The CollabTalk Podcast

Episode 95 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Benjamin Niaulin (@bniaulin), a fellow Office Apps & Services MVP and Microsoft Regional Director, and Head of Product at ShareGate, a leading ISV (independent software vendor) for SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams. Ben was previously the Product Evangelist and public face for ShareGate, and is a frequent speaker at events around the world. Recorded in June 2020. In this episode, Ben and I chat about the ShareGate headquarters in a beautifully-renovated factory in Montreal, and how much the Microsoft ecosystem has evolved and changed for ISVs (independent software vendors) and other partners since the software world has moved to SaaS (software-as-a-service), forcing companies like ShareGate to move faster and think more strategically about customers, competitors, and even new models for monetization. You can watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/RaRx_laX1I0

Episode 94 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Beatriz Oliveira (@beatrizoliveira), an Office Development MVP and fellow Microsoft Regional Director, and the founder and CEO of BindTuning, a leading ISV (independent software vendor) for SharePoint and Microsoft Teams. Beatriz is a serial entrepreneur who co-founded a successful development company (CentralBiz), she currently serves as the President of IAMCP Portugal, and is actively involved in STEM education for youth and an ardent supporter of diversity in technology. Recorded in June 2020. In this episode, Beatriz and I discuss the difficulties in expanding a product company (ISV), her experiences in developing solutions for Microsoft Teams and working with the Power Platform, and how membership in the IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners at iamcp.org) can help tremendously in making connections with partners around the world, helping partners to instantly extend their reach. Beatriz also shares her background in the community, including her passion for diversity and inclusion -- especially about supporting people with disabilities. You can watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/hi0G2qSMgu0

Episode 93 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Dux Raymond Sy (@MeetDux), Chief Marketing Officer for AvePoint, PMP, and also both an Office Apps & Services MVP as well as Microsoft Regional Director, based out of Northern Virginia. Recorded in June 2020. In this episode, Dux and I discuss his background as an engineer that found his way into project management, where he wrote a book and for a long time represented the PM perspective within the SharePoint community. We talk about the evolution of project and task management technology in the modern workplace, before diving into another shared passion: governance. Dux shares the 3 pillars of governance that he discusses with customers, including provisioning, ongoing management (enforcing policies), and information lifecycles (expiration of content, archiving, etc.) You can also watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/JnMvflfNDiI

Episode 92 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Office Apps & Services MVP Ric Bretschneider (@ricbret), a technologist and consultant who spent 17 years on the PowerPoint product team at Microsoft before becoming a PowerPoint MVP himself. Recorded in June 2020. In this episode, Ric and I discuss the history of PowerPoint and some of his favorite new features, including some of the AI and cloud-driven capabilities. He also shares some of his community experiences, including his participation in Pecha Kucha and the Presentation Guild. You can watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/gmzIM7KDHnA

Conversation between Microsoft MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet) and social collaboration expert Noah Sparks (@noahsparks) and Microsoft Sr. Product Manager, Mark Kashman (@mkashman) as part of the Loop365 vlog series. In this discussion, we cover the new Microsoft Lists app, and exclusive to this podcast, delve into some of the go-to-market activities for the Lists app beyond what was shared in the vlog episode. You can watch this entire interview on the CollabTalk YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/sarvOi1wnqI

Episode 7 of this Microsoft employee-focused interview series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Jussie Roine (@JussieRoine), a former Microsoft MVP and Regional Director, now Azure Developer Audience Lead at Microsoft in Helsinki, Finland. Recorded in May 2020. In this episode, Jussi and I discuss his new role at Microsoft, and how much the company has changed since the last time he worked there (2006-2009). We also talk about the differences between regional roles, field and evangelism roles at Microsoft, and the impact of MVPs within the community. You can watch the entire interview on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/NQzbtKW2PYw

Episode 91 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Business Applications MVP Julie Yack (@coloradojules), a trainer, author, community advocate, and COO for Colorado Technology Consultants based in the Colorado Springs, CO area. In this episode, Julie and I discuss some of the evolution of the Dynamics and Business Apps community, and her unconventional path into the tech world. You can also watch this episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/bfBeLkjHkrA

Takeaways from the April 2020 #CollabTalk TweetJam on the topic of "Best Practices for Organizing Community Events." Conversation between Microsoft MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet) and Mark Jones (@markqjones), founder of UK-based Collaboris, the Collab365.community, and quarterly GlobalCon events for the Microsoft community. In this discussion, we focus on the 7 questions covered by the tweetjam. You can watch this entire interview on the CollabTalk YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/_ZCXS2BmbNk

Episode 90 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and first-time Artificial Intelligence MVP Veronika Kolesnikova (@breakpointv16), a Developer at Rightpoint in the Boston, MA area. In this episode, Veronika and I talk about her interests in AI, machine-learning, and cognitive services. She shares that while much of this latest technology does not yet apply to her current consulting work, it is quickly coming to the forefront within the enterprise, and will soon become a necessary component of internal IT efforts. You can watch this entire interview on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/KaWI1_bCXKg

Episode 89 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and 12-time Business Applications MVP Joel Lindstrom (@JoelLindstrom), a Principal Architect for Power Platform at Hitachi Solutions, Microsoft Certified Trainer, and podcaster based in Greer, South Carolina. Joel is the creator and editor of CRM Audio, the leading Dynamics CRM podcast (crm.audio), is an editor and frequent contributor to the Hitachi Solutions blog at http://us.hitachi-solutions.com/blog/ and is the co-creator of the CRM Tip of the Day blog which you can find at www.crmtipoftheday.com. Recorded in April 2020. In this episode, Joel and I talk about the beginnings of the Dynamics CRM platform, and its role in the Business Applications and Power Platform ecosystem. As a 12-time MVP, Joel has been there from the beginning, and is one of the leading community voices on CRM as well as the Common Data Service, which is Microsoft's premier data repository for the Power Platform. We talk about the evolution of the Dynamics space, growth of the Business Applications category, and some of our observations from the MVP community. You can watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/ynwsyJ_S1qE