 Hey everybody, this is Christian Buckley doing another MVP buzz chat. I'm talking today with Eric. Hello Hello, Christian. How are you today? I'm doing well Yeah, we'll have to get into stuff for folks that don't know you. Who are you? Where are you and what do you do? My name is Eric Legault. I'm an MVP for office or m365 development not office Yeah, I know it roll it rolls off the tongue. I know it's hard to adapt to keep Yeah Yeah, MVP for m365 developer. I live in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada In the middle of the country 51st state, of course, we know Canada Yeah, the heart of the Canadian prairies where it's so flat you can watch your dog run away for days, right? Our winters our winters are cold our summers are beautiful and short But I started my MVP journey in 2003 is when I first got awarded Oh, I was nominated by MVP for out like Sue Mosher at the time if you remember her She used to run out the code.com. Yeah after running Slipstick comm for many years which is now owned by Diane per Emsky So I was doing a lot of work answering questions in the outlook VBA News groups and use net microsoft.program.outlook underscore VBA I think it was which was the catch-all for anything outlook programming related whether it was add-ins or whatnot. So I had the Was doing some work. I was working with a Microsoft partner at the time and we were doing some integration with their Was a lot of the document management and imaging and knowledge management software that we were selling to clients and Integrated with office and outlooks I started learning output scripting all look add-ins You know by trial-by-fire going to the forums going to the websites and after a few months of that I was hey, I can answer this question. I can answer that question just kept doing that and Hey, you're doing a great job here. I'm gonna nominate you for the program and then I got that famous award MVP like that old that video that they showed us at the summit in 2000 something there's an awful video, but it's awesome and awesome was Commercial or something like that they took a spin that but do you know the buildings? I think it was I'm trying to remember I think they filmed that down where like the Xbox is like in the Redmond offices. It was like not on the main campus Yeah, but yeah, well a lot of the Microsoft the old Microsoft offices all kind of looked the same way, but but yeah But what's also interesting too is that I don't know Like I get the question of well, you know, what can I do people that are interested in becoming an MVP nowadays? And one of the first things I say is like go participate in the forums like go to tech community I think their Microsoft really still watches that thing but back in the the old days We had the look at like the longtime MVPs and former MVPs Though that forum participation was a big part of the activity now. It just seems to focus more on On events and that kind of public speaking Yeah, it certainly seems to have shifted and I did my part, you know Doing all the checkboxes for all the various areas like speaking at conferences I co-wrote office professional 2013 step-by-step for Microsoft press I've done the user group start starting up I founded user a SharePoint user group locally, you know done the blogs the book editing All that stuff you kind of you get the opportunity to do even more when you're part of the program. So But that getting that award for the first time 2003 really changed my life like having that feathering your cap and being Globally recognized as as an expert and being knighted by Microsoft really all of a sudden the Request for work and assistance started coming in all over the world From all over the world and I thought started thinking maybe I should Take a stab at going independent because I was had been working as a As a consultant for several Microsoft providers or partners. So I did take a stab at that and I went independent 2008 I've been independent ever since and I think I think a lot of that to the to that award for exposing me Giving me opportunities and I never missed a summit in 15 years Still haven't missed one since I was out in 2018 because they haven't had him in person one But I got to be so many smart and wonderful people the highlight of my summer was always just walking around The international Supper and just finding old friends and just being part of a group and having just the best conversations and learning So much from people and it really shines through in all the MPPs that like they're the first to give you advice And talk to you in ways or you just are just amazed that I was smart and wonderful everybody is and Just great to be part of that community. So that's why I mean, I so hope so hope that we get back to in-person MVP summits I'm not heard any rumors about it one way or the other but You know, obviously being virtual doing that during the pandemic But I would tell you know new MVPs that I talked to that it's the it's the best part the best benefit of Getting the award is that participation now. It's great to go out to Microsoft campus for those that have never been out there I lived out Seattle for 12 years and worked for Microsoft for several years and it is But still it's great to be on campus. I always think it's better to be on campus and not be an employee because I Don't care about the rest of what's going on I just get to be there concentrate on the good stuff but just to do those deep dives with the product teams and Got to dinners and mixers but then just to listen to like I've got my questions and it's great But just to listen in that venue to these smart people around you most of them pretty smart. Oh, I won't say all You know who you are out there but But to listen to their questions and kind of feed off each other, you know so I'm I'm very much a collaboration personality that I Get energy from other people like that so I just I get excited by that whereas my wife is the classic introvert where talking to people it just Physically drains her where she needs to recharge in a sensory you know a Chamber a you know she just needs to be Removed from from the world but you have that experience at those events just to You know hear other people's ideas like I come out of that thing a lot of my notes are blog ideas or interview ideas or We should be looking in this other direction And so you spend a week or two getting back from that just trying to compile the notes and figure out what other meetings Do I need to go schedule? People to connect with I love that aspect of it. Absolutely. Oh, I always enjoyed meeting with the product managers And those are all as eye-opening to see how things work behind the scenes how they plan features How long it takes for some of the simplest features to get developed? But being able to contribute to like and say no you should be looking at this feature or why you're looking at this feature because a Lot of the times our interactions with the community Give them insights that they don't typically have They have their own test groups and other programs for early adopters as well But we we tend to be in the trenches and then we have viewpoints that they never usually consider and and they're really Sometimes you get the product groups that are kind of dismissive of MVPs But over time they have learned to recognize how much of a benefit we can be We'll be the first to hold their feet to the fire when something is going really horribly wrong But we'd be the first to praise them when they've done a great job Yeah, I think that's you see that too from Who's participating within the MVP discussions like who from the product team from the engineering teams are kind of known quantities their faces and names are familiar because they're out there You know interacting not just with MVPs with the customers as well And then there's a reason why you when you're you hear about promotions and the growth of people within that And usually it's a one-to-one match the people that are very community centric and and in touch with the MVPs Seem to be the people that also rise very quickly within the organization because they kind of they get that so I think it's just another testament to the power of community and the importance of community to both sides Multiple voices multiply ideas around yourself with smart people and listen to them kind of thing Yep, well not one person has all the answers and especially in software Well you talked about it you kind of you shared some of your experiences becoming an MVP anything about it I mean was it something that did you hear about it and seek after it or is it something that more just kind of evolved and happened over time or I don't think I knew much about it I think when I was posting in the forums I recognized that oh there's some other people here that are kind of official and they have this MVP designation and I think I looked into it briefly but it wasn't a goal And I learned after becoming after getting into the program that it's kind of a full pot to actively look like you're trying to become an MVP It was in some situations is like no you got it you got to earn it buddy and it was kind of frowned upon it's not something you should just be doing it naturally I guess is the message that if you're not helping people to begin with Then it's don't use it as a career stepper because you just might disappear once you get it and you're not contributing anymore so it's always So how do you look like you're trying without looking like you're trying I guess it's dedication and frequency and the attitude that you have when you're asking questions like if you're little wing people that's obviously not a good approach to helping Why'd you do that that's not going to help anybody is be carefully walking through and show them additional resources to get them going It's always they you know how many times have us as MVP just been really thanked heartily by somebody and it makes us feel good of course which is great But you know you have to want to help people and get them unstuck as part of the goal Let's I remember having a conversation with a former employer that was commenting that I had participated in an event and flown halfway around the world and it was like my time and and I got the event paid for part of the expense of that and I did some out of pocket just before I joined And he's just like well what a complete waste of time you got there across the world that you participated as one speaker and you presented to like under 20 people and went and did that and I'm like Okay, you clearly don't understand the value of like okay who's in the room and I wasn't selling anything there was no pitch I wasn't I'm not a consultant I was a product guy so like I had no sale in the game by going and doing that was purely about community That went was down in South Africa, by the way, it's like I have off of that trip it was my first time down there was one of the, I still have friends that I talked to on a regular basis people that I've been able to some that have become MVP Since then, and the connections that have been made in the perspective shirt I mean, I don't know if there could be four or five people in the audience. I've done sessions like that I did one. We I helped put on an event in Bend, Oregon, the biggest event we did it for several years, the largest we ever got was 98 people was the, the largest year that we were there. And it was one of the best events and just a few small companies no massive brand names that were in the area, you know, and, but it was your the connections we made the value that we provided there the conversations we had and it was fulfilling because we're helping people solving, you know, larger strategic questions and small tactical practical problems with the technologies sitting there talking technology with people that are passionate about technology. It energized me for weeks afterwards with everything else that I did back in the office. Yeah, the impact one person significantly it's it's worth it then more worth it than in given 20 people sort of an idea or whoever you want to phrase it but yeah. Well I have to ask you to the few minutes we have left is is about the music side of things because you do have the devices behind you. And so, you know what what's your, what's your musical background. Well, I spent five years as a guitarist in an Iron Maiden tribute band here in Montetoba called made in Manitoba as most Iron Maiden trivia fans tend to add their geographical location to the name so I was playing the part of Dave Murray, the the longtime Iron Maiden guitarist who stands on the right side of the stage looking towards the crowds and that was, that was a dream fulfilled because I was in a band in my 20s with some friends and we didn't take it too seriously we played some parties and at the bar where we worked and we were just happy or just watching my music all the time so when I got this opportunity to join this band it fulfilled a lifelong dream of being a part-time musician for a long time so five years we did 50 shows around the province and we are gearing up to do US tours when issues with the band arose which always seems to happen right which happens yep now it's in a different flavor with all new members except for a drummer who replaced our previous drummer you know it's always the thing with bands but it was great and I love performing and it was an eye-opener how to, it's a different skill set when you're performing in front of an audience of people that you're giving the technical presentation to versus entertaining them with music you have to look them in the eye you have to, you're presenting at the same time but you can't just stand there scaring at your guitar or your shoes you gotta look people in the eye and show them a good time and the funny thing is I learned that really for the first time back in 2008 at the MVP summit when we had the party at the experienced music project and they had that, it was kind of a rock and roll theme or a musical theme night where they encouraged people to dress as musicians and they had the live band karaoke, the rocker-rokey thing there and I went up and I did Enter Sandman and I was so nervous before that and I addressed and I had a long black curly wig and Aussie glasses and a jean jacket I looked like a total banger right because I am banger but I was so nervous I'm like you know what this isn't about me, nobody wants to see somebody up on stage looking nervous right and I only had a handful of experiences performing live and that was 15 years prior so I just shoved aside all that nervous energy and said I'm going to entertain that crowd and it was the best stage possible I don't know if you were at that particular summit but the experienced music project has this one huge area where you can have a live show and the backdrop is insane and most of the crowd was there, 400, 500 people maybe in front of the stage and they ate everything up, MVP's you know and they were singing long and it was amazing and I got a video of that on YouTube that's still out there somewhere and that gave me the impetus to say I got to try this performing thing again and it took a few years before I had the opportunity but I certainly want to get back to doing that I was doing live streams during the pandemic where I was like I need to perform so I'm just going to learn the tech how to do all this myself with multiple scenes per song all controlled by a tablet with OBS studio and I really over engineered that like I do everything but I had an hour and a half of material and so I'm hoping to get back into a band at some point but Yeah, because I was similar I was the lead singer of an alt rock band I was you know we did that for three years and we toured around northern California and I always tell people that like I don't get really get nervous on stage, you get a little bit butterflies when there's like especially new content until you're up there and then it's just fine and go and I really enjoy it and a lot of that was kind of as I always tell people burned out of me because of being up there with all original content so they're my words. It's my voice out in front of the band you're doing this stuff playing shows and you just I got used to that I always say the same thing I missed doing that performing I enjoyed that. It's yeah I love doing that I we never as a studio band like we never had the money we're poor back then. We never had the money to do quality recordings so the stuff we have is just crap and we've got stuff straight out of the sound board at a couple stages that we performed kind of things but my still wouldn't replace that for anything and you know anybody that has any music passion. You know that to go and have that experience. Yeah, I similar I would love to go and do something like that. I'd rather do kind of a home studio project find people to have that the pieces and participate that way. I'm okay with I always said that this is just like the old me talking now like I love doing the shows. I didn't like a lot of the venues and the people that had to deal with to get the gigs. Yeah, yeah, but it was an adventure but yeah you know I love the there's a lot of people that have that music background have a kind of a similar story to to get again and comfort with public speaking within the MVP circles. So we need we need more MVP based bands is what I'm saying it tried they've had they've tried but it's tough when you get five people never jam before what are we going to play and something you know this blackbird I don't know blackbird. Yeah, but I've been having fun. Like you mentioned the home studio bed I've got pretty good setup done here I'll show you what I've got going on. So that's kind of like my photo slash video slash audio studio. Yeah, ours back there and you can see in a drum set and Yeah, I'm really set up to do some pretty decent audio and video production so I'm learning and wrapping up those skills sound like love to produce other talent. Because it's pain in the butt to produce your own stuff with no help, but the technology is there to do it. But it takes a lot of time video editing body easy audio editing is not easy, but we're every piece we know how to master complex software but it takes a lot of time to get close to those levels of talent that people do this all the time have. Yeah, I had a good friend that did his masters in music composition and he I remember going over to his apartment and doing we did a studio project for a while, and he was using at the time cakewalk. So this was late 90s, and he had it tuned up and so I went and did some edits I'm like hey this is so hard, then I went and installed cakewalk I'm like okay I understood then very quickly. He had spent a lot of time meticulously going through and organizing and getting it ready, where I could simply go and mix things with the music that we had, we had captured so it's everything about, you know, just like in video production you know the, the, the getting the sounds right the music there for for doing video production the lighting has to be right and the audio, all those pieces and then edit all those pieces together and do all the transitions and yeah there's there's a lot. A lot. So close to everybody with it with a YouTube channel that's, you know got some polished production. You have to do it, or you would stand out like a sore thumb is, you know, you can't just record something on your phone. You got to stand out and everybody's doing the high quality production so it's it's difficult it takes time to get to that level. That's for sure. It does. Well, very cool. Well, Eric really appreciate you taking time today for folks that want to find out more about you or connect with you what are the best ways to reach you. Um, I guess the best way is to start with Twitter, as long as it's still up and I'm still on there. I got a look for my name Eric dot Lego on whatever platform or Eric will go consulting comms my website. Yeah, drop in line send me an email at Eric Eric ago dot com and go to my YouTube channel and see I got a lot of my music content up there I've even got some cooking shows those during the pandemic and soon I hope I'm in pre pre production for a series on critical thinking. There's a lot of pre production effort to the point where I'm like, I don't know if I ever have time to actually finish this so I keep telling people about it. So I'm a hold accountable if I never do it. Like you said you're going to do it, but it's going to take a lot of time but I want to contribute to this climate where there's just so much division and there's ways we need to get people talking and not arguing, and that's what I'm doing. It's a great topic. And again, I think to your point that props to those people that are the content creators of training material learning material that come like I know what it takes like I don't have the time to go build that kind of content like it's that there's people have a passion and have that expertise in that field but well Eric really appreciate the time course I have the links everything out on my blog out on buck the planet when the when this goes live you'll see it out on YouTube so I'll provide all those links to everybody. So whether you're listening or watching you'll be able to find that go to buck the planet.com Eric thanks a lot for your time. Thank you for having me Christian cheers.