AXUG Focus 2016 Q&A with AXUG Program Director, Heather Williams

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit with Heather Williams, AXUG Program Director, about the upcoming Microsoft Dynamics AX deep-dive conference, AXUG Focus 2016. This conference will be held June 7-8, 2016 in Schaumburg, IL (Chicago Metro Area) and features 90-minute, deep-dive sessions on three primary topics: Technical, BI & Reporting, and Finance. Enough from me though, let's learn more from Heather:

How is AXUG Focus a different learning experience than AXUG Summit?

HW: AXUG Focus is solely deep dive, workshop style sessions. All of the content is intermediate to advanced level sessions, and more of the 301/401 sessions compared to AXUG Summit, which is more like a “a sprinkling of everything.”  Focus is designed so that someone who begins the event with a challenge or issue will complete the event with a workable solution and plan that can be implemented once they return [to the office]. The main feature of Focus are the sessions.

Who are fellow AX Users volunteering their time and efforts for this event?

HW: We have quite a few users presenting who I would like to highlight: Kelly Kane and Pauletta Kluth are both facilitating sessions and they are also very involved in AXUG webinars, Chapters, Summit planning and sit on the Programming Board of Advisors. Two other very involved user members include Brent Hester and Sarah Wilhelm, both facilitating sessions. A member of the AXUG Board of Advisors, Paul Martin, is attending to “learn all he can with this great content.” Corey Vantilborg of Tigercat will be leading two technical sessions, and Brian Hof of Marshalltown is leading a technical session. There will also be a BI member showcase by Angel Lara of Kelly Tractor. These folks are just a few of the users that have stepped up as leaders for this event! This means there will be several deep, user-led sessions and just about every session has a knowledgeable user facilitating it. Dynamics AX Users have been very involved in planning every sessions at Focus.

How were these three tracks, Technical, BI & Reporting, and Finance determined?

HW: The AXUG Board of Advisor Chairman, Grant Wilson, really helped identify the tracks that would be most beneficial to the user community. Once the planning committee was formed, it was echoed that these are three areas within our user community that would really benefit from having an event built to host specifically deep dive, advanced content. Attendees will notice that the content is set in such a way that a Finance person can also find BI and Reporting sessions of interest, and likewise a Technical person will find BI and Reporting sessions that they will benefit from. There was strategy put into the content layout for sure.

You mentioned AXUG Focus caters to Intermediate and Advanced skill levels, what about Beginners?

HW:  Dynamics AX Users with Beginner skill levels are encouraged to attend AXUG Summit, and hopefully the knowledge gained there will help the beginners become more advanced and they will join us at future AXUG Focus events.  

What is the golden nugget a user should know about AXUG Focus?

HW: AXUG Focus is going to be the chance to access rich, advanced Dynamics AX content focusing on these three key areas: Finance, BI and Reporting and Technical. Not only will the content be rich, but the networking will be just as powerful. So many users have been involved with the planning and execution of this event and will be attending to offer a lending hand, a helpful piece of advice and just overall support. The networking huddles at the end of Tuesday, June 7 will each be user-led and user-hosted, so not only will an attendee gain some of the best education on these topics but they will also have a chance to connect with other active users within AXUG who are committed to helping other users! It doesn’t get any better than that!

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Thank you, Heather! If you haven't already, I encourage you to register for AXUG Focus 2016. Click here to learn more.