Welcome back to The Hot Seat Podcast, the no-nonsense show for Microsoft Partners. In this episode, I sat down with Sarah Lyons, Alliance Partnership Manager at Bill.com, to talk about how to get the most out of Community Summit, an event that can be as overwhelming as it is fun if you show up without a plan.
Sarah is new to Bill.com, but she's certainly not new to the channel, and she's not new to me. We met at Summit, we've hosted parties there together, and I missed her while she was away. She told me this topic is exactly why she came back.
A Conference Is a Game Board
I'd argue Summit is the biggest event of the year for the Dynamics community and the Microsoft channel. It can also be overwhelming for first-timers, end customers, partners, and ISVs alike. You know the feeling: I don't know where to go next.
Sarah's answer starts with who you are and where you sit in your organization. As she put it, "a conference is a game board." Once you know which piece you are, you can build your strategy from there, and the week gets a lot less overwhelming.
If you're working a booth, spend your pre-event time figuring out which customers will be there and inviting them to come see you. If you're on the partner side, schedule every meeting you need before you land, whether that's a formal sit-down, a dinner, or an invitation to the booth.
Walk the Floor Like a COO
Then there's the person who manages their company's ERP. No booth, no need for one. They're there to discover solutions.
Sarah's advice for them is my favorite of the episode. Before you go, make a map of every operational issue your team is dealing with right now, and look at it the way a COO would. Then use the sessions and the show floor to build a strategy you can bring back to your team. Skip that step and, in her words, you'll just be "walking around and putting swag in your pocket."
End users are often a little intimidated by the trade show floor. They're afraid everyone is going to try to sell them something. Here's the other side of that: if I had a pressing operations problem, I'd walk up to the people who say they do ERP and just ask the question. The partners and ISVs on that floor want to help you.
So do the people at the tech medic desks. I've volunteered there myself, and while I'm not sure you want me fixing your CRM, I can always connect you with someone who can.
Know What Your Product Is Called
Something new this year: the Summit app has an AI agent that lets you use prompts to build your schedule and your agenda. I find that interesting, even if I'm old school and still like to scroll through everything before I start asking it questions.
Here's the catch. Summit often groups you by product line, and a lot of end customers don't know what theirs is called. The CE track stands for customer experience, and it often includes Microsoft's marketing automation and CRM tools. But people don't think of it that way. They think, that's my CRM.
So start with the session for first-timers, held right at the beginning of Summit, where they explain the intricacies of the event. Sarah compared showing up unprepared to going into a grocery store without knowing the ingredients your recipe needs. You won't get to everything you came for.
Have Fun, Then Plan Your After Parties
I asked Sarah for her number one piece of advice for a first-timer. Two words: have fun.
She means it as a strategy. When you show up unprepared and overstimulated, it's too overwhelming to get to anything you came to do for your company. Walk in ready to enjoy it and the right people have a way of finding you. Then, she said, the most important part of Summit is making your schedule for which after parties you're going to.
I couldn't agree more. My first Summit was intimidating. I was there by myself and didn't think I knew many people. I still showed up for the cocktail reception on the trade show floor and looked up the parties, because people at Summit are always willing to adopt you. Sarah and I have hosted parties there, and plenty of our guests were people we picked up off the trade show floor and told to come with us.
Sarah's explanation is buyer psychology. The booth is the front-facing, professional side of a conference. The parties are where you really get to know people, and "people make really great business decisions with people they trust."
See You in Nashville
Community Summit runs October 11 to 15 in Nashville, Tennessee, and yes, we'll be taking advantage of the Grand Ole Opry and a whole bunch of fun things. Sarah and I will both be there, and I can't wait to see what she has cooked up at Bill.
If it's your first time, sign up for the first-timer club and the first-timer event. Then go find the Sarahs of the world. They'll solve problems for you, help you, and bring you along to the events you want to be at.
Sarah's motto is that the important decisions all come more successfully when you start off having fun. It's a good one.
