Microsoft Convergence New Orleans 2013: Day 4

All good things must come to an end, but no one knows how to wrap up things better than the folks at Microsoft. The day had a few good things in store: the closing Keynote with guest speaker and former United Nations Secretary, Kofi Annan; sessions galore; and a mega concert with Matchbox 20.

As for me, I had to skip all the keynote, but very excited I will be able to catch up with it on Virtual Convergence, so I really don't feel I have missed anything.

Came the afternoon, I was up on stage to present CSGP30 - The Microsoft Dynamics GP Support Debugging Tool, my first ever session on the subject without my buddy, David Musgrave, author of the Support Debugging Tool. The session was attended by 166 strong who got a chance to look at 5 demos ranging from the Support Debugging Tool compatibility with the Web Client, to some of the most misunderstood and underutilized features within the tool, to a glimpse into the new Database Validation tool soon to be released with Build 18.

 

After my session, I went on to interview Brian Graftaas, Program Manager CfMD at Microsoft. I had vowed to interview Brian since Technical Airlift and am very glad I was able to. You can listen to the full interview here:

My final session of the day was CSGP32-R2 - Microsoft Dynamics GP 2013 Web Client For Smaller Companies. We had 62 attendees for this session and I have to say I enjoyed working with Kevin Racer and Daryl Anderson on this. Unfortunately, I could not carry out our R1 session due to illness, but a quick turnaround in my conditioned allowed me to get on the stage for this one.

Kevin Racer and Me presenting CSGP32-R2

After our session, Convergence 2013 sessions had come to an end. My wife and I met up for dinner at Mulate's, a Cajun institution in the heart of New Orleans, before we headed over to the Matchbox Twenty concert.

Dinner at Mulate's with the La Touché Band

Needless to say, we were treated to our own private concert, courtesy of the La Touché Band, and authentic Louisiana Cajun music band that has traveled the world as ambassadors of the Cajun traditions, music, and culture. It was a true joy to sit down and listen to a few tunes, watch entire families and friends dance, and enjoy some really good food.

Now, I said no one knows closing better than Microsoft and effectively this Convergence won't be any different. For "dessert" we were treated to a full hour concert to the beat of Matchbox Twenty at grounds of the Woldenberg Riverfront Park. The setting was great! Microsoft also provided access to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas were some found refuge from the cold winds.

Things won't be cold for too long as Matchbox Twenty took the stage by storm playing some of their coolest songs, among them "She's so Mean", by far my favorite - well, maybe one of my many favorites.



Well, concert ended just around midnight and it was time to get back to the hotel to get some rest since I had an early flight at 7:15 AM  and needed to be up by 4:30 AM to beat the possible traffic and security lines due to all the people heading out of town.

Until next post!

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