We were back for another great evening of learning and networking at the second meetup of the year at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton.
As proud sponsors of this Microsoft Cloud meetup, Mexa Solutions joined more than 35 attendees, including professionals and end users. We spent the evening networking, chatting with clients and candidates, and listening to some great speakers.
Before The Attendees Arrived
We arrived early to help set up the room at the Hilton Hotel which sits inside the cricket ground. Around 6:30 to 6:45pm people started to arrive and collect their name badges on entry.
A bit of networking took place as attendees arrived before everyone took their seats for the evening to begin.
Session 1 With Sandra Kiel
Our first speaker of the night was Sandra Kiel, a Microsoft MVP who travelled all the way from Germany! Her talk was titled Stop the Scroll of Doom 10 Game Inspired UI Tricks in Power Apps.
It was a really interesting session exploring how Power Apps UX can be improved using simple game design principles.
Sandra shared 5 practical techniques to help create clearer navigation, show progress more effectively, and provide better user feedback so users do not feel overwhelmed. The biggest takeaway was to give users badges and accomplishment trophies that make them feel worth.
Session 2 With Luke Smith
Our second session was delivered by Luke Smith Solution Architect at Elysian IT who were also sponsors of the event alongside Robin Pemberton.
Their talk focused on building an Office Legal AI assistant plugin using Microsoft AI technologies. In this technical deep dive they demonstrated how to build an Office Add in designed to help legal and compliance teams work more efficiently within Microsoft Word integrated with a Teams chat interface.
They showcased how the solution leverages the LEX legislation API for legal queries and metadata Azure OpenAI for summarisation and clause extraction and a secure backend built on Azure Functions and App Service.
The session also covered the Office.js UI implementation task pane commands API abstraction layer for LEX prompt engineering techniques and responsible AI guardrails. The talk concluded with a live demo and deployment insights.
To finish Luke ran a fun Azure themed quiz with the winner taking home an F1 LEGO car.
Networking and Dinner
We then took an extended break to enjoy some food and make the most of the networking opportunities. It was great to see both new and familiar faces and to catch up properly with everyone.
It was especially rewarding to see people we have supported now thriving in different roles across the cloud and technology space.
Third Speaker David Buckley
After the break David Buckley Power Platform Lead at Valto took to the stage with his talk Never Miss Anything Again Proactive Workload Management with Copilot Studio.
David explored a highly relevant real world use case for AI in day to day work. His session highlighted how modern professionals often become overwhelmed by notifications interruptions and shadow admin tasks on top of their core responsibilities.
He demonstrated how Copilot can integrate with Teams and email to prioritise tasks before users even see them escalate workloads when necessary and help schedule the working day proactively all while maintaining awareness of existing project context.
David brought great energy to the session and showcased the solution working live which really brought the concept to life.
Session 4 Martin Neale
The final session of the evening was delivered by Martin Neale CEO at ICS AI. His talk Moving Beyond Copilot The AI Operating Model Blueprint focused on why many AI initiatives fail to scale beyond experimentation.
Martin explained that most AI programmes struggle because they remain fragmented pilots rather than evolving into enterprise-wide solutions that deliver measurable value.
Using the SMART AI Target Operating Model and real-world delivery experience he outlined how organisations can take a unified approach across resident services staff productivity and back-office operations while embedding governance safety and accountability.
Referencing examples such as Derby City Council Martin demonstrated how a structured operating model enables faster adoption stronger control and scalable measurable outcomes.
Evening Wrap Up
With all speakers having presented it was time to close the evening. Aaron wrapped up with final thank you before drawing a winner from the attendee prize raffle. Congratulations to the winner who received a three-day ticket to ESPC in Amsterdam.
It was another brilliant evening of networking learning and catching up with both new and familiar faces. A huge thank you goes to Aaron Randell for organising another outstanding event.
Next Events
The South Coast Microsoft User Group next event is happening on 7th July with the addition of a BBQ. There will be more speakers and plenty of opportunity to network throughout the evening.
Keep an eye out also for the two-day event happening in October with more details coming soon
FAQs
Where are the events held?
Our events are held at the Hilton at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton located within the cricket ground. It provides a unique setting for networking and technical sessions.
When is the next meetup?
Upcoming events are scheduled for 7th July. Attendees can register via the Meetup page.
Is there networking at the event?
Yes. Each meetup includes dedicated networking time before sessions and during the dinner break allowing attendees to connect share knowledge and build relationships across the industry.
What is the South Coast Cloud User Group?
The South Coast Cloud User Group is a community led meetup for cloud professionals IT specialists developers and technology enthusiasts focused on Microsoft cloud technologies including Azure and the Power Platform. The events centre around learning networking and knowledge sharing.
This blog was written by Hollie Agombar, Senior Digital Marketing Executive at Mexa Solutions