My first NAVUG Summit, and it was awesome…

I’ve been attending and speaking at all major events for Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Directions, TechEd, Techdays, Convergence, NAVTechDays and this year I’ll even fly to Bali for the Asian Partner Conference.

But…

I had never been to NAVUG Summit, even though the event has been there for quite a while.

This year I got two invitations. One as associate for Liberty Grove Software, and because of that, Mark Rhodes thought I might as well contribute as a speaker and panelist.

On top of that, he offered to help me promote my new book. And oh boy, did he keep his promise.

This is what I found at the I love NAV booth…

My own sign! How amazing is that!

NAVUG Summit

The summit is an event by users for users. As an MVP, what you can do at the summit is share. What we love. There are 500 end users absorbing every piece of knowledge they can get out of you. They are using versions anywhere between 5.0 and 2013R2. There is also a lot of functional content. Much more than any other event I’ve ever attended. This would also be something where I could learn from them.

The atmosphere

What I loved most is that everyone is very enthusiastic about Dynamics NAV, or Navision. Everyone is enthusiastic about the product. The event makes you happy.

My Sessions

I did a lot of talking. In total I did 6 sessions which is more than planned. For Liberty Grove Software and Data Masons I did a 5-10 minutes presentation about Design Patterns and Upgradability. This is a very current subject in the perspective of Microsoft shipping software each year and roll up updates each month. Together with Microsoft and Partner Ready Software we have developed a methodology to make upgrades easier.

My “real” session was Introduction of Design Patterns and Upgradable Code. In this session I looked at design patterns from an end users/customers perspective reducing the TCO of Dynamics NAV and making upgrades easier.

Then I was a panelist at Developing Best practices and Performance Tuning. This was really cool and just Q&A between the audience and the panelists. I apologise if I talked to much.

Webcast

My session will be repeated as a webcast on November 25th at 3.00 pm EST.

The Book

Ok, ok, I’m not going to lie about it. This was cool. During the event I must have signed 15 books. I had 4 with me to sell, Data Masons had 6 to give away and during the keynotes, NAVUG gave away 2 more. Here are some pictures of book winners or people who had the book signed.

Microsoft Round Table

There was a Microsoft roundtable for Q&A with the Program Managers. The max. seat count was 12. I decided to hop in just to see what was discussed hoping they would not count me as a head.

What surprised me was that only half a dozen people were there. This was the opportunity to give feedback to Microsoft and people just don’t show up. They must be very happy with NAV.

The Venue

Although the venue was old, it was spacious, clean, people were friendly and the rooms were easy to get to. The weather was nice, and we got a chance to go to the best steakhouse in St. Louis. That was good! 20oz rib eye with 12yr old Magellan. If you ever want to bribe me.

The Surprise

I met a lot of new people, and made new friends. One new friend was very happy with the link to her awesome blog in my book. Kerry Rosvold.

The Preparation

Guinea pigs for my session were Dave and Karen Studebaker. I spent the weekend with them before the event and they gave valuable input. Wisconsin is just amazing this time of year.