Transform the Future at The M365 Community Conference - Jeff Teper

Join us as Jeff Teper and Karuana Gatimu discuss how to transform your future at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference ("M365CC"), highlighting key innovations and offering insights into what attendees can expect at this year's event.

Polaris is a production of Synozur – the transformation company. Synozur reimagines business for our clients, navigating the complexities of transformation and strategy with ease.

References

Any time we speak with Jeff and Karuana, you can expect a fairly extensive reference and reading list.

News and Data

Live events are back.   According to Allied Market Research, after most events disappeared in 2020 and 2021, the events industry is expected to reach $1,552.9 billion by 2028, growing at more than 11% annually.

Learning how to apply AI correctly is crucial. McKinsey is projecting generative AI can add over $4.4 trillion in corporate profits, with significant boosts to productivity form AI and automations Source: McKinsey

Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2025

Visit the official website to learn more and get $150 off registration with the code SAVE150

Microsoft's quick guide to the M365 Conference from Mark Kashman

History of the M365 Conference and SharePoint Conference

It's Microsoft's 50th anniversary, so we're also looking back at key moments in the history of this conference and its predecessor. We're building an oral history from its origins in 2008 as the SharePoint Conference through 2025.     You can share your story and we'll compile the best for future podcasts on Polaris and from Microsoft.

Here are some highlights over the years.

• Bill Gates kicked off the very first SharePoint Conference (SPC) in March 2008 by announcing availability for SharePoint Online and Exchange Online
• Huey Lewis and the news were the entertainment highlights at SPC in October 2009
• SPC 2011 was held at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, and people literally danced to get in.
• It wasn't "SPC" but Microsoft set the stage for a decade of cloud innovation at the "Future of SharePoint" event in San Francisco, May 4, 2016.
• Jeff also reflected on the return of SPC in 2018, and getting s to share the B-52s with everyone.

Microsoft Resources & Updates

• Microsoft Tech Community – home for discussions, resources and blogs across all Microsoft technologies.
• CommunityDays.org – Odds are good there's 'a Microsoft community event happening near you soon – and this site can tell you where and when,
• SharePoint Hackathon Spring 2025 Details on GitHub, and award winners will be recognized in May 2025 at M365CC.
• January 2025 SharePoint Event – the latest updates on AI, agents and page designs for your intranet.
• Most recently, Microsoft released their new Researcher and Analyst agent to develop deep, rich answers to complex questions, as Jeff discussed on the show.

Culture References

Some of the games and TV shows covered include:

• The Pitt on HBO Max features Noah Wyle from ER in his return to medical television. Recommended by Jeff.  
• Hacks is also on HBO Max, and recommended by Karuana.
• Severance on Apple TV has been a brain teaser for many of us this year.   What exactly is "Macro Data Refinement"? And if you want to try moving numbers around on a screen for fun, Sudoku may be as close as you get. Until you try the Lumon MDR web site.

Events

• <a href= "htt