It’s time to dust off your boots and head to Nashville for the largest Dynamics user community event of the year, Summit North America! A cumulative show for the members of GPUG, NAVUG, AXUG, and recently added D365UG, to learn and collaborate on the latest in Microsoft business productivity technology and ERP.
So what is the best way to prep yourself for the most productive, and most fun, tradeshow experience? Get your calendar in order with priorities before you take off. Parties first, then sessions.
Or is the other way around?
To give you a jumpstart, we’ve done some legwork for you. Here is a guide to some of the most valuable sessions, biggest parties, finest giveaways, key links, and BEST social feeds to help you plan your most successful event yet (or at least be there in virtual spirit).
Attend Valuable Sessions
Business intelligence, Power BI, reporting, data, and analytics are slated to be some of the hottest topics at Summit, and for good reason! Not only is “getting data out” among the top priorities of senior executives, Microsoft is releasing integrated and included solutions with Dynamics NAV, GP, and AX at rapid pace; like Power BI and Jet Express for Excel.
We are pretty clued in on these, so we have half a dozen data experts headed southeast to deliver valuable content in each of these categories. Mark your calendars now! These sessions have been known to fill up quickly:
NAVUG Summit
- Jet Is the Answer | Thursday, October 12 | 9:15 am – 10:15 am | Room Ryman Studio DE | Speaker: Anthony Bonaduce
- Insight for Everyone: Bring Your Data to Life with Power BI | Thursday, October 12 | 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm| Room Ryman Studio HI | Speaker: Ron Summers
- Jet Express for Excel – Under the Hood | Friday, October 13 | 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm| Room Ryman Studio DE| Speaker: Jon Phipps and Holly Kutil
GPUG Summit
- Installation & Setup of Jet | Wednesday, October 11 | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm | Room Canal A | Speaker: Mike Hoffman and Anne Provost
- Using Jet Express for Financial Statements | Wednesday, October 11 | 1:45 pm – 2:45 pm | Room Bayou E | Speaker: Mike Hoffman
AXUG Summit
- Making PBI Work with AX 2012 | Wednesday, October 11 | 9:15 am – 10:15 am| Tennessee Ballroom D | Speaker: Peter Jennings and Paul Davis
Do you know about the Pre-conference NAVUG Academy? It takes place the first two days before official show kickoff, and delivers major deep-dive training on various topics and functionality. Our resident Jet expert, Mark Prozaki, will be on-site providing exclusive training:
- Jet Reports Product Suite Training | Monday, October 9 | 8 am – 5 pm
- Excel Basic Training | Tuesday, October 10 | 8 am – 12 pm
- Excel Intermediate Training | Tuesday, October 10 | 1 pm – 5 pm
Of course, there are hundreds of other great sessions on other trending topics, including Dynamics 365 and Tenerife, leadership, finance, and more. Depending on which conference track you are attending, save your corresponding link below to get a list of all sessions, broken down by topic, time, presentation type, or date:
Join the Biggest Parties
Parties are the cornerstone of any big event, and Summit is no exception. Aside from the obvious venue advantage of being in Nashville, everyone needs to grab a drink and let loose after long conference days. The key to avoiding the early evening wander to find out where it’s “happening”? Knowing where to go ahead of time:
- Funky Tonk Party @Acme Feed & Seed | Wednesday, October 11 | 9 pm – 1 am
We have your ticket to this one! Join us for the hottest party in Nashville, with amazing rooftop views overlooking downtown and two stories of bars and incredible music. Join Jet Reports with PowerGP Online, Rockton, NODUS, Greenshades, and Integrity Data- register here!
- Expo Hall Welcome Reception @Exhibit Hall C | Tuesday, October 10 | 5:00 – 8:00 pm
- The FastPath Summit Party @Tequila Cowboy| Thursday, October 12 |8:30 pm – 12 am
- Nash Bash @The Stage on Broadway| Wednesday, October 11 |8:00 pm – 12 am
- Nashville VIP Roundup @Jack Daniel’s Bar| Tuesday, October 10|8:30 pm
Find the Best Giveaways
The cold, hard truth is that the best giveaways are at booth 543. Not only can you explore ways to streamline your reporting and get better business intelligence with the leading provider of analytics solutions to over 154,000 Dynamics users, but you’ll walk away with what everyone is trying to get their hands on: fidget spinners.
YES, fidget spinners!
(Hopefully your kid isn’t reading this blog right now or you’ll be busted if you don’t bring one home).
If that’s not enough, stop by our booth for:
- Cell phone charging stations
- Live demos
- Other fun tchotchkes
- Free smiles
Shameless plug aside, the entire tradeshow floor will be riddled with creative, fun, and entertaining trinkets. Keep your eyes peeled, some exhibitors even hold booth drawings for large ticket items like vacations, tablets, and big dollar gift cards. But mark our words, everyone will be talking about fidget spinners.
Social Feeds for Announcements and News
Pages & People on Twitter
- @navug
- @axug
- @gpug
- @erpsoftwareblog
- @CRMSoftwareBlog
- @EPSWPodcast
- @jon_rivers
- @trainingdynamo
- @BelindaTheGPcsi
Hashtags to follow on Twitter
- #Summit2017
- #UGSummit
- #GPUGSummit
- #NAVUGSummit
- #AXUGSummit
- #MSDyn365
- #MSDynNAV
- #MSDynAX
- #MSDynGP
LinkedIn Dynamics Groups
- Dynamic Communities, Inc.
- NAVUG – Official Microsoft Dynamics® User Group
- GPUG – Official Microsoft Dynamics® GP User Group
- AXUG® – Official Microsoft Dynamics® AX User Group
LinkedIn Dynamics Influencers
If you haven’t registered for the go-to conference that brings industry experts, software development vendors, and everyday users together yet- we invite you to join us! Register today!
Hope to see you in Music City!