Global Integration Bootcamp 2018

This post was originally published here

Last Saturday was the second edition of the Global Integration Bootcamp, and we can certainly say it was another big hit! In total we had 15 locations in 12 countries running the Bootcamp, and about 600 participants including the speakers.

This is an amazing achievement, and I would like to thank all the local organizers, and of course my fellow global organizers.

We started preparations for the bootcamp shortly after finishing last year’s, taking the lessons learned to make this year’s edition even better. This meant a lot of Skype calls, even more communication on Slack and WhatsApp, and coming together whenever we could meet, like during Integrate and the MVP Summit.

One of the lessons we learned from last year, was to set up the labs differently. Where we had a continuous series of labs last year, where the output of one lab was the input for the next, we found this was not optimal. Some people indicated they got stuck on one of the labs, which meant they could not continue with the other labs as well. That’s why we decided to create stand-alone labs this year, so people could decide for themselves which labs they wanted to do, and could continue on another lab if they got stuck. Creating labs is a lot of work, which means we can only create a limited amount of labs, which is why we also decided to link to labs and tutorials already created by MS and the community, making sure everyone could find something they like. We also decided to put all the labs up on GitHub, where they will remain, so anyone can use them and adjust them. This helped a lot with reviews of the labs as well, as the reviewers could now easily fix any mistakes they found.

While we were creating the labs, we also started getting the word out there, first for onboarding new locations and after that for promoting the locations as well. During this time we coordinating with locations, helping out where we could, and making sure everyone knew what was expected from them. It’s always great to see how active this community is, and how people are always willing to help each other, whether it be by sharing content, bringing speakers and locations in contact with each other, or gathering ideas around sponsoring and locations.

And then it was March 24th, the day of the Global Integration Bootcamp! Once again it started in Auckland, and went around the world until it finished in Chicago.

It was great how to see Twitter full of pictures, showing all these locations where people are learning all about integration and Azure, and people having fun following the sessions and working on the labs.

If you want to have a full immersion of the day, check this Twitter Moments set up by Wagner Silveira, or these blogposts by Gijs in ‘t Veld and Bill Chesnut. Also remember, if you attended the Global Integration Bootcamp, there are several offers available from our sponsors!

https://www.servicebus360.com/global-integration-bootcamp-offer/

https://www.biztalk360.com/global-integration-bootcamp-offer/

https://www.atomicscope.com/global-integration-bootcamp-offer/

Thanks to everyone who filled out the survey, we also have some clear insights in what people liked, and how we can improve. In general, people are very happy with the Global Integration Bootcamp, so that is amazing!

Looking at what people told us they liked best, I’m glad to see people seem to be really happy about the content, the speakers and the labs, as well as the possibilities Azure is giving us.

We already decided we will keep this going, so expect another Global Integration Bootcamp next year! It will be on a Saturday again, as we see this still is the favorite day for most people. Thanks again to everyone who helped us make this possible once again, whether you were an organizer, a speaker or an attendee, we can’t do this without all of you!