Follow the Noise: Finding Your People at Scottish Summit
Before attendees stepped inside Scottish Summit, they could hear it. Bagpipes carried across Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland, growing louder as people approached the entrance. A bag piper and drummer welcomed attendees before leading the keynote speaker onstage. “Follow the noise,” as MVP Zoe Wilson put it. Inside, the invitation was bigger than a day of technology sessions. AI is changing rapidly. Products, platforms, and skills keep evolving. But people still want to learn together, build together, help someone else get started, and find somewhere they belong. Scottish Summit made room for all of that. Building a place to belong For Microsoft MVPs Matt Beard and Zoe Wilson, leading Scottish Summit meant carrying forward a welcome they had experienced themselves. Zoe first spoke there in 2020, at one of her earliest in-person speaking events. She remembers strangers being friendly and a feeling that stayed with her long after the sessions ended. Zoe Wilson (MVP) and Matt Beard (MVP) “But it was the 1st place that felt like home.” - Zoe Wilson, Microsoft MVP That feeling helped motivate her to volunteer and become more involved. In 2026, she and Matt led the organizing team at Murrayfield. The challenge was real: neither had visited the venue beforehand. Photos and a teammate nearby helped them plan from a distance. They accepted the handover as an opportunity to test themselves, while relying on a wider team to bring the event together. Several Scottish Summit organizers are also Microsoft MVPs, including Matt Beard, Zoe Wilson, Mike Hartley, Rex de Koning, Sara Fennah, and Areti Iles. Together with the wider organizing team and volunteers, they help turn a shared love of technology into a place for people to learn and connect. That care is felt by the people who attend. As Microsoft MVP Matt Collins-Jones puts it, “Scottish Summit feels different than other tech conferences because it's run by a small group of community people who genuinely care if you have a good time.” AI was part of that work, too, helping behind the scenes with the website and other preparations. Onstage, GitHub’s Vice President of Developer Relations Martin Woodward delivered the keynote “Building with Heart in the Age of AI.” Across Dynamics 365, Power Platform, Microsoft 365, and Azure, the event brought people together to make sense of changing technology. “And I think AI has helped more people help more people.” - Matt Beard, Microsoft MVP For Matt, that possibility includes helping more people turn ideas into tools they can share. Zoe sees technology boundaries blurring and more reasons to exchange experience across specialties. The tools may change, but the purpose remains wonderfully familiar: learn something, make something useful, and help someone else along the way. “In the age of AI, I believe community is more important than ever because of real human connection and conversation.” - Edine Olijve-Watkinson, Microsoft MVP The welcome comes full circle Zoe’s journey from newer speaker to event leader gives belonging a human face. A welcome can become a reason to create that same experience for someone else. She encourages newcomers to consider volunteering as well as speaking; Scottish Summit welcomes contributors who are not MVPs, too. That sense of welcome resonated with Microsoft MVP Kevin McDonnell, too: “Scottish Summit feels different from other tech conferences because it places the human aspect front and centre. I heard so many stories from people inspired to join the community from previous Scottish Summits and I so hope that this year’s event has the same impact.” For Microsoft MVP Melissa Hale, that sense of belonging goes hand in hand with discovery: “I keep coming back to community events like Scottish Summit because they give me dedicated time and space to learn new and interesting things, while being surrounded by the most incredible, kind and smart people!” Matt and Zoe’s friendship tells a similar story. Matt recalled that they barely knew each other before organizing Scottish Summit. Their work sits in different technology areas, but volunteering together connected them. “I made some of my best friends through working up for these events and it happens across the whole community.” - Matt Beard, Microsoft MVP Microsoft MVP Edine Olijve-Watkinson captures that spirit simply: “If I had to describe Scottish Summit in three words, they would be inclusion, friendship, sharing.” They also brought an honest conversation about loss, illness, and support into the program. People do not stop being people at a technology conference. Community is not an extra here; it makes the conference possible. “I keep coming back to community events like Scottish Summit to see my friends who have become family, even though we live in different parts of the world!” - Lindsay Shelton, Microsoft MVP Kevin McDonnell (MVP), Zoe Wilson (MVP) and Daniel Laskewitz (Cloud Advocate at Microsoft) A moment to take it all in At the evening celebration, Microsoft Cloud Advocate April Dunnam performed an acoustic set. Matt stepped back and watched people standing together, singing. “We pulled all these weird strings all together in this one room right now and it just works.” - Matt Beard, Microsoft MVP Explore Scottish Summit, share what makes your community feel welcoming, or help someone take their first step into yours. What began with bagpipes drawing people toward an entrance ended with music bringing them together. The technology will keep changing. The invitation to belong is worth keeping. Want to Learn More About the MVP Program? 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