Earlier this month, Atlanta hosted its latest SharePoint Saturday at the Georgia State University Student Center. There were a number of target audiences, so it worked out that our entire SharePoint team was able to attend. Overall, the conference was a success and proved to be fun and informative; however, that is not to say there were not a few hiccups. First, the map of the building showing the locations of the rooms, which were spread across two floors, was incorrect. Secondly, there were a few sessions in some of the smaller rooms with standing room only. These were minor inconveniences as the organizers and volunteers raced around the building delivering new maps and you just had to plan to be early to the sessions in the smaller rooms.
At seven rooms and five sessions per room, there was a wealth of knowledge to be had. My favorite session was Reza Alirezaei’s talk on SQL Server 2012’s Business Intelligence integration with SharePoint. If you plan on hosting your Business Intelligence information in SharePoint, this is something you will want to investigate, as there have been some major improvements to the integration of the two products. Other standout sessions included Doug Ware’s Writing Effective Javascript session, Laura Rogers’ InfoPath People Picker session, and Christina Wheeler’s Content Query Web Part session (which was unfortunately held at a different time than the schedule stated, and a few of us missed it).
Historically, the SharePoint Saturday events have been a great value (how can you argue with free), and this one was no different. We are grateful to the event organizers for dedicating their time to make this happen.
Last and not least was SharePint, the networking mixer after the event. If you are an avid reader of SharePoint blogs, then you will probably have heard about this tradition. SharePint was held at the Hyatt where everyone enjoyed their favorite beverages and relaxed after a packed day. Last but not least, there was even talk of Charlotte hosting a SharePoint Saturday later this year. Keep an eye out and we’ll look forward to seeing you there.