I’m writing this from 37,000 feet, somewhere over the middle of the country, on my way home from the Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond, Washington. My laptop battery is at 61%, my sleep debt is considerable, and my brain is absolutely full. In the best way.
Every year, the MVP Summit reminds me why this community matters so much, and this year was no exception.
The Elephant in the Room: NDA
Let’s address this upfront. The vast majority of what gets discussed at the MVP Summit is under NDA. What happens in Redmond stays in Redmond.
So if you are hoping for a deep dive into what Microsoft is building, what they showed us behind closed doors, or what the next version of anything looks like, I genuinely cannot help you there. What I can tell you is that there were many sessions on AI. Like, a lot.
I really enjoyed hearing about [REDACTED], and [REDACTED], and also [REDACTED].
In all seriousness, though, the sessions on what Microsoft is working on were genuinely impressive. I left with real confidence that the future is bright. The direction is clear, the teams are thoughtful, and what they are building will matter. That is about as specific as I can get, and I mean it sincerely.
My Favorite Session: The Feedback Roundtable
If I had to pick one highlight from the session content, it was not a keynote or a product demo. It was a feedback session that I suspect does not get the recognition it deserves.
The format was simple: sit down at a table with a group of Microsoft folks and just… talk. What are you working on? What are you trying to accomplish? What is getting in your way? What could be better?
There is something powerful about that kind of conversation. No slides. No scripted demos. Just a direct, honest exchange about the realities of building things with Microsoft technology, what is working, what is frustrating, and where there is room to grow. The people across the table were genuinely listening, asking follow-up questions, and engaging with our answers in ways that made it clear this feedback actually goes somewhere.
Those are the conversations that make the MVP program feel like a partnership rather than a one-way broadcast. More of that, please.
The Real Summit: Conversations in the Hallways (and Bars)
Here is the honest truth about the MVP Summit: as good as the sessions are, the best parts happen outside of them.
The hallway conversations. The dinner tables. The late-night bar tabs. The moments where you end up talking to someone for two hours and realize you just solved a problem you have been stuck on for months, or you learn about a project that completely changes how you think about something.
I will not name names — that feels a bit tacky, honestly, and the conversations were never about the who but about the what. But I will say this: I had the privilege of sitting down with some genuinely remarkable people this week, folks who are doing incredible things both inside and outside of Microsoft, and those conversations were worth the price of the trip on their own.
That is what the MVP Summit is, at its core. Not a conference. A gathering.
The Must-Do List
For those attending a future MVP Summit, here are the things you simply cannot miss.
Dinner at Seastar
Seastar Restaurant in Bellevue is a tradition, and it earns every bit of its reputation. If you are a seafood person, there is no better place to decompress after a long day of sessions. The menu is consistently excellent, and the atmosphere hits exactly the right balance of upscale and relaxed.
And yes — Phil Japikse did get his seared tuna. Those who know, know.
Paddy Coyne’s Irish Pub
Paddy Coyne’s is (at least at one time) the unofficial MVP Summit watering hole, and for good reason. After long days of back-to-back sessions, it is the place where MVPs gather, decompress, and pick up the conversations that started in the hallways.
It also served a very specific purpose for a subset of us this year: as fellow Catholics looking for a fish option on a Friday during Lent, Paddy Coyne’s fish and chips were absolutely the right call. Sometimes the universe just works out.
The Party with Palermo
The Party with Palermo is always one of the highlights of MVP Summit week, and this year it featured very special guests: .NET Rocks!
Congratulations to Carl and Richard
Speaking of .NET Rocks!, this year’s Party with Palermo was the venue for something genuinely historic.
Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell recorded their 2,000th episode of .NET Rocks!
Two. Thousand. Episodes.
For context: .NET Rocks! launched in 2002. Over 20+ years, Carl and Richard have interviewed hundreds of the most important figures in the .NET ecosystem, built one of the longest-running developer podcasts in existence, and, along the way, helped a lot of people fall in love with the platform. The show has influenced careers, introduced technologies, and connected a community across decades of change.
Being in the room for episode 2,000 was genuinely one of those “I’ll remember where I was” moments. Congratulations, Carl and Richard, this is an extraordinary milestone, and you both deserve every bit of the celebration.
A Sincere Thank-You
Events like the MVP Summit do not happen without an enormous amount of behind-the-scenes effort. Scheduling, coordination, logistics, content, hospitality, the list goes on. And all of it requires real people investing real time and energy to make it work.
To every Microsoft employee who contributed to this year’s Summit, thank you. The work you put in creates an experience that genuinely matters to the people who attend, and it shows. The sessions were thoughtful, the spaces were well-organized, and the environment you created made it easy to connect, learn, and contribute.
It is not a small thing to make over a thousand people feel genuinely welcomed and valued for a week. You did that.
Until Next Year
Time to put the laptop down, recline my seat, and get a little rest before landing. There is a week’s worth of normal life waiting to be reclaimed.
But I am heading home energized, full of ideas, and as always deeply grateful to be part of this community.
See you out there.