GPUG Summit 2013 Tampa Wrap Up

I just got back from GPUG Summit 2013 in Tampa and I have to say it was a very exciting week. With a 4-hour training and 3 sessions over 3 days, reality is time is always of the essence at a conference like this one. If you went to any of my sessions, please fill out the survey as this is how I get invited to these events - seriously!


ITP02: Fun with Microsoft Dynamics GP Administration Tools
Wednesday October 23, 2013 2:00pm - 3:00pm
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

STR04: Web Client Deployment for IT Directors
Thursday October 24, 2013 1:15pm - 2:15pm
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

ITP07: Administering SQL for Microsoft Dynamics GP Administrators
Friday October 25, 2013 9:45am - 10:45am
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

Nonetheless, I got a chance to attend a few sessions where I picked up a few nuggets (blog material for this week) and learned some more about topics I don't usually get involved with and, boy, it was all worth it! Some of the sessions I attended are as follow:

BIR03: Unlock the Magic of Excel Refreshable Reports
Presenter: MVP Mark Polino
Wednesday October 23, 2013 10:00am - 11:00am
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

PSH05R: Making Microsoft Dynamics GP work Simpler and Easier
Presenter: Mark Rockwell @ Rockton Software.
Thursday October 24, 2013 9:30am - 10:30am
Not CPE Eligible
Complete survey

BDA06: Going Deep with SmartList Builder
Presenter: Nicole Alberson @ eOne Business Solutions.
Thursday October 24, 2013 4:00pm - 5:30pm
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

STR08: Business Portal is Alive and Kicking
Presenter: Tanya Henderson @ S2 Technologies.
Friday October 25, 2013 11:00am - 12:00pm
CPE Eligible
Complete survey

Thanks to Summit sponsors FastPath and Data Masons for hosting the Thursday morning MVP breakfast, attended by MVPs from all ERP and CRM products and a few GPUG All-Star guests - from left to right and front to back, John Lowther (GP), Belinda Allen (GP), Leslie Vail (GP), Mariano Gomez (GP), Zubin Gidwani (GP All-Star), Jon Rivers (Data Mason), Howard Swerdloff (GP All-Star), Gretchen Opferkew (CRM), Claus Lundstrøm (NAV), Per Mogensen (NAV), Mark Polino (GP), Brandon George (AX)

Congratulations to the GPUG Summit 2013 All-Stars, Beat Bucher (@GP_Beat) with Forensic Technologies in Canada, Terry Heley with Microsoft, and Michelle Kocher with Delta Medical Systems.

Michelle, Terry, and Beat joined the "Ask the All-Star" session featuring (from left to right) Zubin Gidwani, Richard Whaley, MVP John Lowther, Bob McAdam, and MVP Mark Polino.

It was also good to catch up with my friends at eOne Business Solutions, Abbey Cooper, Nicole Albertson, and Chris Dew - Martin Olsen behind the camera.

My thoughts in general are:

• Mark Polino is an Excel diva - enough said!
• 1 hour sessions are too short. Most presenters I spoke to had a lot more material they would have wanted to present, but time did not allow them to go deeper into the topics.
• Summit is definitely an event all end-users must attend at least every couple years.
• Drop the word "optional" from the pre-conference training sessions. When you make something "optional", people just don't show up. It was not uncommon to find classrooms with just 2 students and the instructor.
• Can't beat the Tampa weather. Should plan to have more summits in this beautiful city.
• More deep dives please! It should be all about the details for the end-user.
• From a presenter's perspective, VPC images were messed up and some were not even ready. Not cool!

Until next post!

MG.-
Mariano Gomez, MVP
IntellPartners, LLC
http://www.IntellPartners.com/