I’m an ACE!

If you’ve been paying attention to many of the links I’ve published here at MyCentralAdmin.com in the last few years, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve had a pretty good relationship with Idera, a software vendor who makes some pretty cool tools for SharePoint and SQL Server administration. I’ve done a few different whitepapers for them, they’ve been kind enough to invite me to do some SharePoint webcasts from time to time, and my good friend and co-author Sean McDonough even works for them as their SharePoint Evangelist.

This past June Idera started up a SharePoint equivalent of a very cool program they had been doing to help out the SQL Server community, the Advisor and Community Educator (ACE) program, and I was lucky enough to be one of the initial group of SharePoint folks selected by Idera to be SharePoint ACEs. Myself, Liam Cleary, Nedra Allmond, Wes Preston, and Michael Lotter are in the initial class of SharePoint ACEs, and Idera will be resetting the program every year with a fresh group of SharePoint experts to recognize and award. The best part about the ACE program is that it really helps me do a lot more of something that I love doing in the SharePoint community: speaking at events like SharePoint Saturdays all over the country, as Idera is able to sponsor me and help me cover my travel costs inherent in going to so many of these different events, as well as continue to do webcasts and other events that are also sponsored by Idera.

Because of the ACE program, I’m able to submit to many more SharePoint Saturday events than I have in the past, such as the three I’m going to be heading to this September! Three! Wow 🙂 So if you’re interesting, here’s where I’ll be speaking and what I’ll be covering:

• SharePoint Saturday Ozarks, this Saturday, Sept 8th. For more info, check out http://sharepointsaturday.org/ozarks, I’ll be doing one of my favorite talks: Why Office 365 Makes IT Easy and Why that’s Difficult.
• SharePoint Saturday Redmond, Saturday Sept 22nd. For more info, check out http://sharepointsaturday.org/redmond, I’ll be doing a new talk on Identity in Office 365, as well as participating in a panel session on Cloud Computing.
• SharePoint Saturday Michigan, Saturday Sept 29th. For more info, check out http://sharepointsaturday.org/michigan, still waiting to hear about what I’ll be talking about there 🙂

I’ve got a few more possible speaking opportunities coming up, but they’re a little bit more than a month out so I’ll save them for another day. If you see Idera sponsoring a community event, make sure to thank them for their support of the community and don’t hesitate to talk to them about the ACE program and find out how you might be able to be an ACE next year!

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