Today is day one of the Microsoft MVP Summit 2026. The event runs until the 26th, and the core of it happens on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington. For the second year in a row, I’m joining from my home office.
The Summit is an invitation-only event, open to active Microsoft MVPs and Regional Directors. You sign an NDA and spend a few days getting direct access to the product teams building the tools you use and advocate for every day. Real roadmap conversations, early previews, and the chance to make your voice heard in rooms where decisions are still being made. Around 3,000 MVPs attending, from all over the world.
It is a great event and I wouldn’t want to miss out. I should say that plainly, because what follows is honest and not a complaint.
The remote experience
Attending remotely works. The virtual sessions run well, the content is real, and I come away with things worth knowing. I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But here’s the thing: the sessions are maybe half of what makes the Summit worth attending. The other half is the people. Three thousand of the most experienced, most generous, most technically opinionated people in the Microsoft ecosystem, in the same place for three days. The conversations that happen between sessions, at dinner, in the corridors, over a coffee at the venue. That is where a lot of the real value is, and that does almost not exist in a virtual format. It’s not the organizers fault, it’s inherently the format.
Product Group Day
The specific part that really stings to miss is Product Group Day.
It is in-person only. No virtual stream, no recording, no alternative. It is where MVPs get direct, unscripted time with the engineering teams, and where the feedback that actually matters gets delivered face-to-face. It is the most unique piece of the whole event.
Still here
The time zone gap between Copenhagen and Redmond means most sessions land in the late evening and push into the early hours. That cuts both ways: the regular work day stays intact, which is good, and somewhere around the second session after midnight the tiredness kicks in, which is less good.
But I will be there, taking notes, looking for the things worth acting on.
And I’m already making a mental note about 2027.