Discussion with Sam Marshall (@sammarshall), owner and lead consultant at ClearBox Consulting (https://www.clearbox.co.uk/), and creator of the SharePoint intranets-in-a-box report, hosted by CollabTalk Founder & CEO Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), on the state of the intranets category, the continued growth in the number of vendors with intranet solutions, and the sustained growth of SharePoint.

Episode 5 of this Microsoft employee-focused interview series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Chris Bortlik (@cbortlik), a Principal Technical Architect at the Microsoft Technology Center in Boston, and a long-time external community leader in the SharePoint, Office 365, and Power Platform spaces. Recorded in January 2020.

In this episode, Chris and I discuss his role, and the just what goes on behind closed doors at the 15 Microsoft Technology Centers in the US, and many more around the world, including hosting a number of community events, such as SharePoint Saturday and the forthcoming Teams Thursday Boston, which Chris is helping to organize.

You can also watch this interview in its entirety on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/efZUbOwKZLM

Episode 75 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and fellow Office Apps & Services MVP, Sue Hanley (@susanhanley), business analyst and information architecture consultant, governance and IA expert, and principal of Susan Hanley LLC, based in Bethesda, Maryland.

In this episode, Sue and I talk about the state of governance and information architecture within the modern organization -- specifically looking at organizations that are rapidly adopting Microsoft Teams. We also talk about the transition from focusing largely on SharePoint to the expanded M365 platform, and whether organizations have learned from the governance and change management mistakes of the past.

You can also watch this episode on the CollabTalk YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/BTo3QwEqrQY

Episode 74 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and fellow Office Apps & Services MVP, Paul Stork (@pstork), principal of Don't Pa..Panic Consulting based in Cleveland, Ohio. Recorded in December 2019.

In this episode, Paul and I discuss the evolution of his subject-matter expertise in the community from SharePoint to PowerApps and Automate, and the changes he sees in customer requirements around SharePoint and Office 365.

You can also watch this entire episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/I5f0WpZyEMk

Episode 73 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and fellow Office Apps & Services MVP, Loryan Strant (@loryanstrant), an independent consultant and long-time SharePoint, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams author and speaker. Recorded in December 2019.

In this episode, Loryan and I dig into the meaty topic of Governance, and talk about some of the learnings from our SharePoint backgrounds and how they apply in a Microsoft Teams world, and he shares some stories about where he sees organizations still failing to learn from the past.

You can also watch this episode in its entirety on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/OWAKiBEWIvI

Episode 72 of the #MVPbuzzChat series. Conversation between Microsoft Regional Director and MVP Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC, and Business Applications MVP, Sandy Ussia (@sandyu), long-time SharePoint and Office 365 speaker, and the Technical Evangelist for Lightning Tools. Recorded in December 2019.

In this episode, Sandy and I discuss her participation in the SharePoint and Power Automate (Flow) communities, her global wanderings, and her advice for people who want to get started in the Power Automate community but don't know where to begin.

You can also watch this episode on the CollabTalk YouTube page at https://youtu.be/LLZuGfrtV0I

Discussion with fellow MVPs Tracy Van der Schyff (@tracyvds), Principal at The GUID Stuff, Eric Riz (@rizinsights), Founder & CEO of Empty Cubicle, and Bruno Capuano (@elbruno), Innovation Lead at Avanade, discussing the idea that a strong / healthy culture can have a positive impact on innovation, and actually increase and improve employee output. Hosted by CollabTalk Founder & CEO Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), and recorded in November 2019 from Microsoft Ignite (#MSIgnite) Podcast Center.

Discussion with Eric Harlan (@ericharlan), Microsoft PFE, Susan Lennon (@susanlennon), former Principal Consultant (retired) at Microsoft, and Andy Huneycutt (@andyhuneycutt), a Senior IT Trainer at Fortis College. Eric and Susan are two of the founders of the global SharePoint Saturday organization (SPSevents.org) and huge supporters of community-driven events and user groups, and like me, Andy is a SPS organizer and user group board member. This recording was following an "unconference" breakout at Microsoft Ignite on the topic of community building. Hosted by CollabTalk Founder & CEO Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), and recorded in November 2019 from Microsoft Ignite (#MSIgnite) Podcast Center.

Discussion with Greg McMurray (@goyuix), a senior software engineer and the president of three (yes 3!) Utah-based user groups (SharePoint, Dynamics, and PowerApps), on the creation of the Microsoft User Group Utah (MUGUT) organization as a way to cross-promote Microsoft events and UG activities across the community. Hosted by CollabTalk Founder & CEO Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), and recorded in November 2019 from Microsoft Ignite (#MSIgnite) Podcast Center.

Discussion with Alistair Pugin (@alistairpugin), Martina Grom (@magrom), Stephanie Donahue (@stephkdonahue), and Treb Gatte (@tgatte) on what it takes to become a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) or RD (Regional Director). Hosted by CollabTalk Founder & CEO Christian Buckley (@buckleyplanet), and recorded in November 2019 from Microsoft Ignite (#MSIgnite) Podcast Center.