After 15 years, an era ends for me – I am no longer a SharePoint/Office 365/Microsoft 365 MVP. Yes, even that product name evolved three times during my tenure!. But before anyone thinks I’m abandoning ship, let me set the record straight: I’m not going anywhere. The Microsoft 365 community isn’t just a professional network for me; it’s home, built on genuine friendships, speaking engagements at the events, and of course, organizing the European Collaboration Summit. As long as I can manage it, this largest Microsoft 365 event in the world will remain my pet project.
The Natural Evolution
The shift in my MVP status simply reflects reality. My daily work with run.events has evolved beyond Microsoft 365 as a primary focus. Yes, we still use it – I’m our internal admin, keeping everything running smoothly. But that’s operational, not innovation. What occupies my days now is ensuring run.events thrives on the Microsoft Azure platform and driving forward our Event Intelligence Cloud, our AI product that’s reshaping how we think about event technology.
This evolution naturally influenced my community activities. My recent speaking sessions? All Azure or AI on Microsoft’s platform. Want to get me excited? Talk to me about Azure AI Foundry and Semantic Kernel. Mention Ollama. Talk to me about my new-found love for Mistral. Bring up Agents. This is my technology landscape now – day in, day out.
New Recognition, Same Passion
Microsoft recognized this shift, renewing my MVP status in categories that actually match my current work:
- Microsoft Azure
- AI Platform
It makes perfect sense. It’s honest and fair – reflecting what I actually do and contribute to the community nowadays.
One of 200: Being a Microsoft Regional Director
Equally important: I’ve been renewed for another year as a Microsoft Regional Director. This prestigious recognition – limited to fewer than 200 professionals worldwide – focuses less on specific technologies and more on broad technological expertise and business leadership. It’s not a small thing, and I’m grateful for Microsoft’s continued confidence.
What Hasn’t Changed
While my personal technical focus has shifted, my commitment to the community remains unchanged. The ECS will continue to be a cornerstone event. I’ll still be speaking at CollabDays and other events, just with different topics. The friendships forged over 15 years of SharePoint development don’t disappear because I’m now architecting solutions on Azure.
So let’s meet at upcoming events. Let’s talk about technology – whether that’s Azure architecture patterns, AI implementations, or yes, good ol’ SharePoint when the topic arises. Let’s discuss business challenges and innovative solutions. Most importantly, let’s have fun doing it. After all the challenges of recent years, we’ve all earned some good times with great people. This community – our community – continues to be the highlight of this incredible journey.
