Australian MVPs Reunite at Reactor Sydney

This month, The MVP Blog is shining a spotlight on some of the MVP community’s local initiatives around the world.

Two and a half years into the pandemic and numerous lockdowns later, the MVP community in Sydney, Australia, wanted to come together at the Reactor Sydney Open Night on Friday, May 6. 

The evening provided an exceptional opportunity to thank MVPs and Regional Directors (RDs) for their support, celebrate community achievements, catch up with old friends and meet new, friendly faces. 

The Reactor team welcomed the evening, while also hosting members of the local Azure Sydney User Group to support the launch of Global Azure Day (May 7) led by community leaders Sam Alavi and AI MVP Arafat Tehsin. 

Many Microsoft employees from across the company, including the Microsoft Technology Centre (MTC) and Developer Relations, also attended the community event.

"At a time when we are dealing with lockdowns and virtual fatigue, I want to bring community engagement to the forefront," said Elizabeth Papparlado, the new Community Program Manager for the MVP.

Discussions dived into various topics, including how to pull the community back together and some technical chats on #cloudnative apps, #containers, and #kubernetes.

The event served as a great opportunity to personally connect with local MVPs and RDs, the user groups, and various Microsoft teams.

"I enjoyed personally meeting the 25 MVPs and RDs who were able to attend,” Elizabeth says. “The mood in the room was energetic. There was a lot of laughter and good conversation. I hope we can meet in person and celebrate more often in the future. Thank you to the Reactor for inviting me.”

MVPs who want to speak at a Reactor event or share their knowledge in person or virtually can do so. The community is always looking for speakers and is interested in hosting the next community event. Contact Elizabeth Pappalardo at epappalardo@microsoft.com for more information.

MVP profile details as of June 1, 2022.