May 19th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Introduction to Microsoft Teams Rooms

Topic: Introduction to Microsoft Teams Rooms
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Amit Vasu, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) system bridges the gap between people working remotely and those in the office with a meeting room solution that allows everyone to be seen, heard, and fully participate from anywhere. In this session you will learn how to use MTR with real-world scenarios.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Amit Vasu, Solutions Architect – MS 365, working on MS 365 technologies since 2014. For the past 8 years Amit has been focusing on creating solutions using MS 365. Amit also has several years of experience helping customers with digital transformation. Amit was awarded Microsoft MVP award in 2014. Amit also frequently participates in the SharePoint community events.

April 14th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Power Automate Techniques that “Saved Our Bacon”

Topic: Power Automate Techniques that “Saved Our Bacon”
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Sandra Mahan & Tom Duff
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

You’re ready to start building workflows in Power Automate… how hard can it be? You’ve been building SharePoint Designer workflows for years. Well, we hate to break it to you… some things that should be hard are easy, and some things that should be easy… aren’t. Join Chefs Sandra and Tom as they “dish up” some techniques they found while learning to think in Power Automate terms instead of SharePoint Designer. While some dishes are definitely not as easy as they were in “the good old days”, you can get similar results in Power Automate if you learn to view things in different ways. Keep in mind that we are *not* experts by any stretch… we’ve spent a lot of time searching and experimenting to find answers that work. You should come away from this session with two or three “recipes” that can help you serve up Power Automate flows that will deliver real value to your business and make your customers happy.

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Speaker Details

Sandra Mahan is a Microsoft 365 Administrator for a large health insurance company in the pacific northwest. She has been working with SharePoint since 2012 and thoroughly enjoys it. Prior to working in IT, she spent 20 years in Human Resources. She’s spoken at several conferences and SharePoint Saturdays and enjoys sharing what she’s learned and helping others get the most out of the technology.

Thomas Duff (aka “Duffbert”) works for a large health insurance company in the Pacific Northwest, and has over 25 years of experience working with and developing applications with collaborative technologies such as Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Lotus Notes. He works closely with the business customers, translating their needs and ideas into technology solutions, filtering them from the “techno-speak” that often creates barriers between business and IT areas. He is a two-time published author on instant messaging technologies, and has written a large number of articles for various technology publications. He’s spoken at local and international user group gatherings and large conferences, and he also maintains a blog for Office productivity tips at http://OneMinuteOfficeMagic.com.

March 24th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: What’s new in Microsoft Loop?

Topic: What’s new in Microsoft Loop?
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Darrell Webster, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Microsoft Loop is a new flexible collaboration platform arriving in Microsoft 365. Integrated into existing applications like Microsoft Teams and Outlook, Loop will provide a simple place to get started on ideas, projects and collect resources for teamwork. Later in 2022, Microsoft Loop is expected to be released as its own application.
Learn what Microsoft Loop is, what it does, how it works and when you would use it.
I’ll share some early lessons learned and tips for using Microsoft Loop in personal and team productivity.
Find out how to get started and get others on board with a simple plan to work Loop into everyday team activities.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Hi, I’m Darrell as a Service, at your service. I help organizations make the most of Microsoft 365, aligning it’s productivity and teamwork with real needs. I am a Senior Adoption and Change Management Consultant at WM Reply, running programs with global organisations. I blog and create videos and courses at Modern Workplace Change. I’m also the co-founder of REgarding365.com, a publication and live show discussing Microsoft 365. I like to help people tell their stories about work, life and the balance in between. I have a keen interest in mobile videography and live streaming. In recognition of my contributions to the Microsoft 365 community, I have received a Microsoft MVP award since 2013.

February 17th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Labeling in Microsoft 365: Retention & Sensitivity

Topic: Labeling in Microsoft 365: Retention & Sensitivity
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Drew Madelung, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Are you classifying your data in Microsoft 365? You can add data classifications using sensitivity and retention labels but they do two very different things. In this session, I will break down what the label options are, how you can use them, and why you should deploy them in your organization to keep your content compliant and secure.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Drew Madelung is a Cloud Solutions Architect and a Microsoft MVP for Office Apps and Services. He helps organizations realize what is possible with Microsoft 365 & Azure, onboard them in a secure and compliant way, and drive sustained adoption for those solutions. He is experienced in a range of technologies but specializes in the collaboration and teamwork workspaces such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. He has helped deploy Microsoft 365 to multiple global companies while rolling out modern information protection and information governance technologies. He has been doing Microsoft consulting for 10+ years with a strength in security & compliance solutions.

January 20th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: A short history of the Collaboration Clinic

Topic: A short history of the Collaboration Clinic
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Caroline Hackney
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

The Collaboration Clinic is two years old. In 2021, 90% of departments had at least one person attend. Come and find out how this initiative has helped reach employees across our organization; what topics and themes we cover; and how we make a big deal out of having a safe place to ask questions.

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Speaker Details

As Port Houston’s Enterprise Collaboration Manager, Caroline uses a variety of technologies – including the corporate intranet, which she oversees – to connect employees across and beyond their diverse environments, driving collaboration, and organizational excellence.

November 18th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: From Zero to Hero: how to successfully apply Microsoft Adoption tools to your project

Topic: From Zero to Hero: how to successfully apply Microsoft Adoption tools to your project
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Antje Lamartine, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

It has been common knowledge for a long time, that the rollout of a technology tool or solution is more successful and drives higher ROI if it gets widely adopted by the business. Since the release of Microsoft Teams a few years ago, the topic “Adoption & Change Management” has enjoyed renewed focus. Microsoft has invested heavily in the creation of fantastic content to drive Adoption. The treasure trove of Microsoft Adoption tools can be found at https://adoption.microsoft.com/. It is free and there is plenty!

In a perfect world, we could apply all of them, but in the real world of resource, time, and awareness constraints it is important to know to pick the right tools to be successful. So where should one start?

Antje Lamartine is going to dive into the key Microsoft Adoption tools, the key aspects of Change Management, and provides examples when to use which Adoption tool based on her many years of experience accompanying technology implementations. You will walk away with her top 3 pro tips that will help you become your organization’s Adoption hero. Your manager will thank you for the increased ROI you will have helped achieve!

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Speaker Details

Antje Lamartine is Sr. Customer Success Manager at IF-Blueprint AG in Munich, Germany and Microsoft Office Apps & Services MVP. She started working on the Microsoft platform in 2010, and combines her passion for People and Technology with her focus on Adoption & Change Management around Microsoft 365. Her goal is always to engage business users as early as possible in the process of an IT project to ensure that business users are being heard, and technical decisions are based on actual needs. She accompanies local and international companies in their journey of Microsoft 365 and other change implementations. In her off-time Antje likes spending time in the mountains regardless of the season and visiting beer gardens in and around Munich with family and friends.

October 21st, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: You Have Sensitive Information. Now Let’s Protect It.

Topic: You Have Sensitive Information. Now Let’s Protect It.
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: David Drever, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Every organization has data that is considered sensitive to their business, employees, or even to the industry they exist within. In 2020 there were over 4000 publicly announced data breaches amounting to over 37 million records compromised. As a result, protecting its data has become a priority of many organizations worldwide. Microsoft provides several tools for identifying sensitive information within the organization and protecting it from being provided to sources that should not have it.

In this session, we’ll cover features and processes such as Microsoft Information Protection (MIP), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and more to help you protect your organization’s sensitive information from leaving your control and falling into the hands of those that should not have it.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

David is a Senior Manager with Protiviti, and a 6 time Office Apps and Services MVP. For over 20 years, David has worked in a wide variety of areas in IT, ranging from Desktop\Server support to developing in C++ and .NET technologies. During that period, David has been able to add value to a wide variety of clients in several sectors, including utilities, government, banking, and agriculture.

For over half his career, David has been working exclusively in the SharePoint and Microsoft 365 domain. He has helped stand up multiple Enterprise SharePoint environments as well as designed and built numerous solutions utilizing PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and SharePoint. David has also assisted many organizations with protecting their data by building Information and Records Management systems within Microsoft 365. He is a knowledgeable and sought-after international speaker within IT circles and regularly consulted by companies formulating their Digital Workplace strategies.

September 9th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Managing and supporting the Power Platform at scale

Topic: Managing and supporting the Power Platform at scale
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Johnny Lopez, Microsoft MVP
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Learn how administrators and IT-Pros can manage the enterprise adoption of PowerApps and Microsoft Power Automate. Discover the features, tools and practices to monitor, protect and support your organizations’ data and innovations at scale. We’ll share the top tips around governance, security, and monitoring requirements, as well as strategies employed by top customers to help you land low-code powered digital transformation in your organization.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Johnny Lopez is a Microsoft MVP and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. He is a passionate evangelist who attributes his professional experiences, technical expertise and real-world Office 365 and Power Platform experience with organizations. He served 10 years in the U.S. Navy serving on 2 Aircraft Carriers (USS Eisenhower & USS Nimitz) as an Electrical Work Center Supervisor. He graduated from the University of Phoenix of Houston in 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Information Systems. Johnny has been working in the SharePoint community for the last 10+ years. Johnny is the President for the Houston Office 365 Community and the co-leader in the Houston Power Platform User Group.

August 19th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Intro to Dataverse for Teams: Extending Microsoft Teams with Apps, Flows, & Bots

Topic: Intro to Dataverse for Teams: Extending Microsoft Teams with Apps, Flows, & Bots
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Paul Stork (MCSM, Microsoft MVP)
Cost: FREE

Our sponsor, InfoWorks, Inc., is giving one lucky winner a $25 gift card & making a $200 donation to an approved charity in your honor!
You must be present to win.

Topic Details

Use of Microsoft Teams has exploded for many companies as a result of the global pandemic. For many organizations Teams has become the app that connects all their employees together. Power Platform apps, like Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents, provides a low-code platform for extending that functionality. But extending Teams with new apps, flows, and bots requires a place to store content. SharePoint is a possibility, but from a data point of view SharePoint has a lot of limitations since it isn’t an actual relational database. Dataverse, formerly known as CDS, provides relational data storage, rich data types, and enterprise-grade governance. But Dataverse has always been a premium feature requiring extra licensing.

This is where Microsoft Dataverse for Teams comes in. Using the Power Apps application inside Teams we can build and deploy apps using a custom version of Dataverse that is included in the Microsoft Teams license. This provides access to a real relational database and one-click solution deployment to the Teams app. In this talk we’ll take a look at what Dataverse for Teams and how it can be used in the Power Platform to extend the Teams application. We’ll cover the following points with slides and demos.

– What does the Teams License cover
– Differences between Dataverse (CDS) and Dataverse for Teams
– Creating Dataverse Relational Tables
– Building a Power App with Dataverse for Teams
– Integrating Dataverse for Teams with a Flow
– Accessing Dataverse for Teams from a Bot

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Paul is the Owner/Principal Architect at Don’t Pa..Panic Consulting. He has been working in the information technology industry for over 30 years, and has played key roles in several enterprise SharePoint architectural design review, Intranet deployment, application development, and migration projects. he has been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for the last 12 consecutive years and earned his Microsoft Certified SharePoint Masters (MCSM) certification in 2013.

His core skills include architecting and customizing SharePoint environments both on-premises and in the cloud. He has significant experience leading SharePoint migration teams, troubleshooting infrastructure issues, and evaluating SharePoint environments for adherence to “Best Practices” and industry standards. His current focus is on Office 365 security, SharePoint online, and Microsoft Power Apps/Power Automate. He’s authored several books and is a frequent contributor to the Microsoft Power Platform forums.

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Sponsor Details

InfoWorks provides total solutions that consider and impact your entire business. We combine the right core competencies with diverse expertise and deep industry knowledge spanning across analytics, management, and technology for many of the largest companies in the Mid-South. We will tailor strategies focused on getting clients into new revenue streams, create technology solutions that help leapfrog competitors, provide role-based work to augment your existing projects, and work with company leaders to create metrics and dashboards that enable data driven decisions all to drive successful, lasting results. With our 24 years of experience, we have amassed a diverse mix of people from industry veterans to new and fresh thinkers with the agility and experience to help you navigate the unknown and maximize positive impacts on every level. 

We take pride in approaching everything we do with agility and innovation that result in superior response time, proactive ideas, and nimble, affordable solutions tailored to your needs. Our strength comes from knowing our customers best. And because we are 100% employee-owned, your success becomes the success of the entire team. We are here with you every step of the way to help your company achieve great things.

Our sponsor, InfoWorks, Inc., is giving one lucky winner a $25 gift card & making a $200 donation to an approved charity in your honor!
You must be present to win.

July 15th, 11:30 am

Download to your calendar: Prometheus, Barbeque, and Forest Fires: how to get started with Power BI

Topic: Prometheus, Barbeque, and Forest Fires: how to get started with Power BI
Location: via Microsoft Teams
Speaker: Jay Eckles
Cost: FREE

Topic Details

Just as Prometheus brought fire from Mt. Olympus and gifted it to humanity, Microsoft brought Power BI from Redmond and gifted it to O365 customers. Perhaps it isn’t difficult to imagine the combination of awe and fear of those Promethean beneficiaries, especially when we find ourselves looking at Power BI for the first time. The utility and capability are immediately obvious, but the wary among us perceive an unnerving potential suffusing the tool. So, the question is, can you have a barbeque without burning down the entire forest? This conversation will be about acknowledging and moving beyond your initial reaction to Power BI and getting to a point where you believe you can learn to control it.

We will discuss your perceptions of Power BI, discuss the capabilities and limitations of the tool, and discuss how not to burn yourself. Expect to leave the conversation with a clearer understanding of how you might take advantage of Power BI and a concrete plan on how to begin a journey to master it.

Be sure to forward this meeting info to your colleagues and friends!

Speaker Details

Jay Eckles, Ed.D., is a group lead in the IT division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Prior to that he served as the director of business intelligence for the University of Tennessee system where he and his team designed, implemented, and managed a BI stack built almost entirely on Microsoft products. In addition to being a Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate, he has taught business intelligence and analytics at the master’s and non-credit levels at UT Knoxville, Lincoln Memorial University, and with the Tennessee Digital Jobs Factory. He holds degrees in computer science and business from Rhodes College, information science from Penn State, and higher and adult education from the University of Memphis. Jay is originally from the Memphis area and has made Knoxville his home for six years, where he has since become an avid angler and hiker.