I went speaking at Azure Day Poland

Today I was presenting in Poland. More specifically in Warsaw at the Microsoft building for Azure Day Poland. It was a well organized event with a great atmosphere. Polish people seem to like making fun as there was a lot of laughter during the opening keynote, especially when someone tried to sneak in while being (fashionably?) late.

The session I gave went well and the audience apparently loved it as I got several very good questions during the session and several lengthy discussions on how I would try to solve specific problems with (chat)bots. Also the parts of cognitive services and adaptive cards were well received.

Some impressions about the day itself

You created a #bot, you think that you predicted all the questions people might ask you. And then someone writes: „I wanna commit a suicide”.
Thanks @KrisvanderMast for very interesting presentation!#AzureDayPl #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/ZTI5H7O6Du

— Ela Mościcka (@ElaMoscicka) March 23, 2018

Why I ❤️ attending #tech events? I get a chance to meet people I knew from #socialmedia in person!@KrisvanderMast & @Salma_h , it was really nice to meet you, thank you for interesting discussions and enjoy your stay in #Warsaw🤗#AzureDayPl pic.twitter.com/DWVALHX6gD

— Ela Mościcka (@ElaMoscicka) March 23, 2018

What I liked about the event was the speaker gift: a couple of extra nights in the hotel so that I could get to know the city a bit better with my wife (she was also attending the conference and loved meeting up with a lot of great people).

On Saturday we stayed talking with some other couples (of speakers) and in the afternoon were invited by the organizers (and their significant others) to explore the old city. On Sunday we went to the Copernicus Science Centre and after a good meal in a local restaurant took our flight back to Belgium.

I loved the atmosphere at the conference, the people, the friendlyness and my wife and I hope to see Warsaw again soon as we both liked the city a lot.

Kris.