GPPB 2022 Highlights: My Virtual BootCamp experience. #GPPB2022Accra
Published: 2023-12-29 02:38:54

About Global Power Platform Bootcamp

The Global Power Platform Bootcamp is a Power Platform festival driven by user groups and communities around the world, for anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft's Power Platform. The boot-camp takes a deep-dive into Microsoft's Power Platform stack with hands-on sessions and labs, delivered by the experts and community leaders. 

A Short Story

Sometime last year, I came across the term low code / no code development but failed to read on the concept and its possibilities. As at that time, I was focused on building my web development skills so I did not give it a second look. Along the way whiles skilling with Azure learn paths on Microsoft Learn, I came across learn paths on Power Platform tools ( Power Apps, Power Bi, PVA, etc. ) but felt it was going to be difficult to learn so I skipped them. One time, I joined a Power Platform event  by Shadrack Inusah where he showcased a COVID App he was able to develop with low code, using Power Platform tools. It sparked my interest and made me want to learn how to do same. To build on that interest, I needed a beginner friendly heads-up by someone already into using  Power Platform tools before taking a learn path to learn on my own. It was just around that time the Global Power Platform Bootcamp 2022 was announced. 


The Experience

GPPB 2022 has been a very rewarding learning experience for me. 
As a first time attendee, I was looking out for how the content of the boot-camp was going to draw me in and build on my interest as a beginner. To be very honest it did just that. After the introduction session by the various speakers, I got really hyped about almost all the Power Platform tools and found it hard choosing which breakout session to move to for the hands-on session. The various speakers made the session very engaging and did well introducing the various tools.
 
What I learned Personally

I chose Power Apps when I registered for the event but during the cause of event I had a changed of mind to switch to Power Virtual Agent . Good thing the event moderator chose to stick to what we chose. During the time for the breakout session for the hands-on, I was added to the Power Apps room. Albert Quist, a software engineer was the trainer for the session. Fortunately for me, it was only me in that particular session so I had a one-on-one interaction with him. He provided guidance every step of the way and I was able to build my first app with Power Apps & SharePoint. We had only an hour so we couldn't finish with everything. What an experience it was.

Kahoot Session

This was the most fun part of the session I really looked forward to as I wanted to win some swags. Unfortunately for me, my computer had a blue screen error and crashed just before the session started. I joined via mobile and watched as the other attendees answered the questions whiles waiting for my computer to restart. I lost out but I was happy for the other attendees who emerged winners.

Special Appreciation
I would like to express a heartfelt appreciation to Microsoft, the Student Ambassador Community, sponsors and all the amazing speakers for Global Power Platfrom Bootcamp 2022 Ghana, Accra.
Samuel Adranyi (MVP | MCT)
 Frank Odoom (MVP)
Shadrack Inusah (Software Engineer)
Albert Quist (Software Engineer)
Thomas Festus Cudjoe (MVP | MCT)

Closing thoughts

For anyone curious about low code/ no code development and learning more about Microsoft Power Platform: I hope that sharing my experience might inspire you to learn more about the Platform and maybe attend the next Bootcamp. For anyone else just generally interested in my journey as I deep dive into the Power Platform, I invite you to follow my articles as well. I plan on posting resources I find useful, my thoughts on each week, and whatever else helps me get through the learning process.