On July 10th, I received my 10th MVP Award! 🤩 I became a Microsoft Data Platform MVP 2024-2025 in the Data Integration and Microsoft Fabric technology areas 🤓

(My puppy, Pixel, couldn’t care less. But she’s really cute! So I decided to pose with her instead of a piece of MVP swag 😁)

10 years. Ten. Years. Holy moly. I still remember the thrill and panic of receiving my first MVP Award. Back then, I felt like I didn’t really deserve an award. I saw myself as a shy nobody, definitely not a most valuable professional! But I was also proud and extremely grateful to be recognized for what I had done for my local community.

I’m no longer shy and I no longer think I’m a nobody, but I’m still extremely grateful for the recognition. I don’t take it for granted, even after 10 years. Or perhaps I should say especially not after 10 years, because a Microsoft MVP award doesn’t come for free. It takes time, energy, sometimes money, and occasionally some literal sweat and tears. (Hopefully not a lot of blood, though!)

In return, the stamp of approval from Microsoft has opened doors and opportunities I could only have dreamed of. I’ve forged a career I love, found some of my best friends, helped countless people in their daily jobs, and inspired others. Most importantly, I’ve grown so much as a person through this journey.

What’s next?

Over the past 10 years, tech and community has been my life. I’ve called myself a full-time geek, working with Microsoft tech during the day and having fun speaking, blogging, volunteering, and organizing community events focused on Microsoft tech in my free time. It’s been fun trying to explain to those outside of our community bubble that yes, I’m doing this techy thing, but no, it’s not work, but it’s technically what I work with, but it’s also my hobby, and… you get the point 😂

I’ve loved it. It’s been a helluva ride.

But you see that cute little teddy bear in the picture? Pixel? She is the most important thing in my life now. I’ve been dreaming of and longing for a pet for 15 years. It was just never the right time… until this year. Pixel has made my life so. much. better. I love her with all my heart 🥰

I’m not stepping away from the community, but maybe like… a step to the side? There are still events I won’t miss, knowledge I want to share, and people around the world I might be able to help in some way. But tech and community won’t be my entire life going forward. And I think that’s a good thing. It feels right.

See you soon, somewhere 💙

On Monday, April 15th, 2024, I will be speaking alongside Scott Sewell at Microsoft BI Professionals Denmark (MsBIP) 🥳

Scott will be talking about the topics closest to his heart: Dynamics 365 and Dataverse, and their integration into Microsoft Fabric. I’m actually really excited that I get to attend his talk, because one of my clients are getting close to migrating from Synapse, Synapse Link for Dataverse and Power BI into Fabric! 🤩

And I will be talking about the topics closest to my heart: Data Factory in Fabric 🥰 Read more about our topics below.

My awesome coworkers in Evidi Denmark are hosting the meeting in the AI Innovation House in Vejle. We’ll be hanging out in Quantum, a really cool 360° room! 🤯 I’m excited to hang out with my team during the day, and meeting the community during the evening. This is going to be a great day!

You can find all the information on the MsBIP page for Meeting #82. I hope you were able to sign up and that I get to meet you there!

On Tuesday, October 10th, 2023, I will be speaking at AdaCon 2023 🥳

The amazing Patricia Aas started the Ada Lovelace Day mini-conference in 2019. Back then, there were a few large Women In Tech groups and events in Norway, but they mainly celebrated women in management and leadership positions in tech-focused companies. Patricia wanted to celebrate Women doing Tech, and created the mini-conference to give coders, developers, engineers and everyone else working hands-on with tech an arena to share their knowledge. This year, the event has been rebranded to AdaCon and expanded to celebrate all groups that are underrepresented in tech 👏🏻

I will be presenting a session called Website Analytics in My Pocket using Microsoft Fabric. This is a brand new session, and I’m super excited to finally be able to play around with Power BI! 🤓

You can find the schedule and full agenda on the AdaCon website. This is going to be an important and inspiring day full of learning, so I hope to see you there! 💙

On Wednesday, June 21st, 2023, I will be participating in the Microsoft Fabric AMA (Ask Me Anything) hosted by Microsoft Data Platform User Group Norway.

Microsoft Fabric was launched in public preview in May. It was called the greatest invention since SQL Server and promises to simplify analytics for everyone. Microsoft used Build, one of its flagship events, to launch Microsoft Fabric to much fanfare - and surrounded by lots of hype. But is the hype real?

Register for the event on Meetup 🤓

Microsoft Fabric AMA (Ask Me Anything) with ALL the Norwegian MVPs!

For the first time ever, all the Microsoft Data Platform MVPs from Norway will be on stage together. I’m so excited! 🤩 We have all kinds of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives and opinions, and this is your chance to ask all your difficult questions. Or all your basic questions, there are no “dumb” questions!

You’re also welcome to join us for a little summer gathering after the event. We’ll enjoy something cold to drink, chat, network, and have fun! Hope to see you there 🥳

On Friday, May 5th, 2023, I will be speaking at the Data Platform WIT/DEI Mental Health and Wellness Day. This is a free, virtual, all-day event for anyone working in technology. Topics range from dealing with stress, burnout, depression or chronic pain, to working in tech as a queer or neurodiverse person.

I will be presenting a session called Stressed, Depressed, or Burned Out? The Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore. This is a deeply personal session based on my own experiences from the past decade, and it’s one of the few sessions I can’t and don’t want to rehearse. It won’t be an hour of incoherent rambling (don’t worry! 😉) but it will be fairly raw and unfiltered.

You can find the schedule and full agenda on the Data Platform Women in Tech website.