By now you might have seen the video released Feb 17th where Buck Woody (t) explains everything that the Microsoft Data Platform is doing to empower the community. If not, you can catch that here.
When PASS announced that it would cease operations on January 15, 2021, I think we all wondered "What now?" Microsoft recognizes that local user groups are the life blood of the Data Community. User groups are vital to networking, people's careers and the overall community. Our philosophy is that these groups should be Community-owned, and Microsoft-empowered. To that end, we've created a series of assets, resources, and benefits for your local Community Group Leader to run your group.
Interested group leaders can find out more about what Microsoft is offering fill out the form linked here.
What is Microsoft offering to qualified groups?
- A Community Landing Page to find a user group, upcoming events, community blogs, etc.
- Meetup fees, fully paid for by Microsoft, with a centralized way to find groups in the Data Community that are part of the Azure Data Tech Groups network.
- Full Microsoft Teams subscriptions with all the bells & whistles for qualified Community Groups
- Community Leader Collaboration (via Teams & Meetup)
What is a qualified group?
1.
Have
a group leader and a designated co-leader who have each accepted these
T&Cs.
2.
Not
charge other members a fee to attend Group meetings, except in cases in which
the venue and/or hosting costs (e.g., food and beverages) are passed through to
members.
3.
Maintain
a published code of conduct that is easily accessible from the Group’s home
page. See guidance https://aka.ms/atg/guidance.
5.
Comply
with Program’s Code of Conduct located at https://aka.ms/atg/code_of_conduct.
6. Adhere to Microsoft’s Trademark and Brand guidelines, when using any Microsoft trademarks or referring to Microsoft’s software, products or services (see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general.aspx.
What
technologies does my local group need to focus on for my group leader to
qualify for benefits?
SQL Server (on Windows, Linux, and in Containers, on-premises and
in Microsoft Azure)
Azure Data Lake
Azure Cosmos DB
Azure HDInsight, Hadoop and Spark on Azure
Azure Search
Data Warehousing (Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Fast Track and APS)
Azure Stream Analytics
Cortana Intelligence Suite
Information Management (ADF, SSIS, and Data Sync)
SQL Server Reporting Services and Analysis Services
SQL Server Machine Learning Services
Azure Database for MySQL
Azure Database for PostgreSQL
Azure SQL (Database, Pools, Serverless, Hyperscale, Managed Instance,
Virtual Machines)
Azure SQL Edge
Big Data Clusters
Azure Databricks
Azure Arc Enabled Data Services
Azure Synapse Analytics
Azure Data Catalog
