Microsoft 365 Community – heat free

There is this one moment when you look at a number and go quiet for a second. For me, that was this summer. I counted the contributions to the Hitzefrei campaign we started at MVPTreff — and I got stuck at more than 40 people. Forty. They invested their time. For the community. For people they have partly never met in person. Even I did not expect a response like that.

And if I am honest: I am not always the easiest person. I have surely rubbed someone the wrong way at some point. We all have our quirks. And still — or maybe exactly because of that — this works. So this is not a tech article. This is a thank you. And a reason to take a closer look, in case you are still standing at the edge.

What this community really is — and who carries it

When people hear “M365 community”, many think of a LinkedIn network with a lot of reactions. It is not. It is a bunch of people in the DACH region who share one thing: they share knowledge without asking first what is in it for them.

These are MVPs and key users. Consultants and admins. Speakers, bloggers, meetup organizers. People who stand on stage at ESPC, Experts Live or CollabDays — and people who sit in the audience and ask the better question. At Hitzefrei it was, very concretely, more than 40 contributors and an orga team that held it all together: Anas, Raphael, Matthias and me.

That is the who and the what: no company, no marketing construct. People who put in time voluntarily.

Why it really pays off — the real value

Here it gets concrete, because “networking” sounds hollow if you do not say what you get out of it. The real value looks like this:

You get answers that would otherwise take you days. A Conditional Access problem at 11 p.m., a Copilot rollout that behaves strangely — someone has had this before. A good line into the community is faster than any support ticket.

You grow faster. Not because someone pushes you, but because you see what others do and realize: I can do that too. The first blog article, the first session — most people only dare to do it because someone said “do it” before.

You are not alone in the silo. The job can be lonely when you are the only one who understands why an Entra ID topic is burning right now. In the community there is someone who can relate to exactly that.

How Hitzefrei happened — summer, heat, and a call

The when is quickly explained: summer. The time when half the industry is on vacation and content calendars fall into the summer hole. Exactly there we said at MVPTreff: let us make “Hitzefrei” out of it. A call to the community to build content together, instead of everyone sweating away on their own.

The where is everywhere this community lives: on the MVPTreff channels, in blogs, on LinkedIn, in the heads of the people who wrote “yes, I am in”.

And the how? Very unglamorous. Talk to people. Ask. And then be amazed when 40+ people actually deliver. Giving back does not work through big gestures. It works through many small ones: writing a contribution, answering a question, making someone visible who deserves it. That adds up. At Hitzefrei it added up to something that was bigger than the sum of its parts.

I am not always easy — and it works anyway

I say this again on purpose, because it is the most honest part. Community does not mean that everyone is always nice to each other and of one opinion. We have edges. I have edges. There is friction, there are discussions. And yes — with my way of doing things I have surely hit a nerve at some point or came across negatively.

But one thing matters to me, and I say it here openly: it was never personal. Never. If I hit someone along the way, then I am sorry — in the hope that people do not hold it against me and can forgive me.

And that is exactly what is special about this community: it holds anyway. Because the core is right. Because in the end everyone wants the same thing — to make it a bit better for the ones who come after us. A community that consists only of smooth people is not one. One that also copes with the edges is real.

And that is why my thanks here go further than just to the ones who helped me personally. They go to everyone who invests time day after day to share their knowledge — without asking first what is in it for them. To everyone who writes a blog article, answers a question, gives a session, or is simply there when someone is stuck. You are the reason this works.

To the 40+ contributors of Hitzefrei, to Anas, Raphael and Matthias, and to everyone who ever raised their hand: thank you. Honestly.

What you take with you

• Community is a two-way street — you put in and you get back more
• The fastest support is a good line into the community, not the ticket
• Giving back happens in small steps: a contribution, an answer, making someone visible
• You do not have to be perfect — edges included, it holds anyway
• The first step is enough: raise your hand, write “I am in”, join in

#EspressoM365Fusion