I stumbled across something recently that I had never noticed before — a hidden gem on the Microsoft Intranet called the “Call for Content”. Now, I’m no stranger to Sessionize or the Call for Proposals (CFP) process. I’ve submitted ideas to tech conferences all over the world. But this was different. This was Microsoft Ignite — the big leagues. And there it was, a beautiful little hyperlink inviting me to submit my wildest session dreams directly to the Microsoft Events Content Team. Naturally, I threw my hat into the ring.

Then, it happened.

I got a message. Not a phone call, of course — we’re in 2025. This came through Microsoft Teams, hidden among the hundreds of other group chats and side conversations I juggle daily. Teams is the new email, after all. It was a Thursday. A random message popped up from someone I didn’t know (this happens a lot), but unlike my usual outbound messages trying to track down engineering contacts to ask awkward questions, this time someone was contacting me.

The message read:

Hi Mark Tinderholt We are in the process of reviewing the submitted content proposals for Ignite. Unfortunately, we are not able to fit your session into one of the breakout sessions, however, we were wondering if you would like to present in the Community Theatre? Community Theatre sessions are 25 minutes in the Community space. If you agree, then in order to get an Ignite ticket, you will also be expected to work a few shifts to staff in the “Experts Meetup” booth. Please let us know what you think. We think your session would be a great and fun addition to the Community options.

My reaction:

Alt L.F.G.

There was some expected back-and-forth: tweaking my session title and description, clarifying the technical level, and running the gauntlet of approvals — leadership sign-off (thanks, Shash), travel clearance (thank you, Imran and Douglas), and the ever-important manager thumbs-up.

I trimmed down my talk description to the following:

In this talk we’ll learn Infrastructure-as-Code by automating the world’s most popular game: Minecraft. Using Packer, Terraform and GitHub Actions, we’ll build a server, configure Linux, provision cloud infrastructure and operate it through GitOps. Finally, we’ll demonstrate how to go beyond automating traditional cloud control planes — automating the Minecraft world itself by using Terraform to build and demolish structures like castles and pyramids before our very eyes!

Then I hit the next checkpoint:

Hi Mark, hold off on requesting travel, I will be sending a spreadsheet of all the speakers and experts to the Chief of Staffs later this month so they have a heads up on who they need to approve. I think it should be ok.

Next thing I know, my session is live on the Microsoft Ingite Event site and I am photoshopping a creeper onto my Talk badge to repost to LinkedIn.

Alt L.F.G.

At that point, I was in. Fully committed.

So I added a little personal flair to the effort: donated three LEGO sets and three copies of my book to support the event. I polished up my speaker profile on the Microsoft Ignite site, and before long, my new friends Gerald, Marisela, and Nelly reached out with another opportunity.

Alt

I had to update my speaker profile on the Microsoft Ignite site.

My new friends Gerald, Marisela, and Nelly informed me of another opportunity to engage with the community at the conference so I said why not I’m already there!

Alt

So I submitted a few more topics:

  1. Learn Infrastructure-as-Code the FUN Way — Through Minecraft (Part Deux!) — Fun, whimsical, OneMicrosoft ON BRAND 😉
  2. Re-Imagining Azure IaC: Terraform Stacks & the Future of the Cloud — Hot of the presses HashiCorp Terraform Stacks revolutionize the way complex azure architectures can be deployed and managed more efficiently. Less Yuck, more YUP!!!
  3. GitOps Unleashed: Azure Container Apps + ACR in Perfect Harmony
  4. Terraform @ Microsoft: From AzureRM to AzAPI to EntraID to MSGraph (and Beyond!) — Microsoft does Terraform in a big way, many people don’t even realize!!!
  5. AzureRM vs. AzAPI: The Great Terraform Showdown — practical advice from the “Azure Terraformer” himself. Discussion, bi-directional.

They liked my “GitOps Unleashed” topic. I was in.

By November 13th — just one week before Ignite — everything was booked. My flight to San Francisco was confirmed. I landed on Sunday, November 16th, ready to attend my first Microsoft Ignite conference as both a full-time employee and a speaker.

I attended a few KBYG sessions to get the deets from the broader Event Team and I was ready to rock and roll.

It was surreal.

The last Microsoft events I had attended were PDC ’09 and MIX ’10. Yeah, it’s been a while. But this time, I was stepping into the spotlight — not just watching from the audience. From finding that hidden Call for Content link to standing behind the speaker podium, it was a completely unexpected and wild ride.

And it’s only just beginning.