What’s Directions all about?
When I was asked if I wanted to take a Vienna guidebook with me to Directions, I realised that a lot of people that haven’t been to a conference before, probably don’t have any real idea about what they entail and what happens at them. This gave me the idea that rather than numerous blogs covering topics that dozens of other will already be covering I should write a travelog Directions diary to try and give an idea of the other elements of going to a conference.
I think there’s a general perception that a conference is a bit of a jolly and a treat to go to. Granted, there is a lot of socialising (networking!) and a drink or two in the evenings but this is often at the end of a long day. It’s not just a single day either, it’s 3 or 4 days with potentially a long journey at each end.
Directions for Partners is a conference organised for partners that specialise in Microsoft Dynamics Business Central and the surrounding technology. It’s for partners that implement and support the solution but also for companies that produce add-on solutions (ISVs- Independent Software Vendors) to enhance the product. But for the purposes of this blog you really don’t need to know anything about Business Central.
I know all conferences are different and peoples experiences even of the same conference will differ wildly but maybe this will give a little taster of what’s involved.
The Location
This year Directions EMEA was in Vienna, Austria. Home of Schnitzel, Sachertorte, Mozart and Strauss (in that order of importance). A gorgeous city that I would highly recommend visiting if you ever get a chance.
It’s worth noting that I went to Directions 2019 (also in Vienna) and the group I was with all had partners or friends fly out on the Friday and we spent the weekend exploring the city. I did take a guidebook with me then 😉
Travel
People attending will be travelling from wildly different areas, this was Directions EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) so straight away there’s quite a spread of geography for the attendees. I met people from Tunisia and Kenya and there are a number of attendees that came from North America. I had the relatively short distance of 800 miles (about 1300 kms) to travel and a short hop over the English Channel (la Manche to the French). A morning flight from Heathrow meant I should get to my hotel in Vienna by about 3pm. Let’s begin…
A 5.30am start and the not inconsiderate challenge of the M25 in rush hour is always a great way to start the day! I won’t bore you with all the usual dramas of travel and I specifically won’t mention our pushback tractor breaking down leaving us blocking 4 gates in the 4th busiest airport in the world for 45 minutes. Thankfully everything else went relatively smoothly and the train connection from Vienna Airport to the city was cheap (About €4.50), quiet, efficient and clean.
I got to the hotel, checked in and got to my room by about 3.30pm local time. I threw my case on the bed and my phone rang. “Hi Stu, I’m down in the lobby, you good to go?”. A former colleague had asked if I wanted to go to a pre-conference networking event by one of the sponsoring partners. 5 minutes later we were out of the hotel and decided to get some fresh air and walk the 45 minutes to the event.
First top tip – always take comfy shoes.
The Pre-Event
After crossing the Danube, we found the event location and travelled to the 21st floor to enjoy a few canapes, drinks and a chat with other Microsoft Partners. Time to switch “On”. It’s always good to see a few familiar faces and have a catch up over what’s been happening since you last met. There were also a number of people there that I’d never met before and thankfully the stunning views made for a good icebreaker.
The introductions were invariably followed by the obligatory “Let’s connect on LinkedIn”.
Top tip number 2 – If you’ve got the LinkedIn app, click in the search bar and an Icon appears on the right hand side, when you tap on it a QR code opens that people can scan and connect with you. Simple.
As 6pm approached everyone prepared to leave as the official Directions Welcome Reception was about to start. A chance to register and get your attendee badge and lanyard ahead of the first day’s sessions.
Top tip 3 – if you can get there for the Tuesday reception then I’d highly recommend it, if for no other reason than getting your badge and not having to queue for it ahead of the 9am day one keynote.
The welcome reception also allows you to wander around some of the partner stands and get your bearings of the layout of the conference centre over a drink and nibbles. About 8pm people started leaving to go to various post-reception-pre-event-events. My hopes for an early night were dashed as I was grabbed and asked (by a super friendly and energetic Welshman) if I was going to his company’s post-reception-pre-event-event. I mentioned that I unfortunately hadn’t had an invite, at which point an invite was firmly extended and I was guided towards a taxi and whisked away to be entertained for what remained of the evening. More drinks and (thankfully) a decent buffet meal.
As tiredness started to catch up it was a good time to depart and a half hour walk back to my hotel in the fresh air gave a little pick me up, I was back in my hotel just before my carriage turned into a pumpkin. Nice views on the way as well.
The Directions Event
The keynote starts at 9am each day, you really need to be in the theatre for it by 8.45 to get a decent seat which means getting to the conference centre by 8.30-8.40. This gets more challenging as the week progresses. And so, the day begins.
Top tip 4 – take paracetamol.
Before flying out I used the Directions app and a spreadsheet to work out what sessions interested me and then whittled them down so I had no clashes. There were over 300 sessions with up to 18 (EIGHTEEN) concurrent sessions running so it can be quite hard to come up with a final list. Invariably you miss sessions that interest you.
Top tip number 5 – download the app and try and plan as many of your sessions in advance as you can (you can say which sessions you’re attending). There is nothing worse than 5 minutes before the next session deciding which direction to head in. Also, make sure you check what the target audience and technical level is. If you’re in sales I suspect the last thing you want is to get code put up on the screen in the first 5 minutes. And if you’re a consultant you might not be overly concerned with marketing personas!
I won’t go into the details of what was in every session I attended, but to give you an idea of what my Wednesday, Thursday and Friday looked, like this is the plan I ended up with:
I think the week leading up to directions my inbox and LinkedIn messages were about 80% “Let’s meet up at Directions”. I had one gap on the Tuesday with no session scheduled so I spent it looking around the ISV stands to see what add-on solutions are out there and catching up with partners that I’m signed up with. Lunchtimes are often spent the same way, grab some food then go hunting for a particular partner.
The sessions are scheduled into appropriate size rooms and if particular sessions look like they will have a lot of attendees they sometimes move sessions around.
Top tip 6 – regularly check the app for your next session so you know where to head. If a session is changed this is where you’ll find out about it.
The Evenings
When the sessions finish at 6 the conference centre stays open to allow for networking and further perusing the ISV stands. But there are also offsite events being run. On the Wednesday there are usually a number of different events that ISVs host. I was invited to a meal in the city centre so at 6 caught the metro from the conference centre, a quick change in the hotel and continued on to the restaurant for a 7pm start.
Arriving at the restaurant I realised I didn’t know a single person at the meal, thankfully the super friendly UK partner manager recognised me instantly came and grabbed me, introduced me to a number of people from Germany, Spain, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. A truly international experience. My German doesn’t extend beyond ordering beers and currywurst and asking where the train station is. My Spanish, Danish and Faroese is non-existent. Thankfully as is always the way, they all spoke English and put me to shame. Entschuldigung.
A fantastic meal ensued and I ticked off Wiener Schnitzel and Sachertorte from my Viennese culinary wish list.
By 10pm everyone started to say their goodbyes and the prospect of an early night reared its head. Thankfully the metro is super-efficient and regular so I was back at the hotel by 10.30. Marvellous. Unfortunately, certain hotels like to put form over function and contain more granite and marble than you can shake a stick at, all hard edges that reflect sound from every person coming back noisily through the night, most of them Directions attendees. You know who you are.
Top tip 7 – always carry a pair of ear plugs.
Thursday evening is the big one – The Community Party (capitals mandatory). A spectacular extravaganza for 3000+ people usually in a quirky location. This time it was in METAStadt and spread across two huge industrial buildings with a courtyard in the middle. I had my laptop with me and didn’t fancy taking it to the event so when the final session finished, I raced back to the hotel, dropped it off, quick change and back to the conference centre by 7. A brief catch up with a few people I’d not had much of a chance to talk to and then queue for one of the armada of coaches that takes everyone to the event.
Once there I immediately saw a few people I knew so more catching up and then off to find some food. Unfortunately, a bit of a queue but worth it. The selection was amazing; Austrian sausage van and pizza van outside, inside were buffet tables, Vietnamese food, burgers and chicken schnitzel stands. Lots of choice! Popcorn stalls and sweet stalls were also scattered around to give you a quick fix.
As usual the entertainment was top notch – there was a live band (Dora) whose singer (Dora?) has an amazing voice. There was also a games area, dodgems, casino, basement disco (I didn’t risk it).
There were numerous bars around to help keep everyone hydrated and the curious “Prosecco wall” where ringing a bell made a satin gloved hand emerge with a glass of prosecco – some kind of Austrian kink? Who knows.
The evening was spent bumping into people that I’ve met over the last 20+ years, getting introduced to new people, replenishing plate and glass and continuing the cycle. It was also nice to introduce people to each other when there was potential they could help each other out.
And this is the crux of Directions, the networking potential is huge. I’ve had people new to the channel tell me they just don’t understand how all the partners are on such good terms with each other compared to other parts of the software industry. It’s because most people have different specialisations be that industry or geography. Some are excellent at lead generation and produce more than they can handle, others are amazing at bringing through resource and are willing to assist others to smooth some of their resourcing peaks and troughs.
It got to about 11 and felt time to call it a night, there was still a keynote and a few more sessions to get to on Friday. A quick stop at the sausage van felt appropriate, it wasn’t the worst wurst I’ve had. And then the queue for the coach back to the conference centre.
This was probably the only blip of the event, there seemed to be a huge delay with coaches arriving and we ended up standing in an ever growing crowd for the best part of an hour. I had a very good chat with one of the Microsoft Team, it started out about Copilot and somehow moved via Monty Python onto Rick Wakeman’s “The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” album. I’ll have to put that on my playlist. Maybe.
Eventually we got back to the conference centre, only to find that the Metro stops around midnight. Excellent. Taxi!
The Last Directions Day
The keynote on a Friday is always an interesting one, a mixture of empty seats and zombies. Although perhaps not the worst I’ve ever seen. I suspect Prague 2016 will forever hold that accolade.
Lots of coffee and water throughout the morning, some fanboying at Soren’s 45 tips in 45 minutes and a bit of lunch led on to the last session. Page scripting looks pretty cool. I had to leave at 2 as my flight back was at 5, thankfully the trains all worked smoothly and I got to the airport on time. Only to find out the flight was delayed by an hour.
Filing on to the plane there were lots of recognisable faces and I had one interesting moment when someone came and said hi and that I’d run the bootcamp 6 or 7 years ago where they’d learned about Business Central for the first time. Always nice to be remembered and know that there are people in the channel that I’ve helped in some small way.
Disembarking at Heathrow was surprisingly quick and rushing through Terminal 3 I saw the big sign for “Park and Ride” at Bus Stop 16. Right outside the door of the terminal and there was a bus with “Park and Ride Plus” on it, I jumped on and it departed immediately.
Top Tip 8 – When arriving at Terminal 3 at Heathrow and using Bus Stop 16, “Park and Ride” and “Park and Ride Plus” are completely different services taking you to different long stay car parks which will result in you having to go back to the terminal and catch the correct plus.
It’s a wrap!
I’ve deliberately not focused on the sessions as there are so many others that have done that. It sounds like a lot of fun (and it is) but it’s exhausting and energising in equal measures.
Being there by myself for the first time was especially sapping, I was fortunate to know a huge number of people but there was no default fall back to colleagues. This means that you’re on a constant state of being switched on with little chance to stop and take a breath from 8.30 to late at night. Years ago, when I did a Myers Briggs test, I came out as an ENTJ. If you’re not familiar with the test the E means extrovert but mine was a very small e, barely over the line and socialising/networking starts off fun but can become tiring. Sometimes a quiet corner is required 😊
If you get the chance to go to Directions (or any other similar conference in this industry or others) I would highly recommend it. Take it as an opportunity to learn, to make new connections, refresh old ones, and push yourself out of your comfort zone.
I’m already looking forward to Directions 2025 in Poznan and seeing what that brings.
If I didn’t get a chance to meet up with you at Directions I can only apologise and feel free to get in contact if you think we should do.