Derek Cash-Peterson
Principal Architect - Sympraxis Consulting
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Derek is passionate about building intuitive and useful applications, focusing on the design and user experience as well as the development.
He has over 20 years of industry experience building customized intranets, extranets, and public facing websites based on the Microsoft stack. He specializes in front-end development and visual design/branding of SharePoint, Teams, and Microsoft 365. He brings a design eye to a developers world along with skills in information architecture, content architecture, and collaboration strategy skills.
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Creating a Copilot Training Center using Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways
Copilot has the potential to be a powerful tool to help users be more productive but not without training. In this session we will learning how to use Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways to create a Copilot training center to help your users learn how to use Copilot effectively. We will show how to install Learning Pathways and surface that content in Microsoft Teams. We will look at the content provided by Microsoft and learn how to augment that content with community-based content as well as your own custom Copilot prompt suggestions specific for your organization.
Exploring the Art of the Possible with Connections Adaptive Card Extensions
Adaptive Card Extensions (ACEs) are components that allow developers to create engaging experiences that display in Viva Connections, Teams Desktop application, Teams mobile client, and in SharePoint pages. They are an excellent way for developers to create reusable and engaging user experiences in many different scenarios. In this session, we will explore the different types of Adaptive Card Extensions, see what they can do, and examples of how you can use them in your organization.
We will explore the basics of Adaptive Card Extensions, learn about the different ways to create cards from no code, low code, and using the SharePoint Framework (SPFx). We will look at examples of each type of card with a focus on SharePoint Framework data driven cards to leave you with an understanding of what is possible. We will show demos of text-based cards, image-based cards, charts cards, cards with dynamic data, geo-location, and mobile device interaction. We will show different ways of creating the visual layouts including using JSON and React components. We will also discuss best practices for designing and implementing ACEs, ensuring they are both visually appealing and highly functional. By the end of this session, you will have a solid understanding of the basics of Adaptive Card Extensions and the different types of cards available to you.
Code Once Use Everywhere - Using SPFx to create applications that work in Teams and SharePoint
Users are spending more and more time using Teams. It makes sense to try and reduce the friction of context switching by bringing our custom applications directly into Teams where they are working. We are able to harness the collaborative nature of Teams and SharePoint in one application and render it in many different contexts.
In this introductory developer session we will look at how to create and deploy a SharePoint Framework WebPart and have it be usable in Teams. We will use one code base to make the web part Teams aware in both a Teams Tab and a Personal App. We will look at how to use that app to read and write data into SharePoint using PnPjs.
Users will leave with an understanding of how to leverage SPFx to create applications they can use in Teams and resources on how to explore this further.
Building Engaging Employee Experiences for Viva Connections using SPFx
In this introductory developer session, we will explore ways to develop engaging employee experiences using the extensibility model for Viva Connections. We will learn how to create Adaptive Card Extensions using SPFx. We will talk about some real world use cases and how to get started.
We will explore the technical components of creating your first Adaptive Card Extensions. We will look at more advanced concepts such as geolocation, data binding, as well as layout out options for your cards using the Adaptive Card Framework. You will walk away with a better understanding of how to get started extending Viva Connections and how to avoid some common pitfalls.
Getting Started with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx)
Are you a developer looking to customize SharePoint and Teams but not sure where to begin? Or maybe you’ve worked with the SharePoint Framework (SPFx) before and want to explore what’s new?
Join this introductory session to learn how to get started with SPFx and discover its practical applications. We’ll walk through the latest updates in SPFx and what they mean for developers. You’ll learn how to set up your development environment, create a new project, deploy and debug solutions, and access resources to continue your learning journey.
Unlocking Real-Time Training Insights with Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways
Most organizations using Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways love using the tool to display training information to their users but often ask how do I tell if my content is being used. SharePoint usage analytics tells you a page was visited. It doesn't tell you who completed what training assets and when. That gap is frustrating — and most people don't realize there's already a way to close it.
Learning Pathways has a configurable analytics webhook built right in. It's rarely talked about, and is a very powerful tool. We built this tool to help bridge the gap between SharePoint page analytics and LMS use tracking functionality.
This session walks through creating and configuring the webhook from start to finish. This includes configuring the webhook, capturing the user data, reporting on training metrics after the fact. We'll look at three real integration paths: Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and Power Automate. We will look at working implementations and examine the trade-offs and which makes sense for you to use in your scenario.
What you'll take away
Understand how the Learning Pathways analytics webhook works under the hood, what data it surfaces
Discover how to evaluate Azure Functions, Logic Apps, and Power Automate as integration options — and learn which scenarios push you toward each one
Learn how to structure your data storage and reporting so the insights you capture are actually usable, not just collected
Creating a Custom Micro-Learning Portal with Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways
Out of the box, Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways provides organizations with learning content from Microsoft for products and scenarios to support training, adoption, and micro-learning. But did you know it is also a customizable environment capable of enabling organizations to tailor the content to their own needs and add additional training content developed by your organization?
In this session, we will show all the ways you can use and implement Learning Pathways. You will leave with an understanding of the different scenarios and best practices for how to structure and deliver that content in your Microsoft 365 environment.
What we'll cover:
• Installation and Administration of Microsoft 365 Learning Pathways
• Use cases for training content and micro-learning
• Working with your organization’s custom content
• Surfacing Learning Pathways content into SharePoint and Teams
Creating Custom List Forms Using SPFx
In this introductory developer session, we'll cover the functionality SPFx provides for customizing forms in SharePoint lists and libraries — giving developers full control over the user interface and the ability to build custom logic directly into the form experience.
We'll create a form customizer and attach it to a SharePoint list, then look at how to elevate the experience with a custom user interface. Well discuss options for rendering the form either in the native side panel or redirecting users to a separate page and why you might want to make that choice. We'll cover the component manifest and how to attach your forms to specific lists or libraries.
Attendees will leave with an understanding of how to build their first list form customizer — both the classic full-page approach and the newer panel-based experience — along with resources for further exploration. All are welcome; while development experience isn't necessary, we will be looking at code and talking through SPFx and React.
What you'll take away
+ How to scaffold and attach your first SPFx list form customizer
+ How to use a fluent UI system to build a polished, native-feeling form experience
+ How the new panel-based override experience works, and how it differs from the classic full-page form customizer
+ Resources to keep exploring after the session
Your Users Deserve Better Forms — Choosing the Right Form Option in Microsoft 365
The options for customizing forms and data collection has changed dramatically from anything goes in SharePoint classic to nothing in the original modern interface to today where we have many different options. From out-of-the-box list forms with custom JSON formatting, Power Apps, List and Library forms, Microsoft Forms, and SharePoint Framework. On top of all of it, agents can also interact with users to gather information using natural language. With all of these options it can be confusing on what tool to use for what job.
In this session we'll walk through
+ real examples built with each approach
+ compare the pros, cons of each approach and why you would choose one solution over another
+ how agents fit into this landscape and if they help or are just noise
You'll leave with a practical decision framework for choosing the right form option in M365 for your scenario and a set of resources to go deeper on whichever one you pick.
SharePoint Copilot Apps: Extending Microsoft 365 Copilot with SPFx
We have all seen the output from Copilot, mostly text with lots of emojis. But it doesn't have to be that way. SharePoint Copilot Apps enable developers to use SharePoint Framework (SPFx) to create rich, interactive user interfaces inside Copilot, enhancing user engagement and providing a consistent experience. Developers can create new applications specific for Copilot or extend our existing SPFx applications to be rendered in inside Copilot bringing them to our users where they are working.
In this session, we'll scaffold a new Copilot App from scratch, examine how the project is set up, how to work with different display modes and interact with data. We will look at how to test the application using the Copilot Workbench, packaging, and deployment of the solution. We'll also look at how the same underlying components can be reused across Copilot, SharePoint, and Teams from a single codebase.
What you'll take away
- A working understanding of how SharePoint Copilot Apps are built, packaged, and deployed using SPFx
- How declarative agents tie into your SPFx component to make it discoverable inside Copilot
- How to define tools and a properties schema so Copilot can pass parameters into your component
- How to test, package, and deploy your components
50 Microsoft 365 tips in 50 minutes
SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive are three tools that most of us live in every day. In this fast paced session we will go through 50 practical tips in 50 minutes covering all three tools. There's no deep dive here, just breadth and things you can put to use right away. We'll also touch on a couple of features that are being retired or changed, so you're not caught off guard. Whether you're an end user, an admin, or a consultant, you should walk away with a handful of ideas worth trying the next time you're in one of these tools.
ESPC23 - European SharePoint, Office 365 & Azure Conference Sessionize Event
Microsoft 365 EduCon Chicago 2023 Sessionize Event
Microsoft 365 EduCon & PWR EduCon Seattle 2023 Sessionize Event
Microsoft 365 EduCon DC 2023 Sessionize Event
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