Welcome to Ignite 2016!

It’s here! We’ve all had to wait a little longer than usual for our yearly conference fix since Ignite in May last year, but the wait is finally over and here I am on the eve of Ignite 2016 in my hotel room in Atlanta. There are so many great speakers this year so I wanted to put together a short post listing some of them and highlighting some of the great Office 365 and Exchange sessions that I am personally looking forward to attending.

Monday:

  • Take control of your security and compliance with Office 365 (THR1003) - Caroline Shin: 12:30pm - 12:50pm, Microsoft Theater 4
  • Design global voice deployments with Skype for Business (THR3057) - Ståle Hansen: 1:30pm - 1:50pm, MVP Hub Talk 1
  • Learn how Microsoft IT governs SharePoint Online and Office 365 Groups (THR2031) - David Johnson: 5:40pm - 6:00pm, Microsoft Theater 4

Tuesday:

  • Debate the top 10 reasons not to move your Exchange on-premises mailboxes to Exchange Online (BRK2215) - Greg Taylor, Tony Redmond, Steve Conn: 9:00am - 10:15am, B401 – B402
  • Experience Scott Schnoll's Exchange tips and tricks (BRK3253) - Scott Schnoll: 10:45am - 12:00pm, B401 – B402
  • Meet twin sons of different mothers - Exchange Engineers and Exchange MVPs (BRK2219) - Tony Redmond, Jeff Mealiffe, Andrew Higginbotham, Jeff Guillet, Karim Batthish :12:30pm - 1:45pm, C112
  • Unplug with the experts on Exchange Server and Exchange Online (BRK2216) - Wendy Wilkes, Greg Taylor, Ross Smith IV, Jeff Mealiffe, Timothy Heeney: 2:15pm - 3:30pm, B401 – B402
  • Access intelligence in the Microsoft Graph and API (BRK3199) - Jon Meling, Andreas Eide: 4:00pm - 5:15pm, A311 – A312

Wednesday:

  • Run Microsoft Exchange Hybrid for the long haul (BRK3217) - Timothy Heeney, Nicolas Blank: 9:00am - 10:15am, Georgia Ballroom
  • Prepare for the future with Windows 10 & Office 365 - better together (THR3061) - Raphael Köllner: 10:20am - 10:40am, Expo Theater 2
  • Explore the ultimate field guide to Microsoft Office 365 Groups (BRK3001) - Tony Redmond, Benjamin Niaulin, Amit Gupta: 10:45am - 12:00pm, Georgia Ballroom
  • Understand the Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Architecture (BRK3221) - Ross Smith IV, Mike Cooper: 12:30pm - 1:45pm, Georgia Ballroom
  • Migrate to Exchange Online via Exchange Hybrid (BRK3219) - Michael Van Horenbeeck, Timothy Heeney - 2:15pm - 3:30pm, Thomas Murphy Ballroom 2&3
  • Design your Exchange infrastructure right (or consider moving to Office 365) (BRK2093) - Adrian Moore, Boris Lokhvitsky, Robert Gillies: 4:00pm - 5:15pm, B312 – B314

Thursday:

  • Deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 (BRK3220) - Jeff Guillet: 9:00am - 10:15am, Sidney Marcus Auditorium
  • Unplug with the experts on Microsoft Exchange Top Issues (BRK3000) - Nino Bilic, Nasir Ali, Amir Haque, Shawn McGrath, Timothy Heeney, Scott Landry, Gabe Bratton, Angela Taylor: 10:45am - 12:00pm, B401 – B402
  • Investigate tools and techniques for Exchange Performance Troubleshooting (BRK3007) - Jeff Mealiffe, Nasir Ali: 12:30pm - 1:45pm, Georgia Ballroom
  • Automate Exchange deployment with Powershell Desired State Configuration (THR3040) - Ingo Gegenwarth: 2:10pm - 2:30pm, Expo Theater 2
  • Deploy Microsoft Office 365 Client using Configuration Manager (BRK3002) - Amesh Mansukhani, Doug Davis: 4:30pm - 5:15pm, B211 – B212

There is so much great content this year that conflicts are inevitable. Many sessions are repeated throughout the conference, especially on Friday so be sure to look at the alternate times if you are torn between two sessions that are scheduled at the same time.

Outside of the content, there are a bunch of activities taking place this year. ENow Software will once again host one of their legendary “Scheduled Maintenance” parties,  these are usually one of the must-attend events of any conference but are for registered guests only so hopefully you have already registered. QUADROtech has put an interesting spin on the Pokemon Go craze with their “QTmon” competition where contestants have the chance to win $2,220 in cash. Tony Redmond has a great post about this on his blog here, you can also visit this QUADROtech page for more info.

Enjoy the week!