CommunityDays.org turned three on October 13th. I still can't quite believe that.
What started as a scramble to fill a gap when SPSEvents.org shut down has turned into something I'm genuinely proud of. It's not perfect, and there's always more to do, but three years in feels like a good time to look back at how we got here.
How It Started
When SPSEvents.org announced it was going away, it left a real hole. That site had been the central hub for SharePoint Saturdays and Microsoft community events for years. Organizers relied on it. Speakers browsed it to find events to submit to. Attendees used it to figure out what was happening near them.
I figured someone needed to step up, and I had the skills to try. So I did.
It was a lot of late nights and weekends. SoHo Dragon sponsored the effort, Microsoft backed it, and Jeff Teper was kind enough to announce the launch at Ignite — which was a surreal moment for me. But the idea itself was always simple: give organizers a place to list their events and give everyone else a place to find them.
By the Numbers
Hundreds of organizers. Thousands of sessions. Speakers from all over the world covering Microsoft 365 (M365), Power Platform, Azure, and more.
I'm proud of those numbers. But honestly, the numbers aren't the part that keeps me going.
The Stories That Stick With Me
After the M365 DC event, Charles Lakes II came up to me and said the site had helped him find more events, get in front of more audiences, and that it played a part in him earning his MVP. I want to be clear — Charles earned that through his own hard work. But hearing that Community Days helped him find those opportunities? That meant a lot to me.
At that same event, I sat in on a Power Platform session from Diego Da Silva who was just getting started as a speaker. You could see it click for him — that moment when someone realizes they have something worth sharing and people want to hear it. That's what community events do. They give people a stage before they even know they're ready for one.
Those are the moments I think about when the work gets heavy.
The People Who Make It Work
Community Days doesn't run on one person. There's a group of people who show up consistently — reviewing events, promoting the platform, flagging bugs, keeping things funded and running. I could list every name but the list would get long and I'd inevitably leave someone out. You know who you are, and I appreciate what you do. You can see the full list of contributors and sponsors on the Community Days about page.
On the partnerships side, Adis Jugo and the team at run.events and Domagoj Pavlesic and the crew at Sessionize have been real partners in this — not transactional, but built on a shared belief that community events deserve good tools and good visibility. Working with them has made Community Days better.
Why I Keep Doing This
People ask me sometimes. It's volunteer work. It takes real time away from other things. There's no big team behind the curtain.
The honest answer is that I enjoy it. I've been part of the Microsoft community for a long time, and I've seen what happens when people share what they know — when they mentor someone new, when they give up a Saturday to teach a room full of strangers something useful. I want to support that however I can.
Community Days is free for organizers. The event listings, the call-for-sponsorship tools, the Speakerboard — all free. I feel strongly that the moment you start putting barriers in front of community, it stops being community.
Looking Ahead
I'll be honest — the last three years haven't always been easy. There are stretches where the to-do list feels infinite and the time feels short. But then someone shares a story about how the site helped them, or just says thanks, and it puts things back in perspective.
394 events listed. On to year four. Thank you to everyone who's been part of this — the organizers, the speakers, the attendees, and the people working alongside me to keep it going. I appreciate all of you.
Get Involved
If any of this resonates with you, there are a few ways to get involved:
- List your event on CommunityDays.org — it's free for organizers
- Browse the Speakerboard at CommunityDays.org/speakerboard — speakers who present at community events are automatically listed, making them discoverable by other event organizers
- Organize or help with community events — the Microsoft Global Community Initiative (MGCI) runs regular office hours and training for new and existing event organizers
- Sponsor a community event — browse events looking for sponsors through the call-for-sponsorship listings
- Want to help out? — reach out through the contact page and let us know how you'd like to contribute
- Just show up — attend an event near you. That's how most of us got started
Related Links
- Celebrating Three Years of CommunityDays.org — Microsoft Tech Community announcement
- CommunityDays.org — Browse upcoming community events
- About Community Days — Meet the team and sponsors behind the platform
- Jeff Teper Announces CommunityDays.org at Ignite — Karuana Gatimu interviews Jeff Teper about the launch
- Celebrating Three Years of Community Days: A Love Letter — Diego Da Silva's perspective on the Community Days journey
