How Users and Partners Can Optimize Their Summit NA Experience

Ryan Gonzales, Senior Director, Sales and Business Development, Dynamic Communities, hosts Edward Harof, President, DigitalCloudSolutions.ai, for a discussion on how users and partners can prepare and plan for attending Community Summit North America.

Agents & Copilots are defining the future of Dynamics, CRM, Power Platform, Azure, Fabric, and more. Register for Community Summit NA 2025, running October 19-23 in Orlando, FL, to explore and discover what this means to you.

Key Takeaways

• Community involvement: Community Summit North America and the Dynamic Communities organization are great spaces to meet and connect with other Microsoft users, Harof encourages. He approaches the event aiming to “maximize every minute” of the conference. With years of experience in ERP, Edward has benefited from the opportunities to help customers and work with Microsoft.
• ROI: Edward looks at Summit NA involvement in three parts — pre, during, and post. “The main thing on the ROI is, yeah, your company has invested a lot of money for you to go to this conference…You’re on the clock from the time you get to the airport to the time you get home,” he explains. Over the years, from attending and observing others, he has put his formula into action to get the most ROI from the event.
• Game plan: Harof identifies specific ways for attendees and partners to prepare for Summit NA:
  • Know why you’re going there. Filter the exhibitors you want to connect with. Prioritize the sessions you want to attend and lay out your schedule ahead of time.
  • Determine where you will meet those exhibitors. Figure out where each booth is, where the sessions are, and even options for meeting places.
  • Prepare to talk to everyone. Conversations can spark up anywhere, whether it’s inside or outside of the convention center. You can take advantage of Copilot and other AI tools to have questions in hand before attending to make the most of your conversations.
  • Be present. It’s important to take advantage of the opportunities around you to connect with the community. “The only time you should be staring at your phone is either sending a follow-up email right then and there or recording your conversations.”
• Applying AI: There are a few ways that exhibitors and attendees can take advantage of AI tools and automation aspects at the event. You can record a technical conversation, then apply AI to summarize key points from that. AI can filter through session options to optimize your time or find people to connect with who are frequently posting from the conference. Exhibitors can use it to create interest at their booths.
• Follow-up: After Summit NA concludes, exhibitors should follow up with attendees to truly get the most ROI out of their involvement. Throughout the event, everyone will be scanning badges to walk away with new contacts. Participating in the mixer events and Summit experiences to simply have fun provides time for even more connections. Follow up with those you connect with after the event, such as through reaching out on LinkedIn, to solidify those relationships and continue having real conversations after Summit NA is over.