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Are you the go-to PowerShell script expert in your team? Do you thrive under pressure and love a good challenge? If so, we want you to participate in the Practical 365 PowerShell Script-off at The Experts Conference (TEC) 2024! Join the world’s top Active Directory and Microsoft 365 experts in Dallas on October 1-2.

How Does the Practical 365 PowerShell Script-off Work?

• Competitors: 8 willing TEC attendees familiar with scripting against Microsoft 365
• Rounds: 3 rounds of intense scripting challenges
• Prize: Grand prize valued at $1,000

You’ll work at a workstation with your output projected onto large screens for the audience to follow. Our commentator will keep the audience engaged, provide updates, and interview participants to maintain a lively atmosphere.

Challenge Format

Each round presents a 20-minute scripting task. For example: “Build the best-looking mailbox storage usage report you can in 20 minutes.” Your code will be evaluated on its effectiveness and creativity by the audience. 

To score higher, your script might:

• Include shared mailboxes alongside user mailboxes
• Display percentage quota used along with raw data
• Sort output by department
• Generate HTML output with clear headings and formatting

Bring your PowerShell skills to the stage and see if you have what it takes to be the champion. Join us at TEC 2024 for this exciting, fast-paced competition!

Participation is for TEC ticket-holders only!

Date: Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Time: 5:15-6:30 p.m.

Location: Keynote ballroom at TEC 2024

Duration: The script-off will last 75 minutes: Three rounds of 20 minutes, with 5 minutes per round for setup etc.

What you need: Laptop loaded with your favorite PowerShell development environment and modules, and an HDMI output for projection. You’ll need basic competence with PowerShell coding, familiarity with Microsoft Graph SDK and Exchange Online PowerShell module. 

What we provide: We’ll provide a developer tenant and an admin account.

Process of Elimination: Maximum 8 competitors, minimum 6 competitors. Top 4 from the first round will move on to Round 2. Top 2 from Round 2 will move to the final round. Last coder standing wins. 

Get a Hint from a PowerShell Human Copilot: Each contestant will receive one chance to ask one of our PowerShell experts for a hint to help build a solution.

Prizes: An exclusive gift valued at $1,000 for last coder standing. All coders will go home with a special TEC branded gift.

Rules

1. Contestants must be a registered attendee at TEC and confirmed for the challenge via the conference organizer.
2. Scripts must be completed within the allocated time.
3. You can use whatever editor you like to write code (Notepad, Visual Studio, etc.) and you are free to use the code on your laptop.
4. You’re coding against a Microsoft 365 tenant (Entra ID and Exchange Online) rather than an on-premises organization (Active Directory and Exchange Server).
5. Code must run interactively.
6. You can consult internet resources to help with cmdlet parameters, etc., however downloading a solution from the internet and presenting it as your work (even if you originally wrote the code for some other purpose) is prohibited. Our judges know how to use Google Search, or even Bing.
7. Don’t use an artificial intelligence tool (like ChatGPT-4) to generate code. We know that you’ve got all the necessary intelligence to create great solutions!
8. Extra credit is always given for a new and unusual approach to solving a problem.

Criteria for Judging

1. Submissions will be reviewed based on their ability to call the information as requested in each round. 
2. Submission will be reviewed based on the efficiency of the code. The code will be deemed efficient if the judges find that the design of the code has no unnecessary statements and uses the fewest lines possible.
3. Submissions will be reviewed for new or innovative techniques used to solve the problem. 
4. Submissions will be reviewed by the contest expert judges, who will make all decisions regarding the applicability of the contestants' code. All decisions of the judges will be considered final.
5. Judging will happen onsite between each round. After each round several contestants will be eliminated based on the judging criteria. The third and final round will select the final winner. 
6. The winner will receive a prize valued at $1,000 on site immediately at the end of the challenge and will sign an affidavit of eligibility and liability release.
7. All other participants will receive onsite at the immediate conclusion of the challenge a TEC branded item valued at $100. These participants will sign an affidavit of eligibility and liability release.