Monday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM · Room 207A

Build Your Skills: Microsoft 365 Essentials for Beginners

Unlock the power of Microsoft 365 in this comprehensive workshop tailored for beginners. Delve into the core components of OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams, understanding their distinct roles and how they work in tandem to boost productivity. We'll explore key functionalities like document co-authoring, file sharing, managing access, and the unique document lifecycle within these platforms.

Along the way, learn to navigate the diverse terrain of other Microsoft 365 apps including Outlook, Planner, and To Do, enhancing both individual and team productivity. Understand the nuances of choosing the right tool for the right task, be it OneDrive for personal document management, SharePoint for organizational content, or Teams for collaborative projects. Attendees are encouraged to use their own devices and accounts to follow along, ensuring a comprehensive grasp of navigating and using Microsoft 365's capabilities confidently for effective communication and collaboration.

Tuesday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM · Room 202B

Zero to Hero: Build Microsoft Teams App for Full Stack Developers

If you have little to no experience creating apps for Microsoft Teams using full-stack development techniques, this is for you! After covering what tools you need to start creating Microsoft Teams Apps, you’ll learn how to build different components to extend Microsoft Teams. This includes building personal & channel tabs (apps), bots, and message extensions for Microsoft Teams. And, you’ll learn how to take your message extensions and use them as Copilot plugins if your users have Copilot for Microsoft 365!

NOTE: Hey 👋, Andrew here… this workshop is not intended for attendees to follow along & build the same projects during the session. Instead, focus on learning, taking notes, & getting answers to your questions - you’ll walk away with everything at the end of the day!

Tuesday 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM · Room 203AB

Balancing Collaboration and Compliance within Microsoft 365

Hybrid modern work can be full of friction and frustration when it comes to compliance. We all need to help ensure a productive and compliant workplace, but how can you enable easy collaboration in your organization AND implement compliance features? Join Joanne and Daniel as they show how to bring together two equally important yet seemingly incompatible aspects of the modern workplace: collaboration and compliance. With a he-said-she-said approach, Daniel will talk about the modern collaboration tools available in Microsoft 365 and Joanne will share what kinds of Microsoft Purview compliance controls can be applied to help collaboration tools be more compliant. You will walk away with the knowledge to combine collaboration with compliance. Topics covered in the workshop: • How to plan and implement a compliant Viva Connections and Viva Engage environment • What are retention labels and policies and what do they look like in action in collaboration areas? • How to implement data loss techniques while enabling collaboration? • What are sensitivity labels and what types of controls can they place on collaboration? • Do Microsoft Teams have an end-date and how to enable a lifecycle? • Can Copilot help with compliance when it comes to our content and collaboration?

Tuesday 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM · Room 207A

Share, Protect, & Govern Your Data in Teams, SharePoint, & OneDrive

Collaboration lives at the core of a modern workplace and collaboration is built around the ability to access and share information securely. Not all information is the same and the ability to get content securely to the right people, both internal and external, at the right time keeps work moving. But how do you easily and securely your data in Office 365? What are your options to ensure you retain control of your data?

The ability to safeguard your data is possible! In this workshop, we will show you:

• The landscape of data security
• What is Microsoft Purview and how we can use it
• How to secure you data with Information Protection and sensitivity labels
• Control & manage sharing in your tenant
• Prevent exfiltration with Data Loss Prevention
• How to detect, investigate, and take action using Insider Risk Management
• Retain content using Data Lifecycle Management and Records Management

By the end of this workshop you will know what you can do to secure your data and allow your company to collaborate better and achieve more.

Wednesday 9:50 AM - 11:00 AM · Room 203AB

Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Viva... What Should I Use, and When?

For today's fast-paced, mobile-driven, and globally dispersed hybrid workplace, Microsoft offers tons of great ways to effectively communicate and collaborate. But which tools are right for your organization?

In this interactive session, you will gain practical guidance on finding the right tools to facilitate efficient communications and collaboration both inside and outside the walls of your organization.

You'll also learn how to drive adoption and keep your chosen solution under control and get ready to walk away with the ability to chart a productive and pragmatic collaboration approach that delivers immediate and lasting value to your modern workplace.

Wednesday 2:20 PM - 3:30 PM · Room 201

Prepare the Organization for Self-Service in Microsoft 365

Rapidly growing companies must balance multiple strategic objectives with a seemingly endless list of action items while maintaining a focus on creating scalable solutions. Often this is all done by a team of one. How can you meet the needs of the business and avoid shadow IT with limited resources? Enter self-service.

In this session, we will share how to:

• Prepare the organization for self-service solution builds in Microsoft 365
• Create a consistent user experience across solutions
• Report on activity in your environment with out of the box tools to support your governance
• Establish a global steering committee to drive right-sized solutions across the organization

Leave this session with actionable steps to begin changing the way your organization creates spaces for collaboration.

Wednesday 2:20 PM - 3:30 PM · Room 202A

Elevating Your Experience: Improving Findability & Knowledge Discovery in Microsoft 365 & SharePoint

In today's fast-paced business environment, quick and easy access to knowledge is critical for success. Unfortunately, many organizations and people struggle with finding and accessing information within their intranets.

In this session, we’ll review several different strategies to improve findability in Microsoft 365 – from simple tips to help users be more successful with search to more strategic approaches for intranet navigation and structure using home sites and hubs, information delivery with Viva Connections, improving knowledge management with Viva Topics and Viva Engage, and how Copilot can help.

You will learn practical and actionable tips and tricks that you can implement immediately as you evolve your employee experiences.

Wednesday 2:20 PM - 3:30 PM · Room 204C

What’s New with OneDrive!

Are you caught up with all the new features in OneDrive? Have you rolled out OneDrive and not provided any new information to your users about what's new?

OneDrive in Microsoft 365 continues to evolve and we as end-users and IT professionals need to try keep up. Join me as we walk through the newest improvements and changes to the world of OneDrive and now content AI. This session will be demo filled and by the end you will see the investment and dedication that Microsoft has too provide a solid file management and sync solution.

Wednesday 2:20 PM - 3:30 PM · Room 208AB

Keeping up with change in Microsoft 365 in the AI Era

Every month there are dozens of changes made throughout the services in Microsoft 365. The changes can bring brand new features, but also change aspects on which your business solutions are based.

How do you stay informed about the changes and prepare your environment for all the updates? How can you keep your users up-to-date with the features that are available and manage the process of change? How does Ai and Copilot help (or not)?

During this session, we will discuss how IT Pros and collaboration enablers can keep up with all the changes, promote adoption with your users, and help your organization stay focused on what you do best. Real-world examples of how you can manage all the data available to you will be shared. You will leave with the tools you need to be proactive in managing cloud changes in your organization.

Wednesday 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM · Room 201

Navigating Document Approval in SharePoint: A Practical Case Study

At her medical research non-profit, different departments rely heavily on SOP documents, or Standard Operating Procedures. These documents have to go through annual reviews that are several layers deep, in addition to needing a group approval of the final SOP.

In this session, Lindsay will break down exactly how she built SOP approval processes for four different departments using just SharePoint document libraries, Power Automate, and Approvals that have served their purpose effectively and efficiently for years.

Wednesday 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM · Room 202A

To Build or Buy: Case Management in Dynamics 365 or Power Apps

It's an age-old question: should I buy the solution "off the shelf" or build it myself? In the past, the high cost of custom development meant most people bought their software and did their best to "make it work."

But with the advent of low code, more and more organizations are not having to make that choice, but inside discovering it's really a spectrum.

This session will look the specific need many of my customers have: case management. In the past and sadly in the present, many of my customers rely on Excel to manage cases (or incidents or whatever terminology they use). Thanks to Power Apps, these customers have a better way.

But what about Dynamics 365? When should they consider it versus a "home grown" solution. I'll look at the pros and cons of both approaches and perhaps help you find the "sweet spot."

Wednesday 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM · Room 207A

Microsoft Lists: The Ultimate Guide to Track, Organize, and Collaborate

Microsoft Lists is a powerful app that helps you track information and organize your work with ease. Whether you want to manage your personal tasks or collaborate with your team, Microsoft Lists can help you create customizable lists that suit your needs.

In this session, you will learn how to:

• Access Microsoft Lists from web, desktop, mobile, and Teams
• Sync your lists for offline access
• Sort, filter, and group your list items
• Choose from different views such as Gallery, Calendar, and Board
• Format your views and columns with conditional formatting
• Customize your forms with no-code or low-code solutions
• Integrate your lists with Power Apps and Power Automate
• Set up alerts, rules, and notifications for your lists
• Share your lists with colleagues and control permissions And more!

Join us for this ultimate guide to Microsoft Lists and discover how you can use it efficiently for any scenario.

Thursday 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM · Room 207B

Create a Compelling Employee Experience with Brand Center

Establishing a consistent brand identity is essential for any organization especially when it comes to internal communications and employee experience. Brand Center empowers businesses to expose their brand identity seamlessly across various channels in Microsoft 365. This session delves into the core functionalities and capabilities of Brand Center, unlocking a world of creative possibilities for enterprises of all sizes.

Join us as we explore the features of the Brand Center, offering attendees a comprehensive understanding of its tools and capabilities. We will look at practical applications of Brand Center in SharePoint and Viva Connections, how to get started, and some things to avoid as you start your brand journey.

In this session we will explore

• What is Brand Center and why it is important.
• Key functionality of Brand Center including font, theme, and asset management for your organization.
• How to get started rolling out Brand Center for your organization.
• Governance questions and thoughts
• Potential roadblocks and pitfalls
• Look at real world examples of organizations leveraging Brand Center

This session is designed for marketing professionals, brand managers, or communication specialists who are looking for ways to explore their brand within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Thursday 10:40 AM - 11:50 AM · Room 204AB

What's new and next for Microsoft Viva

Learn about how Microsoft Viva can help you measure, communicate, and skill across your organization so employees can achieve more, thrive at work, and make the most of transformative AI technologies like Copilot.

Thursday 10:40 AM - 11:50 AM · Room 204C

An end-to-end look at SharePoint Premium Content Processing

SharePoint Premium is a big step forward for Content Services in Microsoft 365 by providing the ability to integrate AI into the flow of work. Unstructured content is being produced at an alarming rate in modern workplaces today and organizations need a way to improve the effectiveness of business processes surrounding it.

SharePoint Premium's content processing capabilities help by automatically classifying content, extracting metadata, improving search, enhancing knowledge sharing, and applying appropriate governance controls. SharePoint Premium is this and so much more!

To demonstrate, Joanne Klein will walk through a live demo of building and training an Unstructured Document Processing model in SharePoint as well as the additional capabilities it provides once classified.

The walkthrough will cover setup, training, deployment, and some of the "extras" you get with SharePoint Premium.

Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM · Room 202B

Microsoft 365: Cybersecurity Lessons & Recovery with Spanning Backup

Explore the evolving landscape of cybersecurity threats in 2024 by dissecting some of the most impactful attacks on companies like 23adndMe and MGM in 2023, and revisiting the Mother of All Breaches in 2024. Learn how these breaches and social engineering hacks unfolded and discover key strategies to prevent similar incidents. Recognizing the inevitability of cyberattacks, we'll also delve into rapid data recovery techniques using Spanning Backup for Microsoft 365, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum data protection.

Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM · Room 204C

Unlock AI Potential: Prepare and Enable Copilot for Microsoft 365

Are you looking to maximize the effectiveness of Copilot for Microsoft 365?  Join this new AvePoint session to learn how to prepare, secure, and optimize your data for Copilot, ensuring you get the most out of this powerful tool. We'll walk and talk you through the 3 essential steps to unlocking potential with Copilot for Microsoft 365.

What we'll cover:

Preparing Your Data for Copilot

• Understand the relationship between Microsoft 365 content and Copilot for Microsoft 365
• Assess and improve your Microsoft 365 content for quality and business relevance to ensure effective Copilot recommendations and content generation

Securing Your Data for Copilot

• Understand how Copilot can highlight and intensify the risks of overshared, sensitive content in Microsoft 365
• Conduct an effective, risk-based review of overshared content across your Microsoft 365 tenant(s) and create a prioritized action plan to remediate before Copilot deployment
• Implement automated security and configuration policies across Microsoft 365 services to detect and remediate high-risk sharing activity.

Optimizing Your Operations for Copilot

• Create and implement go-forward governance rules to ensure that new sites, groups, teams, and other collaborative objects are classified with business-related metadata, have defined data owners, and have appropriate policies assigned to ensure data security and access management
• Implement automated information and content lifecycle policies to minimize the growth of redundant, obsolete, and trivial content (ROT) over time, which decreases data quality
• Measure Copilot adoption and ROI by department and use-case

Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM · Room 207B

Automating Essential Cybersecurity

Did you know that by 2031 ransomware alone will cost victims over $265 billion? And ransomware attacks are increasing year-over-year. As an IT leader you need a solution in place that will keep your data protected and save your department time. Enter Datto RMM.

With the explosion in both endpoint count and type of endpoints, IT professionals from all walks of life are struggling to survive the baseline expectation of their role let alone thrive. If this sounds like your business join our experts as they discuss how Datto’s remote monitoring and management tool allows you to manage endpoints with ease. In our session we’ll cover:

What today’s ransomware landscape looks like and what you need to keep an eye on as cybercriminals start to utilize more tools like AI to infiltrate your endpoints.

Why Datto’s relentless focus on security makes so many IT professionals trusting in our solutions.

How Datto enables you to manage, secure, backup, and automate endpoints with one easy to use subscription

A live demo of Datto RMM so you can see this powerful tool in action.

Live Q&A

By the end of this session, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge of how much time you can save with automation and how to improve your business’s security. Don’t miss out!

Thursday 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM · Room 209AB

Reimagined Software Adoption: Driving Value through IT-Led Change

Low end-user software adoption can drain company resources. Discover how shifting IT from a cost center to a crucial revenue driver is transforming organizations. Explore innovative solutions that equip IT teams with the tools needed for effective change management and enhanced software utilization. Join us to learn how integrating these strategies can significantly improve operational efficiency and improve the digital employee experience.

Thursday 1:10 PM - 2:20 PM · Room 208AB

Enhancing Communication and Collaboration through Customized Search Experiences

In SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams, we are building a flat hierarchy through separate site collections or Teams and creating connections through hub site relationships. This supports organizational change, cleaner permission models, and so much more but can prove challenging when you want to centralize a subset of content across these site collections.

Join us as we explore different approaches for centralizing your content in this modern decentralized world. You will leave with scenarios and best practices for how to structure and deliver content throughout your tenant.

What we'll cover:

• Understanding the hub site structure and search scopes
• Using the content type gallery for consistent information architecture
• Centralizing content through search experiences (including Modern PnP search web part and search verticals)
• Creating intuitive microlearning content (through Learning Pathways or Viva Learning)

Thursday 2:30 PM - 3:40 PM · Room 206

Real World Tips and Tricks for Driving Software Deployment

What do companies like Lego, AEG, Polaris, Takeda, and the Special Olympics have in common? They all have useful tips and tricks around driving internal usage of software to help them move from synchronous work to asynchronous work.

In this session we will hear from those customers and learn how they drove success in their organizations and how you can as well.

Thursday 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM · Room 207A

Women in Tech and Allies Meetup

All individuals, regardless of gender, are invited to join us to celebrate, talk about our progress, and focus on how we can continue to make the Microsoft ecosystem the best in the world for welcoming, mentoring and supporting women. Additionally, we aim to promote allyship and foster inclusiveness within our industry.

Thursday 4:20 PM - 5:30 PM · Room 207B

I didn't know you could do that with OneDrive!

OneDrive is more than just cloud storage for your files. It’s a smart way to work and collaborate across Microsoft 365. Whether you need to share documents with your team, sync files to your desktop, or protect your work from accidental loss, OneDrive has you covered.

In this engaging and practical session, I will show you how to make the most of OneDrive’s features to boost your productivity and make work easier.

Learn how to:

• Let OneDrive track activity and sharing for you
• Open and save files directly from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, & OneNote
• Manage changes with document version history
• Securely share content with people inside & outside the organization
• Quickly access SharePoint documents and libraries without leaving OneDrive
• Move and copy files quickly and easily with between - OneDrive and SharePoint
• Sync files locally with OneDrive files on-demand
• Share files in Microsoft Teams
• Restore files if they get deleted, overwritten, corrupted, or infected by malware
• Automate repetitive activities with flow And more!

Don’t miss this chance to learn how OneDrive can transform the way you work.

Friday 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM · Room 204C

Intro to Microsoft Fabric for the rest of us

Microsoft Fabric is a software that helps businesses analyze their data. It has many features that help businesses move their data around, analyze it in real-time, and make better decisions. It also has a lot of tools that help businesses store and organize their data in one place. With Microsoft Fabric, businesses can get a better understanding of their data and use it to make better decisions.

But what does that mean for the rest of us who don't do analytics every day or can barely spell Power BI? Join Mark Rackley and John White for this fun, demo-filled session that breaks Fabric down so that anyone can understand it's power, and how their company can take advantage of it, and get started!

Friday 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM · Room 206

Getting Started with Microsoft Adoption, Community and Champions Programs

Are you new to the Microsoft ecosystem? Have trouble finding who, what, where and when? Join us in the session to learn all that Microsoft has to offer for connecting to resources, career development, advocacy programs, certification and connections into your local community. The Microsoft Community is a vibrant, large community with many tools and programs that are free. This session will connect the dots and help you get the most from the Microsoft resources that exist.

Friday 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM · Room 207A

Understanding Copilot (Part 1): Enhancing Findability and Discoverability with Copilot and Search

In Microsoft 365, efficient information retrieval is critical to do our jobs effectively and there are a variety of ways to support the findability and discoverability of this business-critical content. This session adopts a user-centric approach while exploring specific use cases where Microsoft search and Copilot excel. We will delve into the technical nuances of natural language search and semantic indexes, along with best practices for information architecture. Key Takeaways: Technical Insights: Understand the differences between natural language search and semantic indexes. Effective Search Strategies: Explore when to leverage Copilot and Microsoft search for optimal results.

Join us for Part 1 of this 2-part series, where we discuss empowering users to navigate digital spaces effectively through Copilot and search techniques.

Friday 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM · Room 207B

Essential Microsoft 365 security features crash course

Security is top of mind for any business moving to the cloud and even more so for those who had to move out of necessity without a clear action plan. Knowing where to start and what is available can be half the battle.

This session will cover some of the top concepts when it comes to securing and monitoring your Microsoft 365 environment, the best tools to start with, and which admin center you can find them in.

Including but not limited to a look at the Microsoft Purview compliance portal and Microsoft 365 Defender admin center and the osmosis process that has happened since parting ways from what was formally known as the Security and Compliance center.

The best part is that some of these are available in your subscription now at no extra charge!

Friday 10:20 AM - 11:30 AM · Room 204C

Customize SPO Columns and List Forms with JSON

JSON is not so scary. There is a ton of content out on the web to help you. In this session, we learn how to customize existing JSON code to fit our needs. During this session, you will learn how to:

1. Create a button to kick-off an instant flow.
2. Create a pop-out on hover.
3. Customize the list form header.
4. Break the list form into sections.
5. Customize the list form footer.

Friday 10:20 AM - 11:30 AM · Room 207A

Understanding Copilot (Part 2): Optimize Your Organization's Content for Copilot

Content is the lifeblood of every organization. It is how teams collaborate and create value for the organization. However, managing content effectively can be challenging, especially with the increasing volume and variety of content types. How can you organize, secure, and process your content to maximize its value and prepare it for Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365?

In this session, we will discuss best practices for organizing your content and sites in Microsoft 365, perform a security and governance audit to ensure information is not leaked through new AI tools, and do a walkthrough on integrating Copilot into your daily workflow.

Join us for Part 2 of this 2-part series, where we discuss empowering users to navigate digital spaces effectively through Copilot and search techniques.

Friday 10:20 AM - 11:30 AM · Room 209c

Roundtable Discussion - Tech Skill Management and Keeping up with Product Change

Join us for an engaging and informal gathering where participants delve into topics that matter to them. Round Table Discussions is a space for sharing ideas, perspectives, and experiences with other attendees. Pull up a chair, and let’s exchange insights!

Friday 12:30 PM - 1:40 PM · Room 202A

Buttons in Microsoft Lists - Logic for Non-devs

In Microsoft Lists, formatting can be done easily, and buttons can be created using a little JSON code. Wouldn't it be nice for end users to be able to click a button on an item in a list, to set a value or run a flow, without even having to open the item or file?

In this session, you will learn how to create simple buttons to click to run a workflow. No menus, no panels, super simple for end users!

Laura Rogers will teach you the logic used in order to assign the action that the button takes, how to set up the button's visual appearance, and its text, and how to create conditional formatting.