SharePoint APAC Conference
Earlier this week I attended the Asia Pacific SharePoint conference in Sydney. I learnt how to play craps (and some SharePoint stuff), met many interesting people and even made it to the beach.
The conference provided ‘technical knowhow’ on the latest SharePoint release and was attended by 600 IT pros and developy types. As the audiences had different skill sets some of the sessions were fairly high-level but there was also a good range of in-depth talks about specific aspects of the product. Some of the sessions I found particularly useful were on PerformancePoint, migration strategies, and disaster recovery. The sessions about using mobile devices with SharePoint, Silverlight, and Groove were also interesting and inspiring.
The conference also provided a great networking opportunity. I was able to put many faces to names such as Joel Oleson, Mike Fitzmaurice, Andrew Connell, and Angus Logan. It was really good being able to talk to some of these people who have worked on the coal face as it were and be able to get answers to questions. At the conference as well were a large number of partners. I thought K2 and Nintex’s workflow designers were cool, and seeing/hearing about other partners’ experiences was encouraging.
Having not been to Sydney for a while it was also great to be able to get out and see some of the city. Highlights were the bars/restaurants along Darling harbour, the bars at Kings Cross, Bondi beach and the shops at Bondi Junction and Pitt St Mall.
Lessons learned from the trip:
- You can claim tax back on clothing (or any other goods) at the airport but only if it is on a single receipt that totals over $300. $296.98 will not cut it even if you speak nicely to the Tourist Refund Scheme officer. Damn that $4 discount on the belt.
- Expense claims don’t go so well if you forget to get a receipt
Over the next couple of days I will post a little more detail about some of the sessions I went to. This is partly just for my reference but hopefully others will find some useful information as well.
