What was new at User Group Summit 2019?

By Elly Yates-Roberts on 21 October 2019

The 15th User Group Summit North America drew nearly 7,000 participants to Orlando, Florida, including product users, independent software vendors, partners, Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals and industry experts. At the event which took place on 15-18 October, they were able to choose from almost 700 take part in instructor-led courses and networking opportunities to learn about Microsoft Dynamics 365, AX, customer relationship management, Power BI, PowerApps and Microsoft Flow.

Attendees who couldn’t make it to a course or couldn’t decide between two held at the same time could opt for Session Recordings, a new feature this year that offered on-demand, post-Summit access to over 200 recorded sessions.

The event kicked off by looking to the future as Muhammad Alam, Microsoft’s general manager of Dynamics 365, and Charles Lamanna, a corporate vice president at Microsoft, took centre stage. While celebrating the energy, passion and innovation of the global Dynamics 365 and Power Platform communities, the two also previewed the newest innovations included in the 2019 Wave 2 release of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform and offered a glimpse of the future strategy and roadmap for Microsoft Business applications.

The new Women in Technology luncheon attracted more than 200 attendees, who heard from a lineup of female technology leaders and discussed various issues facing women in the industry. The Executive Exchange also made its event debut this year, which saw dozens of senior executives from mid-size to enterprise-scale companies spend a full day discussing technology strategy and execution best practices.

Summit also previewed The Power Zone, a twist on the silent disco craze. Attendees were able to participate in four sessions held simultaneously in a single room using a Bluetooth headset to switch between conversation channels.

The focus on what’s new even extended to the event itself, as organisers unveiled a new name – Community Summit – which will make its debut in 2020 when the event moves to Nashville, Tennessee for 6-9 October.