Reflections on the Microsoft MVP Summit 2018

Above: Microsoft Dynamics GP MVPs at MVP Summit 2018 (left to right) - Mariano Gomez, Rod O’Connor, John Lowther, Jen Kuntz, Mark Polino, Belinda Allen, Shawn Dorward, Monzer Osama

Microsoft's MVP Summit is a conference designed to give community influencers, specifically Microsoft MVPs, a chance to see and provide feedback on upcoming features and products. All of this is done under a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that facilitates honest feedback from both Microsoft employees and MVPs...and boy is it honest.

For example, one comment that stood out in a session was "If you want to screw yourself, feel free to do it the way you just described." The feedback is both positive and negative, but it's respectful since everyone wants a solution that works for customers, partners, and Microsoft.

This my 10^th year as a Microsoft MVP, and I was reflecting on some of the things that have come out of the MVP Summit over the years. At my first one, I attended a pre-session for wannabe authors. The session was full of practical help for writing and getting published. This made me realize I might actually be able to write a book and get it published. Thirteen technical books and a pair of novels later and I'm still writing.

Part of the beauty of the MVP Summit is being able to learn and interact outside of your area of expertise. At a later MVP Summit, I had a thorny Excel problem around parameters and the ...