Following a short break from the events circuit, our SharePoint superstar Paul Hunt is back with a bang as he is named as a confirmed speaker for the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2020.
Paul, who is Principal Consultant for Office 365 at Trustmarque, and a four-time awarded Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional), will join top-class speakers from around the world at what Microsoft bills as ‘the largest conference dedicated to SharePoint and Microsoft 365′.
Despite being a regular speaker at SharePoint Saturdays and other high-profile events, Paul says it is a sort of dream come true to be invited to speak at the premiere Microsoft event, which will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on 19 & 20 May 2020.
Paul Hunt, Principal Consultant for Office 365, Trustmarque
“It has been a personal goal to speak in North America at one of the Microsoft conferences.”
He commented: “Having attended these sorts of conferences in the States since 2009, it has been a personal goal to speak in North America at one of the Microsoft conferences. I’ve spoken at events all around Europe, but this feels like a huge personal achievement.”
What topics will he bring to the table at the SharePoint Conference?
Paul will deliver a session on ‘Exploring Conditional Access to Content Stored in Office 365′, which will help Office 365 users learn how to leverage access control capabilities.
“As organisations, we need to change the way we approach the perimeter and security. We need to evolve from the fortress mentality and understand that users need flexibility, which we should protect accordingly. Otherwise, users will act themselves which introduces the significant complications of Shadow IT,” he explains.
Paul’s invitation to speak at the SharePoint Conference 2020 is testament to his reputation within the SharePoint community. He has been working with SharePoint since 2003 and an active member of the community for more than 12 years. He is one of the co-organisers of the SharePoint User Group UK – London Region and can often be found at user group events around the UK and Europe as both speaker and attendee. He is also co-organiser of the combined SQL and SharePoint Saturday Cambridge event held in the Autumn.
“I started learning by reading blogs and going to events and I leeched that knowledge for the first five or six years of my career. Then, I got to the point that I wanted to give back.”
Paul sees the community as a way to “give something back”. He explains: “I came from a non-Microsoft background (an engineer) but was given an opportunity to start working with Microsoft technology. I started learning by reading blogs and going to events and I leeched that knowledge for the first five or six years of my career. Then, I got to the point that I wanted to give back.”
Paul added what he likes best about going to events based around the world is being exposed to different people and different work cultures, which he tries to learn and grow from, as well as share with his peers at Trustmarque and the wider IT community.
Sharing his unique experiences and how technology has been a ‘lifesaver’
In addition to the SharePoint Conference, Paul is also confirmed to speak at two upcoming events in Helsinki, Finland – see below for details. This will be Paul’s first time back in the Finnish capital since he experienced a serious health scare there in late 2019. The incident, which involved him narrowly escaping a heart attack by hitching a ride on an app-based rental scooter, is something he is keen to share with others and will likely feature in his event presentations.
“Without that scooter, and the technology that enables it, I would probably have been having a heart attack in a back alley with a 1-2% survival rate,” claims Paul.
You can read about his experience in this post on Paul’s personal blog site: The Time a Disruptive Technology Saved my Life
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By Katherine Murphy, content enthusiast
