I may be a bit biased; in my younger years, I toured Ireland a couple of times and somehow fell in love with the people of this beautiful country. During all the ESPCs I have attended, I enjoyed the same kindness and dedication from the ESPC Team, which is based in Galway.

Table of Contents

Time & Duration

The ESPC takes place a couple of weeks after the Microsoft Ignite conference, generally between the end of November and the beginning of December. This perfect timing makes the ESPC the natural arm of Microsoft announcements in Europe.

While it is not a replacement for Microsoft Ignite, the strong presence of Microsoft makes it a very good and affordable alternative.

The conference lasts 4 days, and you are free to mix and match your conference days and duration as you like:

  • The first day is a tutorial day where you have the opportunity to focus on one theme or area.
  • The other three days are packed with numerous sessions.

The Content

The ESPC Programme Team is composed of various MVPs responsible for selecting and balancing a cocktail of sessions. They do a great job because, despite the SharePoint in the conference name, you will find interesting sessions covering a broad range of topics. I’ve put a short (!) overview here; the list is non-exhaustive, and all the technologies or products listed were part of at least one session:

  • Azure: Vision & ML, Developer CLI, Bicep, Cosmos DB, OpenAI
  • Microsoft Teams: Administration, App Development, frontline workers, Premium, AI Kit
  • Microsoft Viva: Connections, Amplify, Engage
  • SharePoint: Intranet, Premium, Embedded, SPFx, API
  • Power Platform: Apps, Power Platform ALM, Power Pages, Copilot Studio, No-/Low-Code vs Pro-Code
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot: Agents, Pages
  • Microsoft Products: Entra ID, SSE, Sentinel, Graph, Fabric, Search, Loop, Planner, Mesh, Backup & Archive, OneDrive
  • And: PnP PowerShell, Prompting, Governance, Semantic Kernel, OpenID & OAuth 2.0, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions & Playwright, Quantum Computing, Hacking, Adoption

From the list above, you can see that it’s not only about SharePoint but the whole Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystem. The ESPC goes a bit further with presentations in areas of general interest, like Quantum Computing, which are always very interesting.

The Goodies

I will not write about the giveaways you receive as an attendee, but about what the ESPC offers in addition to the numerous sessions:

  • The Expo: No conference is complete without sponsors. Getting in touch with all the smart companies building products to make Microsoft 365 more efficient is great.
  • The Inspire Stage: A lot of demos and good talks you can participate in.
  • The Community Area: The right place to meet up and network.
  • The Microsoft Corner: It’s more than just a corner and a good way to get in touch with Microsoft representatives.

The Organization

The ESPC is very well and professionally organized. You will find the support team everywhere, ready to assist you or guide you to the next session.

Saving Tip

Sometimes between January and February, there is a day when you can grab two tickets for the price of one. That’s a very smart way to get tickets at a significant discount.
If you miss this day, try to book as early as possible, as prices will increase over time.

My Personal Takeaways

SharPen

Attending the ESPC is a great way to sharpen my skills in various areas and get additional information about where the tech is going.

Extend Your Horizon

I always attend a couple of sessions that are not directly tied to technologies or projects I am currently focused on. This is a good way to expand my horizons and get fresh ideas.

Network

Most developers are introverts, and I am no exception. The ESPC is a good way to connect with various people and create personal connections.

Conclusion

In my daily job as a developer, orchestrating software development and achieving the best results requires a lot of dedication. The ESPC is very well organized and a success not by chance but as a result of the experience and dedication of the ESPC team & program team. Thank you!