This year was my first in-person MVP Summit at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond. In this blog post, I will highlight a few things about the week, but… I won’t share any details about the sessions because of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA). 🙂
What is MVP Summit?
“The MVP Summit is an exclusive multi-day event for all active MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) and RDs (Regional Directors). MVPs and RDs must have a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement on file in order to participate in the event. The MVP Summit features a large catalog of in-depth technical discussions that emphasizes two-way engagement, along with other community focused opportunities.”
Source: https://summit.microsoft.com/en-us/
Flight from Amsterdam
With many other Dutch MVPs, I took a flight from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam to Seattle Tacoma Airport on Saturday, March 22nd. After a long, nonstop flight of about 10 hours, we arrived at the airport, and I headed to my hotel in Bellevue, Seattle.
First meetups
That Saturday evening, we had a small meetup at a restaurant/arcade in Bellevue (Dave and Busters) and did a bar/arcade again in Renton (8-Bit Arcade) on Sunday. Great fun with fellow MVPs!
Pre-Day
Monday was the Pre-Day event, with sessions in building 92. That day, I met many people whom I had only known from online encounters. The MVP community rocks! I had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Redmond and went to bed early. I was starting to feel the time difference a bit more.
Tuesday – Thursday
Then, three days of sessions started, and there was a lot of information and interaction with the program teams. This is why I wanted to be here 😊
Microsoft Cloud IT Pro podcast
And.. I met Scott Hoag, one of the podcast creators and he asked if I wanted to be on it. The next day Ben Stegink and I had a nice talk which was recorded and published on Thursday ❤️ Check it out!
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0qq1xE0AzOmWFzmWHrNGQK?si=9vFdNDmBQZSqnw00sjgjyg
Post-Day
Friday was the last day, just Azure product group sessions at the other side of the Microsoft Campus for me. Rainy day unfortunately, wanted to walk around a bit more after the sessions.
Flight from Seattle
And then it was time for the flight back to Amsterdam, about ten hours again before I was back in the Netherlands.
Worth it?
Yes, very much worth it! Meeting all the people, first time outside of Europe and being at the mothership in Redmond was great! Can’t wait to next year!