MMS 2025 at MOA: Full Schedule

Dates and times subject to change as demand requires. Repeat sessions coming soon as well to make choosing sessions easier. You can start to slot your sessions 4/4/25 at noon central.

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5:00pm CDT

Building Your Own Cloud: A Guided Tour of Must-Have Home Lab Services

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT

Lakes A

Description:
Expand your technical skills through a practical exploration of today’s most popular self-hosted/home lab services. Get started with homelab hardware and hypervisors, uncover must-have learning resources, and delve into open-source platforms such as media servers, monitoring tools, and cloud file sync solutions. Gain practical tips to replace paid services, boost privacy, and enhance your IT skillset.

What you will learn:

Understand the benefits and basics of homelabbing, including hardware choices and common OS/hypervisor setups.
Discover popular open-source solutions to replace paid services and increase privacy.
Learn to organize and automate your self-hosted environments, including best practices for monitoring and resource optimization.
Walk away with a curated list of resources, communities, and tips for continuous learning and experimentation in your home lab.

Speakers

Frank Lesniak

Sr. Cybersecurity & Enterprise Technology Architect, West Monroe

Frank Lesniak leads the Microsoft 365 consulting team at West Monroe, specializing in accelerated, secure corporate M&A (integrations and divestitures). By combining proven processes and purpose-built tools (using PowerShell, Terraform, Ansible, and others), Frank and his team consistently... Read More →

Hosts

Blake Cherry

Cybersecurity & Enterprise Technology Principal, West Monroe

Blake is a Principal in West Monroe's Cybersecurity & Enterprise Technology practice, operating out of Chicago, IL. Known for accelerating the delivery of best practice infrastructure by leveraging infrastructure as code, his expertise lies in Azure, Terraform, PowerShell, Microsoft... Read More →

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT
Lakes A

Happy Hour, Home Lab

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5:00pm CDT

Is the Grass Greener? Navigating IT Careers

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT

Cedar

Description:
Compare the pros and cons of being an IT consultant versus an employee. Gain insights on starting as a consultant or advancing in your career through consulting or climbing the corporate ladder. Understand what employers seek, evaluate the value of IT certifications, and learn how to craft an effective resume. Engage in an open discussion on succeeding in today's IT job market.

What you will learn:

Understand what employers, recruiters, and managers prioritize in candidates.
Learn whether IT certifications are worth pursuing for your career goals.
Discover strategies and best practices for finding and landing your next IT role.
Explore tips for crafting an impactful resume tailored to IT positions.

Speakers

Garth Jones

Blogger, Ask Garth

Garth Jones is Senior Architect of Endpoint Insight at Recast Software. Recast Software is a company that develops products to extend the value of Microsoft Endpoint Manager Configuration Manager (Current Branch) and Microsoft Intune. Garth started working with Systems Management... Read More →

Krystina Kyle

Microsoft MVP, Sr. Systems Administrator, WinAdmins

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT
Cedar

Happy Hour, Consulting vs. Employment

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5:00pm CDT

Public Speaking Essentials: Start Your Journey

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT

Lakes CD

Description:
Overcome the fear of public speaking and build your confidence. Learn how to craft an engaging session abstract and create an impactful presentation deck. Gain valuable tips on effective speaking behaviors and common pitfalls to avoid, setting you on the path to becoming a proficient speaker.

What you will learn:

How to write a compelling session abstract.
Techniques for creating an effective presentation deck.
Essential speaking tips and behaviors to adopt.
Common pitfalls in public speaking to avoid.

Speakers

Donnie Taylor

Microsoft MVP, Architect, GM

With over 20 years in IT, Donnie stands out as a seasoned IT Architect and leader. He's helmed multiple Systems Management user groups and has an impressive record of over 400 speaking engagements. Notably, he's been honored as a Microsoft MVP for Cloud and Datacenter Management for... Read More →

Scott Corio

Microsoft MVP, Enterprise Cloud Architect, MMS Staff

Boasting over 20 years in IT, Scott is not only an esteemed Enterprise Cloud Architect for a major healthcare giant, but he's also a distinguished dual-award Microsoft MVP in Cloud & Datacenter Management and Enterprise Mobility. With a diverse portfolio spanning healthcare, non-profit... Read More →

Adam Gross

Microsoft MVP, Co-Host of Intune.Training, A Square Dozen

Adam Gross is a Microsoft Intune and Windows 365 MVP and End User Computing Manager at Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. in The Woodlands, TX where he shares management duties for a ConfigMgr and Intune infrastructure which supports ~9000 clients. He’s also a consultant for System... Read More →

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT
Lakes CD

Happy Hour, Skills Development

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5:00pm CDT

Self-Hosted Superheroes: Unlocking Your Home Lab's Potential

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT

Lakes B

Description:
Transform your home lab with innovative self-hosted solutions. Discover practical ideas for hosting, avoid common setup pitfalls, and see a quick demo of effective tools in action. Perfect for those considering an Intel NUC or looking to maximize their current setup.

What you will learn:

Worthwhile self-hosted solutions to enhance functionality.
Methods to securely expose solutions to the web.
Efficient deployment and management using Docker.
Insights into real-world applications and demos.

Speakers

Nathan Ziehnert

Microsoft MVP, Software Engineer, HP

I work on secret stuff. Or maybe not so secret stuff. I'm in research and development. I don't know anymore, so I just call it all secret. I dig Windows systems from consumer to enterprise, I'm in an eternal love affair with PowerShell and C#, and I also like to play in Azure. I have... Read More →

Andrew Johnson

Solutions Architect

Andrew has served in various technical and leadership roles in IT over 15 years, spending most of his time in higher education. He's always looking for new ways to perform tasks more efficiently and share knowledge with others. When he is not working with IT - professionally or in... Read More →

Monday May 5, 2025 5:00pm - 6:45pm CDT
Lakes B

Happy Hour, Self-Hosting

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7:00pm CDT

Patch My PC Presents: The Ultimate MMSMOA Kickoff Party at the Fair on 4!

Monday May 5, 2025 7:00pm - 11:30pm CDT

Get ready to kick off MMSMOA 2025 with an unforgettable night of fun, food, and festivities! Join us on Monday, May 5th, at 7 pm for our annual kickoff at the Fair on 4, Mall of America’s go-to spot for axe throwing, go-karts, and non-stop entertainment.

This is your chance to connect with the MMSMOA community, make new friends, and celebrate another epic year of MMSMOA with Patch My PC. You must register to reserve your spot. You are welcome to bring a guest, but please reserve their spot, too, as the venue has a capacity limit. Make sure to also mark yourself as "attending" on Sched!

Check out all the details and reserve your spot here: https://pmpc.link/mms-moa-2025-kickoff-party

We can't wait to see you there!

Sponsors

Patch My PC

Patch My PC is a Colorado-based company with over 100 passionate team members working remotely from locations around the world. We collaborate daily to support over 8,000 customers and manage over 22 million devices.Our focus is on innovation and improving lives by solving real-world problems... Read More →

Monday May 5, 2025 7:00pm - 11:30pm CDT

Happy Hour