After nearly six years of working with Microsoft communities I’m sad to make my final post here as an admin of the community. On Monday, March 4th, I will begin the next chapter of my career. It’s been a superbly rewarding experience being a part of this project – seeing scope grow from one product (SharePoint woot woot) to the Office 365 Network to Tech Community and beyond – and I’m humbled by the eager participation, knowledge sharing, and contribution that happens here every day as this community continues to grow in size.
What’s Next?
I’m not going far! I’ll be joining the Microsoft 365 Product Marketing team under @Dan Holme, as the PMM for Yammer + Employee Engagement. In the new role I’ll be working with many of you and will be present at events as well as here on the Microsoft Tech Community.
Shout-Outs
There are WAY to many people who belong on this list – Execs, Managers, MVPs, entire teams, and so on – including the 290k members of this current community who bring value here on a daily basis. But here are a few who deserve to be mentioned by name:
@Anna Chu – We’ve watched the Tech Community grow through thick and thin and had a blast while doing it. Simply put, you rock and are my partner in crime.
@Jeff Medford – For trusting in the community strategy (and me) and tying together community, events, readiness, Diversity & Tech to put the right mix of people in the right place.
@Kady Dundas – For giving me a chance to help build something compelling, being a mentor, keeping me on task, and teaching me to turn a chip on my shoulder into strategic action.
@TechCommunity Team: @Eric Starker, @Dylan Snodgrass @Allen Smith, @Christine Karambelas @John Steckroth, and former team members Lana (the inspiration for this post) + @Maddie_Egan – you are the engine that powers this community and so many channels + programs across Microsoft. You’ve been amazing to work with and will all continue to do amazing things for Microsoft’s stakeholders. I can’t wait to see what’s next for this team, community, and all of you!
The SharePoint Team/Community – Since 2013 the members of this team + community have worked closely with me and made me feel part of the family. SharePoint Conference + Ignite are always the two biggest events on my calendar and it’s because I get the chance to work closely with the team as well as mingle with the die-hard community.
Value of Community – They say you get out of community what you put into it, and I feel spoiled that I have been able to take so much away. There are countless opportunities for anyone who is willing to get involved, talk, ask questions, answer questions, connect with others, and learn. Over the past six years I’ve laughed, cried, skied, danced, hiked, sailed, biked, explored, and grown with members of the Microsoft community. I’ve introduced them to friends and family and vice versa - all while learning about tech, Microsoft products, the world, and myself. If that’s not community, then I don’t know what is. Thank you for everything and see you on the other side.
Stay in touch with me on Twitter and/or LinkedIn! And of course, if you haven't done so already... join the Tech Community!
- Mike Holste
Microsoft Tech Community