question, I was on mute.” Wait, what? More and more meetings are virtual so they get a lot of attention from us.

We’ve gotten good feedback from our first two episodes and we’re figuring things out. Essentially we want this podcast to be if we were out to dinner together and this topic came up, this is what it would sound like. We’ve got a lot more topics to cover, some more serious than others. Let’s face it we started with GDPR, we were going to have to lighten up at some point!

This one is lighter, but still full of great information. We all fall into bad habits and need a reminder occasionally of the right things to do. With that in mind, drive fast and make poor choices.

MBAS Clarified by David Gersten – Bond Consulting Services

When I first saw the name MBS Podcast I became excited that there was a podcast for the traditional Microsoft […]

David Gersten had some thoughts on our podcast, Presenting Convergence…Yeah, you’ll understand after you listen. We encouraged him to blog those thoughts so everyone could share.

Make sure to check out David’s comments at: MBAS Clarified by David Gersten – Bond Consulting Services

Also, we may be splitting hairs, but in this episode, we talk about the upcoming Microsoft Business Applications Summit (among other things) as a replacement for Microsoft’s now defunct Convergence conference. David doesn’t think it’s a replacement for Convergence and he explains why. Here’s the hairsplitting, MICROSOFT had been DESCRIBING it as a combination of Tech Conference, Convergence, and their analytics conference.  MS has backed off of that language for now, but we’re coming at this from two different angles, what Microsoft wants it to be and what it will actually become.

 

 

Weeeee’rrrreeee Baaaack! Podcast 2: Presenting Convergence

You didn’t think we would go away that easily did you? Oh, no, we’re like a fungus. We just keep coming back. Belinda, Shawn, and I return for podcast 2, Presenting Convergence…Yeah, you’ll understand after you listen.

In episode dos, (that’s “dos” as in Spanish for 2, not DOS as in MSDOS, I know my audience) we take a look at the new Microsoft Business Application Summit coming in the summer. Billed as the “convergence of events such as the Data Insights Summit, Convergence, and Dynamics 365 Technical Conference “, it’s literally the convergence of Convergence. Yikes.

As usual, anytime we wax nostalgic …er… talk Convergence (the now defunct/resurrected conference, big C), we end up talking about presenting. That normally leads to odd insights about our personalities. For example, I can’t watch videos of me presenting, and Shawn locks his family in a room and makes them watch his presentations, stuff like that. It get’s a little weird.

As usual, Belinda is her charming self, though I’m confident she edits out brilliant insights by Shawn and me, just because she can. I don’t actually know this for sure because of course…I can’t listen to myself either. She did however manage to trick the folks at Stitcher into carrying this podcast, so I’ll forgive her for anything I made up about her.

As usual, the latest show is available in the right sidebar as well. We’re up on iTunes, Stitcher, and Podomatic. The folks at Google still refuse to recognize our genius. I think it’s just the petty jealousy common in Silicon Valley, so we’ll rise above it…for now.

Houston we have a podcast

Belinda Allen, Shawn Dorward, and I have a started a podcast. You can get the first episode here: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/mbspodcast/episodes/2018-03-26T08_39_17-07_00 

The podcast will be up on iTunes, Spotify, and wherever great podcasts are sold for free, just as soon as they recognize our greatness…or we get approved in those stores. It’s pretty much the same thing.

We’re calling it the MBS podcast for Mark, Belinda, & Shawn. If you thought MBS was a throwback to the old Microsoft Business Solutions days, it’s time to step out of 2003, upgrade that Nokia flip to an iPhone, and join us in 2018. We have Teslas here in the future.

(PS: If you thought MBS stood for More Bullsh*t, you fit our target audience.)

The podcast concept is three Microsoft Business Solutions MVP’s talking about stuff that interests us. We’re too busy (and a little too lazy) to have a bunch of guests, so if we do interview someone, they’re really special, or they keep hanging around while we’re recording. On the plus side we like to talk to each other so we don’t care much if people are listening. We also lie…a lot. Mostly unintentionally. Mostly.

More seriously, people seem to like to hang around and listen at dinner (or later) when we chat after conferences. When we do GPUG Ask the All Stars sessions, no one asks anything and it devolves into a random conversation, but people don’t leave the session. It’s a little weird. So we figured, if we’re gonna have these conversations anyway, let’s give people the chance to listen in.

It’s gonna be nerdy, and geeky, and often irrelvant. When we talk at lunch, we chat about things like GDPR, blockchain, PowerBI, Belinda turning wood, how we like Shawn’s wife better than him, Dynamics GP, D365, some random book I wrote that you will never read, you get the picture. The podcast will be just like that…only worse.

To give appropriate credit, if this turns into a massive success, it was a joint effort. If it fails miserably, it was really Belinda’s idea. Then again, the Excel Shootout was Belinda’s idea and it turned out just fine, until we almost put someone’s eye out with a nerf gun.

Help us out and listen in on our weird podcast journey.

Fastpath wins 2017 GRC Innovation Award

Fastpath wins 2017 GRC Innovation in User Experience for Automated Controls Award.

At Fastpath, we won an award for the user experience in our new cloud interface. The link is here: Fastpath wins 2017 GRC Innovation Award

It’s a testament to the team that the product not only works well under the hood, it works well for users too.

For the record, my involvement in the design was limited to saying things like, “wow, that’s cool” and identifying anything broken when using Safari on a Mac.  You’re welcome.

MSDW Podcast: Dynamics Security and Audit with Andy Snook, Mark Polino, and Alex Meyer – MSDynamicsWorld.com

Just in time for Summit, we spend some time with Jason Gumpert talking GP and D365 books, GDPR, and the scary side of application security. Make sure to checkout the podcast and don’t miss the link to Alex’s great D365 security blog.

MSDW Podcast: Dynamics Security and Audit with Andy Snook, Mark Polino, and Alex Meyer – MSDynamicsWorld.com

Behind the Music: A behind the scene look at my new GP and D365 books.

In case you were wondering how I ended up with a Dynamics GP and a Dynamics 365 book at the same time, I’ve got a little piece up on MSDW with the back story.

Behind the Music: Security and Audit Field Manual for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations Enterprise – MSDynamicsWorld.com

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