Speaking at DogFood Con 2016

I just learned I’ve been selected to be one of the speakers at this year’s Microsoft DogFood Conference! My topic will be:

SharePoint, PowerApps, Flow and Azure Functions - What Does it All Mean?


I’ve given talks at DogFood in years past (2015, 2013, 2012) and have enjoyed it each time. I’m looking forward to this year, and you should too!

Don’t forget to install InfoPath

Today’s the day when InfoPath gets it’s first official punch in the gut – Office 2016 has been released today, and as promised does not include InfoPath as part of the install.

But as we know (and will learn more about on October 10th) InfoPath ain’t dead yet.

So, after your Office 2016 install finishes, be sure to take the additional step of separately downloading the standalone InfoPath 2013 install.

Upcoming SharePoint Events–Sept & Oct 2015

I’ll be speaking at several SharePoint events over the next couple of months. More details to come, but here’s the 10,000 feet view:

Microsoft DogFood Conference 2015
(Oct 7-8, Columbus, OH) – The biggest Microsoft-focused technology conference in the region. My talks will include:

• Moving Your SharePoint Development to the Cloud
• Getting Information from SharePoint – A 365 Degree View

SharePoint Saturday Cincinnati 2015
(Oct 10, Cincinnati, OH) – This free event includes great talks from SharePoint MVPs and thought leaders from around the country. My talk will be:

• InfoPath – I Ain’t Dead Yet. Here’s Why…
  
  2015-spscincy-infopath-spcb—SharePoint Cowbell

SharePoint Roundtable Cleveland
(Sept 9, Cleveland, OH) – Bennett Adelson regularly hosts this roundtable meeting to discuss relevant and timely topics for Information Workers. Join my colleagues and I as we discuss:

• SharePoint Futures: Processing the MS Ignite Announcements

Up Up and Away at SPS Columbus 2015

As you might have guessed by now, this year’s SharePoint Saturday Columbus was super-hero themed! All the speakers were given capes, and asked to wear the T-Shirt of their favorite super hero. I decided to choose Dragon Fly Jones from the 90’s sitcom Martin. : )

In addition to the fun stuff, SPS Columbus was also packed full of great info. Notable talks included Mike Smith’s discussion regarding REST, Seb Matthews Taking Your Business to the Cloud, and Doug Hemminger with Visual Studio and the Office365 REST API.

In my session we had good conversation re: Office integration, OneNote+SharePoint, and Yammer governance. And thankfully my demo’s went very smoothly. : )

Check out the other speakers super-hero pics on the BuckeyeSPUG Facebook page. My slides can be found below, or on slideshare.

Visual Studio 2015 and PowerShell

I think I could learn to like having a PowerShell window right inside Visual Studio 2015 for my SharePoint scripting. : )

What about you? Have you tried this yet? Is it as good as the other options for doing PowerShell in SharePoint?

Columbus SharePoint Roundtable

Last week my colleague and I presented in Cleveland at Bennett Adelson’s SharePoint Roundtable event. The topic: The End-User Guide to SharePoint & Office365: Features & Integration. We had a great turnout, and a very lively discussion.

We had so much fun we’re doing it again – this time in Columbus! If you’re in town, check us out Thurs April 30th, 2pm in the Columbus Microsoft offices!

Your First Search Should Be Delve

Real-World Scenario: Today a colleague let me know that he just created a new document that I need to review, and tells me he put it in the Intranet Portal in SharePoint Online (Office 365). That's kool - except that he forgot to give me a link to it.

Okay, I know the general area where the document probably resides. But instead of traditional search tactics, I go to Delve. It automatically shows me a bunch of relevant docs from different people, including my colleague above. To scope further, I add his name to the filter, and voila - the 4th doc down is the one I'm looking for - modified 1 hour ago. (in comparison, a standard Search Everything query in SharePoint required a couple of tries, required a good keyword, and still didn't give me the reassuring info regarding Modified 1 hour ago)

The Lesson: Delve is a powerful personalized Search tool that many times should be considered first before doing traditional searches, and definitely before trying to point-n-click your way around sites to find content.

I’m just saying… : )