Introducing #DallasMAC, a User Group Built for How People Actually Learn
Today, alongside my co-founders and fellow MVPs Sailaja Mantripragada (Founder, Low Code Power) and Geetha Sivasailam (Protiviti), we’re launching the Microsoft AI & Business Solutions Community, or #DallasMAC for short.
Why We’re Doing This
A lot of user groups have struggled to find their footing since covid. Many never fully made the jump back from online-only formats into real in-person networking and learning. And even before covid, the traditional user group model had a problem: you’d show up, sit through a lecture, and go home having watched someone else build something. Passive participation. Good for awareness, not so good for skill building.
DallasMAC is being built differently.
The Model: Learn It, Then Build It
Every DallasMAC session will follow the same structure: We’ll open with a guest topic and lecture, the same practitioner-first, no-fluff content our community has always valued. But that’s just the first half of the evening.
The second half is hands-on. A lab. A hackathon-style build session. You take what was just covered and apply it, in the room, with people around you doing the same thing. You don’t just leave with notes. You leave with something you built and the skills to build it again.
And there will be food and networking, as always.
One User Group, the Whole Microsoft Stack
DallasMAC isn’t narrowing our focus, it’s widening it. We’re bringing Modern Work (SharePoint, Teams, Microsoft 365), Power Platform, and AI (Copilot, agents, Azure AI) together under one roof. Instead of choosing between three separate communities, you get practitioner-level depth across all of it, in one place, once a month, with a focus on the practical application of this technology.
Join Us for the Kickoff
DallasMAC launches in-person on July 22nd, 2026, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at Microsoft Building 1 in Irving, TX. All skill levels are welcome, whether you’re just getting curious about Copilot and agents or you’re already building solutions on the Power Platform.
This first session will be led by Geetha (Microsoft MVP, Associate Director of Microsoft AI Strategy & Architecture at Protiviti), Sailaja (Microsoft MVP, Founder of Low Code Power), and me (Microsoft MVP+RD, Founder of CollabTalk).
Come curious. Leave capable.
RSVP here: meetup.com/dallasmac
This event is in-person only.
