D365 Business Central : BC Tech Days 2023

BC Tech Days is an annual Dynamics 365 Business Central tech conference organized by mibuso.com. It brings together people in different industries from around the world with a focus on providing a unique platform for professionals from various industries worldwide to connect, learn, and grow. The conference are held for two days with each session run between 45 to 90 minutes by different speakers in the industry. There are also workshop pre conference, providing an 8 hours deep dive on specific topic.

I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend BC Tech Days 2023, my very first NAV / BC Conference. This year the conference took place on summer from June 22nd to June 23rd in Antwerp, Belgium (28 hours of flight from New Zealand!). There were 42 speakers, 24 conference sessions, and 8 workshop sessions. There were 1090 participants from 45 counties around the world.

Venue

The conference, traditionally held in September, took place this year from June 22nd to June 23rd in Antwerp, Belgium. It was hosted at the Kinepolis Event Center, a spacious cinema venue located just outside the city center. The sessions were held in comfortable cinema halls, offering an immersive learning environment. If you prefer sitting on the front row, make sure to come early to the session. You may want to bring a light jacket cause the front row can get slightly cooler than the back row. Awesome food, snack, tea, coffee, and beer! were also provided.

Outside the conference, you can explore the beautiful historic city of Antwerp while indulging in local cuisine. It’s a perfect place to spend your time before or after the conference.

Pre Conference Workshop

Before the main conference, you have a unique opportunity to attend workshops, providing in-depth dives into specific topics. The workshops, which lasted for two days, were limited to a maximum of 20 participants, which allowed attendees to engage directly with the speakers, ask questions, and gain valuable insights. Definitely worth attending these workshops.

Conference Sessions

Each session, ranging from 45 to 90 minutes, offered a deep dive into a specific subject. It’s worth noting that some sessions ran simultaneously, so you need to make a choice on which session you want to attend. While recording of the sessions were made available later, nothing beats watching there in person. You get the BEST experience there. Technical issues could affect the recording as well, which is why it is importance to attend the sessions live. With so many great sessions, make sure to choose wisely which one you want to see live. Overflow rooms were also available so attendees could access the content via projectors. Make sure to go early to the sessions, so you could be in the session with the actual presenter in it to get the best experience.

There were 24 sessions this year, covered by both Microsoft and the community. The content spanned a diverse range of topics, with a focus on AI (Copilot) and testability. Among the sessions, the highlight for me were “Testability – The Hammer and the Nail by Jeremy” and “The Power of Interfaces: Unleashing Their Full Potential in AL by Waldo and Vjeko”. Both were excellent and highly valuable. It was hard not to get more excited with testability after hearing these sessions.

You can watch the recording here.

Networking

With 1090 attendees from different corners of the globe, the conference provided an excellent opportunity to connect with a wide array of industry professionals. You can establish new connections, exchange knowledge, foster collaboration, and meeting your D365BC heroes face-to-face.

Not only that, Microsoft team was there as well, providing you with the opportunity to ask and receive answers and feedback from Microsoft directly.

Conclusion

BCTechDays is an essential event for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central developers community. Lot of efforts and dedications were put into it to make a phenomenal conference. Thanks to the hard work of Luc Van Dyck and his team, all the speakers, sponsors, and attendees that helped make the conference a great success. Make sure to mark your calendars for the next one. Hopefully I will get another change to be a part of it or get to see more conference on this side of the globe.

You can also check out the official photos on Flickr.