Summary: Microsoft PowerShell MVP, Will Anderson, talks about his first Windows PowerShell Summit.

Microsoft Scripting Guy, Ed Wilson, is here. Wow! What a week…or part of a week. Windows PowerShell Summit North America 2015 was here in Charlotte, NC this past week. The Scripting Wife and I met a lot of new people and made new friends. One of these friends is a brand new Windows PowerShell MVP, Will Anderson. Will wrote a blog post about his time here in Charlotte. First a little about Will…

Will Anderson is a thirteen-year infrastructure veteran with a specialization in patch management, compliance, and System Center Configuration Manager. Working in environments ranging from 80 users to over 150,000, Will has acquired knowledge about a broad range of products and service lines, ranging from Exchange Server, Active Directory, and Group Policy, to the operating system platforms and a variety of applications.

In recent years, he's become quite the nerd about Windows PowerShell, and he blogs about the latest cool things he finds or creates to make his life as an admin and engineer easier. You can find him on PowerShell.org as a moderator, webmaster, and occasional writer for the PowerShell TechLetter. He is also a cofounder of the Toronto PowerShell Users Group (PowerShellTO) and a member of the Association for Windows PowerShell Professionals.

Will received his first Microsoft MVP in 2015 for Windows PowerShell. You can find him at various places on the Internet, including PowerShellTO, PowerShell.org, Twitter, and his personal blog: Last Word in Nerd.

Here’s Will…

Greetings fellow scripters! Ed Wilson was gracious enough to let me take the reins for a session on the Hey! Scripting Guy! Blog so I can tell you about my experience at the greatest Windows PowerShell community gathering in North America—the Windows PowerShell Summit!

Last week, the third annual Windows PowerShell Summit North America took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. I, like many of my fellow Windows PowerShell enthusiasts, headed to the Microsoft campus with the purpose of meeting like-minded individuals to discuss everything PowerShell. The Summit, it would turn out, would be one of the most educational experiences that I’ve ever had the pleasure to attend.

Desired State Configuration and the Nano Server announcement were obviously the hottest conversation topics at the Summit, but there were a lot of topics for Windows PowerShell lovers of all skill levels to enjoy. Some of my favorite topics were:

• Dave Wyatt’s discussion, Keeping Secrets, where he discusses methods of encrypting data inside the shell
• Jason Helmick’s presentation, Deploying PowerShell Web Access with DSC
• Of course, our very own Scripting Guy’s demonstration, Normalizing Data with PowerShell

Members of the Windows PowerShell team and Jeffrey Snover were present at the Summit. Often they would sit down with us and discuss our challenges and inputs into their product. Like us, they were enthusiastic about the waves that the technologies living on top of Windows PowerShell are making, and the culture of innovation and automation that it is driving. They listened to and considered every idea and issue with careful thought and enthusiasm. I tell you that nothing makes you more proud of being part of a community that supports a product more than knowing your opinion matters to the people making it!

What I found most enjoyable, however, was being given the opportunities to meet with so many of my peers—many of whom I had talked to on a regular basis through social media or on the PowerShell.org forums. Being able to put a voice and face to the names and to sit down over coffee and discuss our past accomplishments, current challenges, and future aspirations was a value-add on par with all of the fantastic speaker engagements we attended.

Every attendee, be they a Windows PowerShell developer, a Microsoft MVP, or a hard-core enthusiast, took an equal part in the conversations. I can safely say that everyone involved walked away from the Windows PowerShell Summit more enlightened, more knowledgeable, and more proud to be a part of the community.

If you’re looking for a real value-add experience to attend next year, I highly recommend the Windows PowerShell Summits in North America or Europe. The knowledge, experience, and memories that you will gain from going will last you a lifetime! In the meantime, you can take a look at this year’s sessions on the PowerShell.org YouTube channel. Also, keep your eyes on PowerShell.org for announcements about both Summits. Hope to see you next year!

~Will

Thanks Will. It was a pleasure to meet you, and we look forward to seeing you again.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Facebook. If you have any questions, send email to me at scripter@microsoft.com, or post your questions on the Official Scripting Guys Forum. See you tomorrow. Until then, peace.

Ed Wilson, Microsoft Scripting Guy