From Hacks to Habits: Connecting Individual AI Wins to Corporate Success

After two years of conducting non-stop AI training workshops for global clients, one truth has emerged: AI doesn't transform organizations because the way people apply it is what truly matters. This session moves past the hype to explore how individual productivity wins act as the catalyst for long-term organizational change. We will bridge the gap between personal hacks and corporate strategy, providing a field-tested roadmap for leaders to support and scale AI adoption effectively.

This session is a deep dive into the common business scenarios and behavioral patterns observed in thousands of hours of real-world training. We will move beyond generic features and dive into a series of scenario-based demos designed to show exactly how to optimize Copilot and Microsoft 365 for high-impact business needs.

We will analyze why some AI initiatives stall at the individual level while others trigger a cultural shift, providing you with a mix of technical optimization strategies and leadership best practices. You will see firsthand how to move from random acts of AI to a structured, measurable approach to company-wide productivity. We will cover the intersection of user habit-building and the governance structures needed to keep the momentum going without creating digital debt.

Key Takeaways

--The Global Pattern Insights: Learn the most frequent business scenarios where AI provides immediate, repeatable value based on two years of field data.

--The Adoption Framework: Master the strategies for moving users from basic productivity hacks to standardized, high-value workflows.

--M365 and Copilot Optimization: Gain practical, demo-led techniques to utilize the Microsoft 365 stack for maximum AI ROI.

--Leading Through Change: Identify the specific support structures leaders must implement to sustain momentum and prevent AI fatigue.

--Measuring Success: Discover how to define and track measurable improvements in productivity that resonate at the executive level.

Your AI Team Is Already Hired -- Using Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents to Delegate the Work You Hate

What if you could hand off your most tedious, repetitive, soul-crushing tasks to a team member who never complains, never misses a deadline, and works around the clock? If you have Microsoft 365 Copilot, that team is already on the payroll and most people have no idea they showed up.

In this interactive and eye-opening session, we will pull back the curtain on Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents and show you how to put them to work doing the tasks that drain your energy and clog your calendar. We will walk through how to create, configure, and deploy agents that handle everything from answering common questions to processing requests and keeping your team informed, all without writing a single line of code.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand what Copilot Agents are and how they differ from standard Copilot prompts
- Identify the right tasks and workflows to hand off to an agent so you can focus on the work that actually needs you
- Build and configure a Copilot Agent using Copilot Studio without any coding experience required
- Deploy agents inside Microsoft Teams so your colleagues can interact with them right where the work happens
- Apply real-world use cases that you can take back to your organization and implement the very next day

Your AI team has already punched in, the question is whether you are going to put them to work. Join this session and leave with the confidence, the know-how, and a plan to delegate smarter starting today.

Welcome Home: Building Your SharePoint Site from the Ground Up

What if building a SharePoint site felt as natural as moving into a new home? In this hands-on, interactive workshop, we’ll use the “building a house” analogy to guide you through creating a SharePoint site from scratch. By the end, you’ll have built your own SharePoint “dream house” and the skills to repeat the process back at the office.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Create a new SharePoint site and structure it like the to make a great first impression.
- Use Lists and Libraries to unpack and organize content from “moving boxes.”
- Design Pages each with a specific purpose and layout.
- Add Web Parts as furniture and fixtures to make each page useful and engaging.
- Configure Security to decide who “lives in the house” and who just visits.

Ready to build something that lasts? Join this session to discover a fresh, hands-on approach to creating a SharePoint site from the ground up—and leave with a design that feels both functional and uniquely yours.

Unlock Your Potential: Empower Yourself with Copilot in Teams

Ready to supercharge your workday? Join MVP Shari Oswald for an energizing 60-minute session where you'll unlock the magic of Microsoft Copilot within Microsoft Teams! From simplifying workflows to making smarter decisions in record time, this session is your golden ticket to becoming a productivity powerhouse. Whether you're new to Copilot or just looking to sharpen your skills, this session will leave you inspired and ready to tackle anything your day throws at you.

What You’ll Learn:

- Master the Basics: Discover what Microsoft Copilot is and how it integrates seamlessly into Teams to simplify your tasks.
- Stay Organized Like a Pro: Learn how Copilot can help you manage meetings, chat, and file collaboration like never before.
- Accelerate Decision-Making: Explore how Copilot provides actionable insights and summaries from your conversations and data.
- Automate Tedious Tasks: Find out how to save time by delegating repetitive processes to Copilot’s smart AI.
- Customize Your Workflow: Get tips on tailoring Copilot’s features to fit your unique work style and team needs.

This isn’t just another Teams tutorial! Shari’s fun and relatable teaching style will keep you engaged while showing you practical ways to reclaim your time, focus on what matters most, and wow your colleagues with your newfound efficiency.

The Engagement Blueprint: Designing Content Systems that Work While You Don’t

Most content strategies fail because they are built on fluff rather than substance. Organizations often struggle to move beyond basic information sharing, resulting in content that lacks authenticity, fails to align with sales and marketing goals, and ultimately fails to build meaningful engagement. This workshop is about closing that gap by teaching you how to design, optimize, and execute a content strategy that has real meat on the bone.

During this full day workshop, we move through a three stage transformation: Discovery, Framework, and Implementation. We begin with a Strategic Discovery to clarify your purpose, audience, and core positioning. Next, we apply a Programmatic Content Strategy, a repeatable framework that aligns your messaging with broader organizational goals. Finally, we build the Machine. While we focus on internal implementations using familiar Microsoft tools like SharePoint, Teams, Viva Engage, and Viva Amplify, the core principles are platform agnostic and can be applied effectively to your external marketing and communication strategies.

The Value of Attending

Attendees walk away with more than just notes; they leave with a functional blueprint for a self sustaining content engine. By the end of the day, you will have the tools to stop acting as a manual content distributor and start acting as a strategic architect. You will gain the ability to scale your impact and ensure your message reaches the right people at the right time without increasing your daily workload.

Key Takeaways

--The Clarity Map: Define your North Star goals, core messaging, and targeted outputs to eliminate content aimlessness.

--The Programmatic Framework: Build a content outline that bridges the gap between internal culture and external business objectives.

--M365 Technical Mastery: Deep dive into automating the heavy lifting of distribution using the latest features in Viva Amplify and Engage.

--The Multi Channel Engine: Learn to sync SharePoint and Teams workflows with external tools to create a seamless, once and done publishing experience.

--Systemic Measurement: Move beyond vanity metrics to track how your automated systems are actually driving alignment and action.

The “Teams Ate My File” Myth: The Truth About Teams Files (and How to Never Lose One Again)

Have you ever uploaded a file in Teams and later wondered, “Why can’t I find it, and why is sharing suddenly weird?” Teams makes collaboration feel effortless, but the file experience can quietly create duplicates, broken links, and accidental oversharing. In this session, you’ll learn what’s actually happening behind the scenes with Teams files, where your content truly lives, and how to build simple habits that prevent chaos. You’ll walk away with a practical decision-making approach you can use immediately, whether you’re collaborating in channels, sharing in chats, or trying to locate the “official” version. If you want to stop hunting for files and start trusting your collaboration spaces again, this session is your reset button.

What you will learn:
- Understand where files live when you upload in a Team, share in chat, or collaborate in a channel.
- Learn how sharing links behave, including what permissions travel with the file and why access changes.
- Discover a simple “where should this file go?” decision tree to prevent duplicates and confusion.
- Learn how to find the right version fast using built-in navigation, views, and search habits.
- Identify the most common file mistakes in Teams and the quick fixes that prevent repeat problems.

Come to this session if you’re ready to stop treating file storage like a scavenger hunt and start collaborating with confidence, clarity, and control.

Talk to Your Intranet: Building SharePoint Sites with Plain Language

Ever stared at a blank SharePoint site and wondered where on earth to begin, or put off building that team site because it felt like a project only IT could pull off? You are not alone. For years, creating clean, organized, good-looking SharePoint sites, pages, and lists has meant wrestling with web parts, hunting for the right settings, and hoping it all comes together before your coffee gets cold. But what if you could simply describe what you want in plain English and watch SharePoint build it for you?
In this session you will discover how to:

Plan and create SharePoint sites, pages, libraries, and lists just by describing what you need in everyday language
Shape and organize your content so information is easy to find and your site actually looks the part, with no web part wizardry required
Use practical prompts and real examples you can take home and reuse for your own team sites and projects
Steer the AI, review what it builds, and tidy up the results so the final product is polished and on brand
Recognize the limits and gotchas so you set the right expectations and get great results from day one

By the end of our time together, that blank-site dread will be a thing of the past, and you will know how to turn a simple description into a working, professional SharePoint site in a fraction of the usual time. Here is the best part: this is a roll-up-your-sleeves, demo-heavy session, not a parade of slides, so you will see everything built live and walk away with ideas you can put to work right away. Come hang out with me, bring your trickiest site-building headaches, and let's have some fun teaching SharePoint to do the heavy lifting for you. Your future self, and your whole team, will thank you.

Stop Staring at the Cursor: Practical Copilot Workflows for Busy Humans

Have you ever opened Copilot, tried it once, and thought, “Okay… but how does this help me today?” Most Copilot sessions show what AI can do. This one focuses on what employees will actually use when deadlines are real and attention is limited. In this session, you’ll learn repeatable Copilot workflows for common work moments: turning messy notes into clean summaries, drafting first versions faster, extracting action items, and getting unstuck when you are staring at a blank page. You’ll also learn how to validate results confidently without falling into the “sounds right” trap. If you want Copilot to become a reliable daily shortcut instead of a feature you forget exists, this session will get you there.

What you will learn:
- Learn 5 repeatable Copilot workflows for everyday work (email, meetings, documents, summaries, planning).
- Discover how to ask better questions using simple structure, not prompt jargon.
- Understand how to verify and refine outputs so Copilot becomes trustworthy and usable.
- Learn how to turn one good result into a reusable personal “starter kit” you can apply again and again.
- Identify common Copilot failure patterns and how to recover quickly when results miss the mark.

Attend this session if you want to leave with Copilot habits you will use on Monday morning, not “someday when you have time.”

Prompt Like a Pro: The Art and Science of Getting Great Results from Microsoft 365 Copilot

Here is the truth nobody tells you when Copilot gets turned on in your organization: the difference between a user who saves 30 minutes a week and one who saves 8 hours a week has nothing to do with technical skill. It is all about how they talk to Copilot. That is where prompting comes in -- and that is exactly what this session is all about.

In this fun, interactive session, we will dig into the art and science of crafting prompts that actually work. We will explore options for a prompt framework and how to apply them across the apps you use every day -- Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint. We will look at real examples of prompts that fall flat versus prompts that deliver spectacular results, and you will immediately see and feel the difference. We will also cover how to build reusable prompt templates your whole team can share, so the whole organization levels up together, not just the power users.

This is not a boring lecture with slides full of bullet points. We will test prompts live, laugh at the ones that go sideways, and celebrate the ones that knock it out of the park. You will leave with a practical prompt framework you can start using the moment you get back to your desk, plus a set of ready-made prompt templates for the most common work scenarios your team faces every day.

Key Takeaways:
- Apply Microsoft's four-part prompt framework to get more precise, useful results from Copilot in any Microsoft 365 app
- Craft application-specific prompts optimized for Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and PowerPoint
- Diagnose and fix prompts that are not working the way you expected
- Build reusable prompt templates your team can share and build on together
- Use Copilot Pages and Copilot Notebooks to organize and act on your Copilot outputs
- Walk away with a ready-to-use prompt library you can immediately put to work

If you have Microsoft 365 Copilot and feel like you are not getting everything out of it that you could be, this session is your shortcut. Let's make every prompt count!

Prompt Crafting 101: Get Better Results with Copilot

Great ideas in, great results out! The secret to unlocking Copilot’s full potential starts with how you ask. In this session, we’ll break down the anatomy of a powerful prompt and show you how small tweaks can deliver dramatically better results. Through live demos in Word, Outlook, and Teams, you’ll see real-world examples and walk away with ready-to-use patterns for your own work. If you’re new to Copilot and want to avoid the “meh” outputs and go straight to “wow,” this session is a must!

PowerPoint Quick Wins: Smarter Slides with Copilot

PowerPoint is one of the most familiar tools in L&D—and one of the most misunderstood. In this fast-paced Quick Wins session, discover a handful of overlooked PowerPoint features that dramatically improve slide clarity and learner focus. Then see how Copilot can help you draft, refine, and restructure slides faster—without sacrificing instructional quality. You’ll leave with practical techniques you can apply to your very next deck.

Microsoft 365 Tips, Tricks, and a Little Fun

Microsoft 365 presents a wide set of tools for end users and power users. In this session, Shari and Scott will show you lesser-known techniques for increasing productivity and saving time when using Microsoft 365.
Everything included in M365 is fair game including:
* Office applications
* SharePoint
* Power BI
* Windows
* And more...

Attend this session, have a little fun, and pickup some
tips and tricks!

Power Automate Quick Wins: 6 Flows That Save You Time Every Week

Still doing things by hand that your computer could handle for you? We have all been there, copying data, chasing approvals, and sending the same email for the hundredth time. Good news: Power Automate can take those headaches off your plate, no developer skills required. In this fast, demo-packed session, Shortcut Shari shares six practical automations you can build and use right away, plus real stories from the trenches and the lessons learned along the way.
In this session you will learn how to:

- Trigger automatic notifications and responses so the right people hear about things the moment they happen
- Streamline approvals and sign-offs so requests keep moving without the endless back and forth
- Capture and route files so important content lands in the right place without anyone babysitting it
- Put time-based automations to work, sending reminders and recurring updates right on schedule
- Collect and organize your data so tracking and reporting practically take care of themselves
- Keep your team in the loop with automatic updates delivered right where they already work

If your to-do list is overflowing and your patience for busywork is gone, this session is for you. Bring your curiosity and your "there has to be a better way" frustrations, and get ready to laugh, learn, and leave with automations you can actually use. Come hang out, steal some flows, and let's make work a lot more fun together.

Is Your Site Ready for Copilot? The Site Owner's Oversharing Cleanup Lab

If Copilot searched your SharePoint site today, would you like what it found? Copilot works within existing permissions, which is great news until you remember nobody has reviewed them lately.

This workshop is for site owners and admins alike. You'll audit a real site, fix risky sharing links, and leave with a cleanup checklist you can repeat on a schedule. We'll also see what Copilot Chat can and can't see with and without a license, which makes oversharing easy to explain to your team.

The core lab needs no Copilot license. Tenants with SharePoint Advanced Management get bonus challenges, though some need your admin's help.

What you will learn:
- How permissions, groups, and inheritance decide what people and Copilot can see
- How to find and fix risky sharing links on a site you own
- What you can handle yourself and what to hand to an admin
- A site owner checklist for ongoing reviews

This hands-on workshop is in person, so bring your laptop and see what Copilot would find before it does!

Who should attend: Site owners, team owners, SharePoint and Teams admins, and governance or security pros. Some SharePoint familiarity helps.

Prerequisites: Your laptop and a work or school account. Owning a SharePoint or Teams-connected site is ideal, and if you don't, you'll follow a guided example. No Copilot license required, but bonus options are available for attendees who have one.

From Prompts to Playbooks: Build Your Team's Copilot Prompt Library

How many times this week did your team write the same prompt from scratch? Every team has one person whose prompts work best. Those prompts live in that person's head or in a chat thread nobody can find. Let's fix that.

In this hands-on workshop, you'll build a role-based prompt library your team will use. You'll work in Copilot Chat and Copilot Pages with sample files I provide. Together we'll write, test, and refine prompts for project updates, customer emails, and meeting follow-up. You'll leave with a shared playbook and a plan to keep it current. The core lab needs no Copilot license, and licensed attendees get bonus challenges that turn prompts into skills.

What you will learn:
- What makes a prompt reusable
- How to organize a prompt library in Copilot Pages
- Role-based examples for project leads, HR, finance, and admins
- How to keep the library current with owners and reviews

Bring your laptop and your toughest team tasks, and build a playbook your team will reach for on Monday!

Who should attend: Champions, team leads, learning experts, and team members who want consistent Copilot results. No technical background needed.

Prerequisites: Your laptop and a work or school account with Copilot Chat. No Copilot license required, but bonus options are available for attendees who have one.

From Meeting to Done: Using Copilot and Planner to Turn Conversations into Action

Meetings rarely fail in the room. The trouble starts twenty minutes later, when the team leaves with three versions of what was decided and nobody knows who owns what.

We'll follow one meeting from start to finish. You'll use Copilot Chat to build an agenda, then upload a sample transcript I provide and pull out the recap, decisions, and action items. Next, you'll turn those actions into a Planner plan with owners and dates, using templates so the next meeting starts ahead. The core lab needs no Copilot license, and licensed attendees get bonus challenges with Facilitator and Planner Agent. This hands-on workshop is in person, so bring your laptop and leave with a follow-up habit your team will love!

What you will learn:
- A prompt pattern for agendas people follow
- Clean recaps and action items from a transcript
- Planner plans with owners, dates, and reusable templates
- What changed in Planner this year and what to do about it

Who should attend: Team leads, project managers, and collaboration owners who run more meetings than they'd like.

Prerequisites: Your laptop and a work or school account with Copilot Chat and Planner. No Copilot license required, but bonus options are available for attendees who have one.

Empower Your Workforce: Turning Copilot Adoption into Everyday Innovation

Who owns Copilot adoption at your organization? If the answer is "IT, I think?", this workshop is for you. Turning Copilot on takes an afternoon, but getting people to change how they work needs a plan.

We'll build that plan together with ADKAR as our guide. In Copilot Chat, you'll draft user stories, key messages, and a champions plan from sample files I provide. Then you'll turn it all into a rollout plan in Planner. We'll also tackle the questions your leaders ask about cost, risk, and who owns agents. This hands-on workshop is in person, so bring your laptop and build a plan your leaders will cheer for!

What you will learn:
- How to turn "we should use Copilot more" into user stories tied to real jobs
- Key messages for leaders, managers, and the people doing the work
- How to find champions so adoption doesn't depend on one person
- A Planner rollout plan you can use on Monday

Who should attend: Adoption leads, project managers, department heads, IT leaders, and champions. No technical background needed.

Prerequisites: Your laptop and a work or school account with Copilot Chat and Planner. No Copilot license required, but bonus options are available for attendees who have one.

Copilot by the Numbers: Use Your Data to Drive Adoption That Actually Sticks

You bought the Copilot licenses, sent the world's most enthusiastic launch email, and threw a virtual confetti cannon at go-live - so why does your usage dashboard still look like a ghost town? If you are nodding right now, you are in very good company, and this session was made for you.

Here is the thing - a stalled Copilot rollout is not a technology problem, it is a change management problem, and your Microsoft 365 data is already telling you exactly where people are getting stuck. In this fun, interactive session, we will show you how to match your native Copilot metrics to the ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) so you can stop guessing and start doing something about it - with live demos in Viva Insights, the M365 Admin Center, and Power BI to back it all up.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
- How to read the Copilot Dashboard and M365 Admin Center as adoption health indicators, not just activity counts
- A stage-by-stage playbook for each element of adoption applied specifically to Copilot rollouts
- A repeatable process for spotting exactly which adoption stage your users are stuck in and what to do next
- Live Power BI skills for building a one-page adoption health view your leadership will actually understand and use
- A reinforcement cadence that keeps your adoption momentum going strong well past the first 90 days

CLOSING PARAGRAPH
Your data has already been trying to tell you where your adoption is falling apart - this session is where you finally learn how to listen to it. Come ready to laugh, learn, and leave with a plan you can put to work before the end of the week.

Champions, Super Users, and Accidental Experts: Who Really Drives Adoption?

Every organization has them. The curious clicker, the spreadsheet wizard, the person everyone messages with "quick question?" before IT even knows there is a problem. These are your champions... even if they were never officially named.

I have been building champion programs for years and I will tell you the honest truth... the hardest part is not finding these people. They are already out there doing the work. The hard part is supporting them without burning them out or turning them into an unpaid help desk.

In this interactive roundtable, we will talk honestly about who really drives adoption inside organizations and how to set them up for success. Together, we will explore how champions show up on their own, what it looks like to nurture them on purpose, and how to turn their efforts into something that scales across the whole organization without falling apart when one person goes on vacation.

Expect real stories, shared lessons, and plenty of "yes, that happened to us too" moments as we swap ideas on building a champion strategy that actually lasts.

You will walk away with:
- A clearer picture of who your real champions are and how to identify them even when they do not have the title
- Practical ways to support and recognize champions without adding to their workload
- Ideas for scaling champion impact beyond a single team or department
- Honest conversation about what works, what does not, and what to try next

Join me and your fellow attendees for a conversation that skips the theory and gets right to the good stuff. Bring your stories... we want to hear them!

Amplifying Productivity in Microsoft 365: Practical Strategies + AI Boosts

The promise of "doing more with less" often feels like a buzzword until you’re staring at a mounting inbox and a back-to-back meeting schedule. To truly move the needle, teams must look beyond basic feature sets and adopt a tactical approach to their daily workflows.

In this session, we strip away the hype to focus on six high-impact productivity scenarios that every modern team faces. These range from cross-departmental project coordination to executive briefing preparation. We don’t just show you how to use the tools; we provide a "Good, Better, Best" framework for each scenario.

We’ll demonstrate the standard M365 approach (Good), optimized manual workflows (Better), and the transformative "AI Boost" using Microsoft 365 Copilot (Best).

Participants will walk away with a toolkit of practical strategies to:

--Reduce Friction: Eliminate the "work about work" by streamlining handoffs between Teams, Planner, and SharePoint.

--Master Meeting Lifecycle: Transition from passive attendance to actionable outcomes using Copilot to bridge the gap between transcript and task.

--Draft with Velocity: Move from a blank page to a polished executive summary or project proposal in minutes, not hours.

--Analyze at Scale: Leverage AI to identify trends and anomalies in complex data sets without needing a PhD in Excel.

This is a fast-paced, demo-heavy session designed for power users, team leads, and IT pros who want to deliver immediate, tangible value to their organizations.

AI in SharePoint: Build Smarter Sites, Libraries, and Lists Without Writing a Line of Code

Have you ever spent an entire afternoon setting up a SharePoint site... creating columns, configuring metadata, building views... only to wonder if anyone is actually going to use it the way you intended? Yeah, me too. I have been building SharePoint sites since before it was even called SharePoint, and let me tell you, the setup process has come a LONG way.

AI in SharePoint is here, and it is a game changer. You can now describe what you need in plain language and watch SharePoint build it for you. Need a document library with smart metadata that tags itself? Just ask. Want a structured list that is ready to power Copilot and agents across Microsoft 365? Tell SharePoint what you are tracking and let it do the heavy lifting.

In this session, we will explore how AI in SharePoint is changing the way teams plan and create sites, libraries, pages, and lists. I will walk you through real examples and show you what this looks like in action. We will also dig into how AI automatically enriches your content by extracting metadata and adapting your libraries as content changes... because let's face it, good metadata is the secret sauce that makes Copilot actually useful.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:
- Use natural language in SharePoint to plan and build sites, libraries, and lists without technical expertise
- Understand how AI-powered metadata extraction works behind the scenes
- See how a well-structured SharePoint environment directly improves Copilot accuracy
- Apply practical strategies for rolling this out to your teams while keeping governance in check

Whether you are a SharePoint veteran like me or someone who just inherited an intranet nobody loves, this session will show you how AI is making SharePoint smarter, faster, and a whole lot more fun. Let's talk about what happens when you stop clicking and start conversing with your collaboration platform. Join Shari for this one... you are going to want to see this!

Channels vs Chats: The Collaboration Decision That Makes or Breaks Teams

Have you ever thought, "We talked about this... but where?" When conversations bounce between chats, channels, meetings, and mentions, Teams starts feeling less like a collaboration hub and more like a digital junk drawer. I can't tell you how many organizations I've walked into where the first thing someone says is "We use Teams but nobody can find anything."

In this session, you'll learn a simple, end-user-friendly decision framework for choosing channels vs chats so your work is actually findable, your files stop living in six different places, and your team can quit having the same conversation for the third time this week. We'll walk through real workplace scenarios like projects, requests, quick questions, and announcements and show exactly where each one belongs. If your Teams environment feels busy but not productive, this session will give you the clarity to fix it.

What you will learn:
- A fast "channel or chat?" decision framework you can apply in seconds
- How files behave differently in channels vs chats and why that impacts version control
- How to keep key conversations visible without turning channels into noise
- Practical habits for naming, replying, and following up so work does not disappear
- Real examples of what good looks like for projects, requests, meetings, and announcements

Join me for this one and finally get your Teams environment feeling like a workspace instead of a never-ending scroll of "Where did that go?"

From Scratch to Spectacular: Starting Out with Power Pages

Get ready to dive into the world of Microsoft Power Pages with this introductory session. Whether you're a novice or just looking to refresh your skills, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to begin creating engaging web pages effortlessly.

We'll start with the basics, guiding you through the user-friendly interface and highlighting key features such as customizable templates, drag-and-drop design, and interactive elements. You'll learn how to design mobile-friendly pages, optimize your content, and integrate other Microsoft tools for a seamless experience.

By the end of this session, you'll have the foundational skills to create professional-looking web pages tailored to your needs. Join us to jumpstart your journey with Microsoft Power Pages and unlock the potential to craft stunning, effective, and dynamic web pages in no time!

From Flat to Fabulous: Reshape Your Excel Data into a Powerful Data Model

You have data. A lot of it. And right now, it is probably living in one giant, beautiful, chaotic flat Excel file that somehow holds everything together. If your reports feel slow, your visuals feel wrong, or your data just refuses to behave the way you want it to in Power BI, you are not imagining things and you are definitely not alone.

In this hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves workshop, we will take that flat Excel file and transform it into a clean, efficient star schema that Power BI absolutely loves. You will learn how to think like a data modeler, identify your facts and dimensions, and restructure your data so your reports are faster, smarter, and so much easier to build. With Power Query doing the heavy lifting and Copilot lending a hand, you will walk away with a model that is ready for the real world and the skills to build the next one on your own.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand the difference between a flat file and a star schema and why it matters for your Power BI reports
- Identify fact tables and dimension tables in your own data and learn how they work together
- Use Power Query to reshape, clean, and split flat Excel data into a proper data model
- Build relationships between tables and see the immediate impact on your report performance and flexibility
- Apply data modeling best practices that scale with your organization's needs

If you have ever stared at a Power BI report that refused to do what you wanted, the problem was probably upstream in your data model. Join this workshop and learn how to fix it at the source, so every report you build from here on out is faster, cleaner, and finally doing exactly what you need it to do. Bring your laptop, bring your curiosity, and get ready to go from flat to fabulous!

Enhancing Document Management with Metadata, Columns, and Views

This session is designed to help participants understand and effectively use metadata, columns, and views in Microsoft 365 document libraries and lists. By leveraging these features, users can improve document organization, enhance searchability, and streamline workflows.

Objectives

- Understand Metadata: Learn what metadata is and how it can be used to categorize and organize documents.
- Create and Manage Columns: Discover how to create and manage columns in document libraries and lists to store metadata.
- Utilize Views: Explore how to create and customize views to display documents and list items based on specific criteria.
- Implement Best Practices: Learn best practices for using metadata, columns, and views to enhance document management.

Building Your AI Adoption Strategy in Microsoft 365

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a futuristic concept—it’s here, and it’s built into the tools your organization already uses. But deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot is more than a technical rollout; it’s a cultural shift.

In this strategic session, you’ll learn how to lay the groundwork for Copilot adoption using proven change management principles. We’ll guide you through building a tailored rollout plan using Microsoft Planner, tracking engagement and usage with Power BI, and designing a learning journey that meets employees where they are.

You'll discover how to:
- Establish a people-first Copilot strategy that inspires trust and experimentation.
- Mobilize champions and executives to lead by example.
- Build and personalize learning journeys with content that drives real behavior change.
- Track adoption success and adjust based on data-driven insights.

Whether you’re planning your pilot or scaling organization-wide, walk away with a repeatable strategy to support users and spark a culture of continuous innovation.

Unlock the Potential: Kickstarting Your Journey with Dataverse

Welcome to Microsoft Dataverse—the backbone of the Power Platform and your key to smarter data management! In this session, you’ll learn how to create a structured, connected environment for your organization’s data—no complex coding required. We’ll start with the basics of setting up your Dataverse environment, defining tables and relationships, and importing or exporting data. Then we’ll explore how Copilot in Dataverse can help you build tables faster than ever—just describe what you need, and Copilot will suggest table structures, columns, and relationships for you. Whether you’re a Power Apps creator or a data enthusiast, you’ll leave with the confidence to start designing efficient, AI-assisted data solutions with ease.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand the core concepts and benefits of Microsoft Dataverse
- Learn how to create and manage tables, relationships, and data connections
- See how Copilot accelerates table creation and data modeling
- Gain hands-on insights to start building Dataverse-based solutions confidently

Data doesn’t have to be daunting! Discover how Microsoft Dataverse and Copilot can help you organize and create tables effortlessly—empowering you to build smarter apps and solutions with confidence.

Microsoft Lists - The Tool You Never Knew You Wished You had!

Join us for an engaging session on using Microsoft Lists and transforming the way you gather, manage, and automate your data-driven work processes. In this session, you'll discover the versatility and power of Microsoft Lists as a go-to tool for tracking everything from tasks to employee onboarding as we explore the following:

- When and why to use Microsoft Lists
- Creating a List from a Template
- Creating a List from existing data
- Using Lists to Gather and Manage Information
- Using Views and Filters to make your data meaningful
- Automate Your Processes using your Lists

By the end of the session, you'll be equipped with the skills to harness the potential of Microsoft Lists for data management and automation. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your productivity with Lists!

You Are a Teams Owner...Now What!

So you’ve been handed the keys to a Microsoft Team—congrats! But now what? Being a Teams Owner isn’t just about having your name at the top of the list—it’s about setting your team up for success, managing permissions wisely, and keeping collaboration smooth (and drama-free). In this fun, practical session, we’ll explore the Owner Dashboard—your control center for everything from member management to channel creation and settings that affect security, notifications, and file access. We’ll also talk best practices for governance, naming conventions, and lifecycle management so your Team doesn’t turn into the Wild West of chat and chaos. You’ll leave confident, empowered, and maybe even a little in love with Teams all over again.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand the responsibilities and permissions of a Teams Owner.
- Learn how to configure settings that balance collaboration and control.
- Explore tools for managing members, channels, and content.
- Discover best practices to keep your Team secure, organized, and productive.

Don’t just manage your Team—master it! Join this session to uncover the hidden settings, smart strategies, and insider tips every Teams Owner needs to keep collaboration smooth and chaos-free.

Cool Features You Never Knew You Had in PowerPoint!

Have you ever had to sit through a boring presentation? We all have! I had brilliant college professors who just made me YAWWWWN. Boring presentations are a recipe for disaster, causing audience disengagement, and possibility even a lack of confidence in the presenter! If you fail to captivate and WOW your audience, even the best concepts can fall short. Did you know there are a lot of great tools and resources built right into PowerPoint that can avoid those disasters?

You will learn:
- Strategies for Organizing Your Content
- Where to Find Resources for Creating Engaging Content
- How to Create Slides that WOW
- How to Standardize Your Layouts
- Become a Better Presenter
- Best Kept Secrets of PowerPoint!

In this session we will show you how to take a bland, boring presentation from Zero to Hero using built in tools that most people don't event know are there! We will explore techniques for making your content more visually engaging with graphics, animations and transitions. Did you know that PowerPoint can even make you a better presenter? Let's play with some of the features and get real-time feedback on our delivery. Finally, it wouldn't be a Shortcut Shari session without some Tips and Tricks you won't want to miss.

Our tried and true presentation application didn’t receive a lot of love for a few versions, but you will be amazed at what’s new and cool in PowerPoint. A little bit of Desktop, a little bit of PowerPoint online and you will be ready to dazzle your audience live… or not… (no spoilers).

Top 7 Productivity Killers in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams can be your best friend…or your worst enemy!
In this session we will show you how to fix the top 7 productivity killers in Microsoft Teams…and help you to be more productive when communicating, collaborating, creating content. In this session you will learn:

How to organize Microsoft Teams to maximize your productivity
Take control of the barrage of notifications
Use Mentions and Tags to draw attention to your content
Tips for more effective meetings
The best kept secret of Teams

Beyond What Goes Where, Let's Talk Documentation Strategy

Your organization has decided they want to eliminate your network drives and move you into the cloud with Microsoft 365. Now what? Do any of these sound familiar?

What do you mean we can't have folders?
I put everything in my OneDrive but I can't find anything!
I need to share my documents with my peers. How do I do that
My co-worker left the company and now we lost their contributions?

In this session, we are going to take the "What Goes Where" discussion and talk about how to create a Document Management strategy and the roles that OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams play in that strategy.

Spoiler Alert! Nothing Actually Lives in Teams! Managing Your Files in Office 365

If you’ve ever wondered where your files really live in Microsoft 365—you’re not alone! In this fun and eye-opening session, we’ll clear up the confusion between OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams once and for all. You’ll learn how each service plays a unique role in collaboration, storage, and sharing, and how to choose the right tool for the right job. We’ll explore practical examples of how files flow through Teams, how permissions work behind the scenes, and how to avoid common pitfalls like lost files and version chaos. Whether you’re new to Microsoft 365 or simply want to clean up your digital workspace, this session will help you confidently manage, find, and share your content like a pro.

Key Takeaways:
- Understand how OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams work together behind the scenes
- Learn best practices for storing, sharing, and securing your files
- Identify which tool is best for personal work vs. team collaboration
- Avoid common mistakes that cause confusion or data loss

Stop guessing where your files belong and start collaborating with confidence—join this session and finally get the answer to the age-old question: “Where should I put this file?”

Automate Your Processes with Custom SharePoint Lists and Power Apps

Ever wish you could gather and manage information for your SharePoint Lists...from anywhere? When you connect SharePoint Lists with PowerApps, YOU CAN!

Take Sharepoint beyond the document dump and start maximizing the potential of a SharePoint as a platform on which to build your business processes, with ZERO code. SharePoint lists can be the foundation on which your store and process your data and start automating your processes. But you have to gather the data first.

In this session we will create a custom SharePoint list and build a PowerApp that can be used to collect the data from anywhere, even mobile devices! Let's show you how it's done...

Create a SharePoint list to fit your business need
Discover the types of data that can be collected
Quickly build a PowerApp to gather information, even from the field

Creating the Buzz: Increasing Adoption through a Champions Program

Do you know "that guy"...or "that girl" in your workgroup? You know the one...that person that everyone goes to when they are confused about technology. Maybe it's YOU! These are going to be your greatest allies in your organization when rolling out a new technology!

In this session we will cover:
- Why Champions are Important
- Who would be the best Champions
- What are the Expectations of the Champions
- Where to find your Champions
- When to engage your Champions
- How to get started building the Champions program

Let's build a Champions Program that helps you overcome our biggest foe in technology...User Adoption.

Tuning in (and Tuning Out) on What Matters in Microsoft Teams!

Do you feel overwhelmed by the overload of information coming in through the channels Microsoft Teams? In terms of communication, we've gone from the rabbit ears on the TV single channel of email to the deluxe cable package with hundreds of channels in Teams bringing all the news and a lot of NOISE! Let's take some time on getting focused on what matters to YOU in Microsoft Teams.

Empower Your Data: Choosing the Right Tool, SharePoint, Dataverse for Teams or Dataverse?

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, choosing the right tool for data management and collaboration can be overwhelming. This full-day workshop will provide you with a comprehensive guide to understanding when and why to use SharePoint Lists, Dataverse for Teams, and Dataverse. We’ll dive into real-world use cases, exploring the strengths, limitations, and optimal scenarios for each platform. Whether you’re managing simple data lists, building low-code apps, or handling complex business processes, this hands-on workshop will empower you to make informed decisions on which solution best suits your organization’s needs.

Key Takeaways:

- Gain a clear understanding of the differences and key features of SharePoint Lists, Dataverse for Teams, and Dataverse.
- Explore practical use cases and best practices for each platform.
- Learn how to leverage each tool to streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and improve data management.
- Discover strategies for integrating these tools into your Microsoft 365 environment for maximum impact.

Through real-world examples and expert insights, you'll gain the skills to choose the ideal tool for your data management, collaboration, and application development needs. Whether you're a seasoned IT professional or just starting your journey, this session will empower you to make informed data decisions and drive success in your projects. Join us to become a data tool expert and take control of your data strategy!

This workshop is ideal for IT professionals, business analysts, and anyone looking to optimize data-driven decision-making in their organization.

Unleash Microsoft Forms with the Magic of Power Automate

Microsoft Forms is more than just a survey tool or a place to take a poll. Did you know that you can use the information captured in a Form and do awesome things with it? In this session, we'll explore the top 5 uses for partnering Power Automate to take Microsoft Forms to the next level!

In this session, you will gain:
- Enhanced understanding on how Microsoft Forms and Power Automate can work together
- Use Templates in Power Automate to extend the capabilities of Microsoft Forms
- Real-World examples and best practices that can be applied to your own workflows

Join Shari and discover how to transform your data collection processes and unleash the potential of Forms with Power Automate!

Mastering Meeting Efficiency with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Be honest... how many meetings did you sit through this week where you walked out thinking "what just happened?" You are not alone. Between the missing notes, the forgotten action items, and the "can someone send me a recap?" messages, meetings can feel like a black hole for productivity. But what if Copilot could handle the parts that slow you down?

In this session, you will learn how to use Microsoft 365 Copilot to plan, manage, and follow up on meetings with ease. I will show you how intelligent prompts can help you create agendas, summarize discussions, and generate actionable follow-ups in seconds. We will explore practical ways to integrate Copilot across Outlook, Teams, and Loop to automate meeting workflows, capture decisions, and keep your team aligned without the endless post-meeting scramble.

What you will learn:
- How to use Copilot to prepare for meetings before they even start
- Practical tips and best practices for crafting effective prompts
- How to automate meeting workflows to save time and enhance collaboration
- Ways to capture decisions and action items so nothing falls through the cracks

If you have ever wished your meetings could practically run themselves, this is your session. Join Shari and discover how Copilot can save you from the post-meeting scramble and give you back time in your day. Let's DO this!

From To-Do to Done: Unlock the Power of the New Microsoft Planner

Ready to plan like a pro? Say goodbye to scattered tasks and juggling between apps! The new Microsoft Planner is your all-in-one mission control center for getting things done—from quick personal to-dos to complex team projects.
In this high-energy session, we’ll explore the exciting evolution of Microsoft Planner as it unifies To Do, Planner, and Project for the web into one seamless experience. You’ll learn how this reimagined tool helps individuals stay focused and teams stay aligned, all while integrating beautifully across Microsoft 365 (hello, Copilot support!)

Dashboard in a Day: Turn Your Data into Decisions

In today’s data-driven world, your organization’s success depends on how quickly and clearly you can turn numbers into insights. Power BI makes that possible—without needing to be a data scientist! In this fast-paced, hands-on session, we’ll explore how to connect to your data, clean it up, and visualize it beautifully with Power BI dashboards and reports. Learn how to create interactive dashboards that tell the story behind your data, monitor KPIs in real time, and share insights securely with your team. Whether you’re brand new to Power BI or ready to level up your reporting skills, this session will show you just how powerful—and approachable—data analytics can be.

Key Takeaways:
- Learn how to connect, import, and transform data from multiple sources.
- Discover how to define business rules and KPIs for real-world impact.
- Build engaging, interactive dashboards and reports in Power BI.
- Understand how to share and publish dashboards across your organization.

Ready to stop staring at spreadsheets and start seeing insights? Join us to learn how Power BI can turn your data into beautiful, interactive dashboards that drive smarter business decisions—all in one session!

Full-Day Hands-On Workshop. Requires attendee BYOD.

Empower Your Workforce: Turning Copilot Adoption into Everyday Innovation

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a futuristic concept—it’s here, and it’s built into the tools your organization already uses. But deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot is more than a technical rollout; it’s a cultural shift.

In this strategic session, you’ll learn how to lay the groundwork for Copilot adoption using proven change management principles. We’ll guide you through building a tailored rollout plan using Microsoft Planner, tracking engagement and usage with Power BI, and designing a learning journey that meets employees where they are.

You'll discover how to:
- Establish a people-first Copilot strategy that inspires trust and experimentation.
- Mobilize champions and executives to lead by example.
- Build and personalize learning journeys with content that drives real behavior change.
- Track adoption success and adjust based on data-driven insights.

Whether you’re planning your pilot or scaling organization-wide, walk away with a repeatable strategy to support users and spark a culture of continuous innovation.

App-solutely Brilliant: Turn Ideas into Apps with Power Platform

If you’ve ever said, “There should be an app for that,” this workshop is for you! Spend the day learning, building, and launching your own solutions—and leave empowered to solve real business challenges with Microsoft Power Apps.

We’ll start by walking through the fundamentals of Power Apps, exploring both canvas and model-driven apps, and showing you how to digitize manual, paper-based processes. You’ll then dive into Microsoft Dataverse, learning how to securely store and manage data that drives your apps. Finally, we’ll connect everything with Power Automate, creating workflows that streamline routine tasks and boost productivity.

By the end of the day, you’ll not only understand how these tools fit together—you’ll have a working app you can take back to your organization and build upon immediately. Whether you’re a business user, functional lead, or IT professional, this workshop will help you unlock your potential as a citizen developer and transform the way you work.

Key Takeaways:
- Create custom business applications without writing code
- Digitize and automate everyday business processes
- Connect and manage data with Microsoft Dataverse
- Build apps using both canvas and model-driven experiences
- Share and secure apps across your organization with confidence

Ready to take control of your business processes and build apps that make work simpler, faster, and smarter—all without writing code? In this full-day, hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to harness the power of Microsoft Power Apps to turn ideas into real, functional business applications.

Full-Day Hands-On Workshop. Requires attendee BYOD.

From Blah to Ta-Da! Designing SharePoint Pages That Pop

Did you know that most corporate intranets lose their users in under 60 seconds? If your SharePoint pages look like they were designed in 2009 and haven't been touched since, you are not alone, but you are leaving a huge opportunity on the table. Your intranet is your organization's front door, and with the latest SharePoint design features plus the power of Copilot, transforming it from bland to brilliant has never been faster or more fun.

In this lively, example-packed session, we will explore the modern SharePoint design toolkit and show you how Copilot is changing the game for content creators and intranet owners alike. Whether you are building pages for the first time or trying to breathe new life into a site that has seen better days, you will walk away with practical skills and fresh inspiration you can use the very next day.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

- Apply modern headers and footers to brand and structure SharePoint sites with consistency and confidence.
- Create stunning landing page experiences using the Hero web part's newest layouts and navigation options.
- Leverage the Flexible web part to combine text, media, and design elements without writing a single line of code.
- Use Copilot in SharePoint to draft, refine, and summarize page content faster than ever before.
- Apply design best practices that improve usability, drive adoption, and reduce the support burden on your team.
- Articulate how great intranet design connects directly to employee engagement and Microsoft 365 ROI.

Your intranet does not have to be the digital equivalent of a beige cubicle wall. Come join the fun, see the transformation in action, and leave with the skills and confidence to create a TA-DA moment for your entire organization!

Full-Day Hands-On Workshop. Requires attendee BYOD.