I just got back from ExpertsLive 2017 in Melbourne hosted at the Crown Promenade. It was a great turn out with lots of great presenters including myself – I did a session on Operations Management Suite titled: “OMS is your best friend” and I’ll update this post later which will include a recording of this session.

We had a mix of Microsoft Regional Directors, MVPs and Microsoft folk themselves there covering 3 tracks – Cloud Track, Datacenter Track and Enterprise Client Track.

I got my presentation out on the first day, which left a free day on Friday for me to go crazy with the Rode Mic kit which Rode very kindly sent to me to use with our podcast. I roamed the halls of the expo looking for people to talk to and record. I used the following items to record both audio and video:

• iPhone 7Plus
• Rode Newsshooter Kit – http://www.rode.com/wireless/newsshooter
• Rode S1 Mic – http://www.rode.com/microphones/s1
• Rode SC7 cable (which connects the Rode kit to the phone (necessary)) – http://www.rode.com/accessories/sc7

The way this worked:

• On one side I had the iPhone 7 Plus > the included lighting to female 3.5mm audio jack > the Rode SC7 cable > the Rode Newsshooter RX device.
• Then on the other side, you can use a regular XLR Mic (I used the Rode S1) plugged into the Newsshooter TX device. The Rode S1 is an XLR condenser mic and requires phantom power 48v (which does seem to flatten the 2xAA batteries in the Newsshooter TX fairly fast). In comparison to other XLR mics which might be classed Dynamic Microphones, in a dynamic microphone, the audio signal is generated by the motion of a conductor within a magnetic field. Dynamic mics are less sensitive (to sound pressure levels and high frequencies) than condenser mics and generally can take more punishment e.g. concerts.

The Newsshooter RX (receiver) device and the Newsshooter TX (transmitter) device are paired to each other.

For starters I recorded audio only using the stock voice recorder app on the iPhone. I recorded small snippets for content for the Need to Know podcast which I host along side Robert Crane. Below is the first ExpertsLive focused podcast episode which includes:

• Daniel Apps @daniel_apps, Steve Hosking @OnPremCloudGuy
• Orin Thomas @orinthomas
• Daniel Mar @danielmar268 & Pete Zerger @pzerger

While I was at the event recording people, others saw me with the Rode Mic kit and tackled me in the corridors as they too wanted a piece of the action. With the help of Brett Moffett from Cireson, together with the same equipment listed above, we did 3 videos listed below with me holding the iPhone as the camera.

Considering it was all ad-hoc, the videos turned out really well and the audio is perfect.

My Session

Following on from my other OMS webinar videos I did at the end of last year which can be found on my YouTube channel the video below is a webinar version of my session I presented on at ExpertsLive 2017 in Melbourne on Thursday April 6. It was titled, OMS is your best friend!.

Matthew Barnier

Matthew is a Microsoft Certified Professional and Technical Director of Systemology. Matthew has spent 30 years in the IT Service Management space in Engineering, Management and Executive positions. He built and ran the largest BMC Remedy practice in the Asia Pacific region working with some of the largest companies implementing ITSM tool and process. Matthew brings a blend of Business & Management objectives with a deep understanding and technical knowledge of all the required components to implement successful ITSM, ITIL & MOF Solutions. Matthew works directly with his customers and also contracts through Microsoft Consulting Services as one of the countries most experienced in SCSM to implement and integrate the System Center suite to deliver Business outcomes.

ExpertsLive 2017 Session: Migrating SCSM 2012 R2 to 2016 – avoid the pitfalls & be a star.

With the recent release of SCSM 2016 offering a higher performance and more stable data engine, all 2012 sites should plan to migrate sooner rather than later. We will explore the options available to you when considering and planning a migration, examine potential issues and help you ensure a successful result. We will also review Cireson migration toll (Lifecycle Management) along with other options to help you choose the best approach for your requirements. All attendees will receive a pack of free migration scripts.

Wally Mead

Wally is a Principal Program Manager at Cireson. He works in the Partner and Community Enablement (PACE) team, which helps prepare Cireson partners to be successful with the Cireson products. He also focuses on the improvement and development of products, and drives further innovation between Configuration Manager and Cireson apps.

In addition, Wally continues to provide education for the community through presenting webinars, speaking at conferences (such as TechEd, System Center Universe, Midwest Management Summit), and conducting training courses, as well as assisting the community on the Microsoft TechNet forums.

ExpertsLive 2017 Session: What’s New in Configuration Manager Current Branch

System Center Configuration Manager is a constantly evolving product, with updates a few times a year now. Have you updated your environment to the latest release? Are you aware of all the new features added to the product since it released as build 1511? In this session, we’ll cover the new features and updates to the System Center Configuration Manager product, providing the information you need to determine if you should update or implement a feature that you were not aware of.

Steven Hosking

Having spent over 15 years in the IT industry primarily supporting and managing System Centre products, Steven Hosking has continually been proven as passionate subject matter expert. He is the founder of the Sydney System Centre and Infrastructure group, where he leads the community in exploring the Microsoft System Centre suite of products.

ExpertsLive 2017 Session: How to replace SSRS with PowerBI for SCCM Reports

How to go from Zero to a fully configured PowerBI Instance for SCCM reporting in the space of 50 minutes. Come watch us race the clock to setup the SCCM PowerBI Solution template on a demo environment, along with extending the solution to capture additional information. PowerBI provides a fantastic presentation platform for your reports across all types of devices with little to none effort.