My first conference

PowerShell Conference Europe 2024

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I came back from the PowerShell Conference Europe in Antwerp about two weeks ago and I think it was worthwhile. I heard about it a few months ago in some Podcasts and it sparked my interest but I was undecided if I really wanted to go

I wasn’t sure if it was worth it. After all, you can watch all the sessions on youtube after the event and the event is not cheap, plus the travel costs. Thanks to my wife who encouraged me to go after I mentioned it to her. I put in a request at work to go and it was approved. I quickly booked hotels and flights and paid to register at the conference.

There were people from all skill levels including some that weren’t really that into PowerShell, either they only used it if needed or they hadn’t even used it and their company pushed them to go to the conference.

Community

I did feel the sense of community and everyone seems really happy to help and answer questions. Before the sessions started I sat at a table with other attendees and within minutes we started talking about PowerShell, specifically why choose PowerShell 7 over 5.1. I felt a bit stupid asking the question, but I left my ego at the door and I asked “What are the advantages of using PowerShell 7?”. Someone mentioned the Null-coalescing operator.

The Sessions

I was spoilt for choice with the sessions available, so I chose some topics I wanted to find out more about like Azure Authentication and somethings that were totally new to me like Azure Arc. These two sessions were not very PowerShell focused to be honest but it’s related and useful to know if you’re working with Azure.

I learned about the profiler module and how it can help you optimise your code. Another good session was Optimizing Visual Studio Code for PowerShell 2024 edition where Justin Grote mentions the Powershell Extension Pack. Another session I attended was No Passwords, No Problem: Secure Azure Authentication with MSAL & PowerShell by Ben Reader which was very interesting.

There were also opportunities to ask questions to the presenters of the session and even a PowerShell team AMA session on the last day of the conference. Members of the PowerShell team were also happy to chat to anyone during the course of the conference, during the breaks and social events. It seemed like they were very much involved with the PowerShell community and are interested in their feedback.

Conclusion

The conference opened my eyes to how others are working with PowerShell and what is possible. I felt inspired to keep on learning and improving my skills. At times I fell in the trap of comparing myself to others at the conference as they seemed like PowerShell superstars and then feeling discouraged. But I reminded myself that I need to compare where I’m at now with how I was in the past and see the experts as people that can inspire me. PowerShell being the main part of my skillset, I think the PS Conference Europe is an event I want to keep going to.