Hal Howard Joins NAVUG / Dynamic Communities, Inc.

Dynamic Communities, Inc. – the independent administrative organization behind the user groups for Microsoft Dynamics® AX (AXUG®), Dynamics CRM (CRMUG®), Dynamics GP (GPUG®), Dynamics NAV (NAVUG™), and Dynamic Partner Connections (DPC) – announced today that Hal Howard has been hired as the Executive Director.  Hal will start his new role next week.      

Hal is the former Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Dynamics ERP R&D, a position he left in July 2014 after working for Microsoft for twenty years.   Hal was responsible for leading the research and development teams for Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP, Dynamics SL and Dynamics NAV.  Under his leadership, the team transformed and modernized the products and expanded Microsoft Dynamics’ presence globally.  Prior to joining the business solutions unit in 2003, Hal worked on both Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft’s online services.  He holds 8 patents for various technologies across these products and services.

While at Microsoft, Hal was an advocate for Dynamics users.  He was involved in the formative stages of AXUG ten years ago, and has participated in Chapter meetings and the annual Summit conferences for the Dynamics User Groups.   

As the Executive Director for Dynamic Communities, Hal will focus on engaging first-hand with the Dynamics user and partner communities to support individuals and organizations in their efforts to optimize how the Dynamics products impact business.  He’ll lead member research initiatives, oversee programming strategies to match the User Groups’ educational offerings with the needs of Dynamics users and partners, and will be an advocate for delivering community feedback to the Microsoft Dynamics teams.

“I am thrilled to be joining Dynamic Communities,” Hal said of his new role.  “I have always believed that a vibrant community of users and partners is essential to building great products and maximizing the value of those products for the community.  As an R&D leader, I fostered feedback and interaction with the community at every step of the process.  When I look back at the growth of the user groups, they have been essential to the success of Dynamics.  When I look forward, I believe the same will be true and I look forward to helping take it to the next level.”

 “On behalf of our members, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome Hal to the team,” said Andy Hafer, CEO for Dynamic Communities. “He brings an unsurpassed understanding of the Dynamics products and an even stronger passion to help and give back to the Dynamics community.  Our members can expect to interact with Hal in a number of ways, including face-to-face during sessions and in the hallways at our conferences, virtually during our webinars, through roundtable discussions, via our online communities, and more.  It’s clear, when talking to Hal, that he misses being able to simply listen to Dynamics users and partners and to help wherever he can to drive Dynamics innovation.”

Members of AXUG, CRMUG, GPUG, NAVUG, and DPC will have an opportunity to meet Hal in St. Louis this October, as he will take an active role in hosting the user and partner communities at Summit and The Partner Connections Event 2014.

Hal can be reached at hal.howard@dynamiccommunities.com.  You can also connect with him via the online communities for AXUG,CRMUG, GPUG, or NAVUG, and follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.