The first-ever Umbraco MVP Summit kicked off just before Codegarden 2025. It was the first event of it's kind, exclusive to the Umbraco MVPs.
The purpose was to bring together MVPs to share ideas, knowledge, plans and feedback - while also connecting with friendly faces from the Product, Engineering, and DevRel-teams at Umbraco HQ.
If you couldn’t join us in person - don’t worry! In this blog post you get to follow along on the first-ever Umbraco MVP Summit.
Setting the stage
The venue of the Umbraco MVP Summit was located just a short walk from Odense city centre. The entrance was easy to find: a big unicorn-balloon was greeting the MVPs when they arrived, making it impossible to miss 🦄
Upon stepping through the doors, everyone was greeted by the obligatory high-fives from the friendly HQ-attendees. This year, everyone's name tags were printed on actual floppy discs - a fun twist that added a hint of mystery - what was on these floppy discs? Sebastiaan had big plans, but it would not be revealed until Codegarden started a few days later... 🕵️
Back to the MVP Summit - the day started off with lots of coffee and lots of catching up with new and old friends. This year, a whopping 25 new MVPs has been announced, and 86 MVPs have been renewed, making the total number of Umbraco MVPs 111! Sadly but understandable, not everyone was able to make it to the MVP Summit - but 62 MVPs came and gave their valuable insigts and feedback in the casual open circle chats!
Video by Peter Mosko - Creative Content Agency
How to create a neurodivergent-friendly workplace by Matt Brailsford
Before the open circle chats started, Matt Brailsford gave us all an amazing and inspiring talk about how to create a neurodivergent-friendly workplace. Luckily for everyone, Matt was also able to give his talk a second time for non-MVPs because of a last-minute cancellations in the Codegarden lineup! For people who weren't present for Matt's talk, it is available on YouTube here. It is well worth a watch for everyone!
To give a quick summary of the talk, Matt was diagnosed last year (2024) at the age of 44 with autism, ADHD and dyslexia. In his talk, he explains how he in retrospect can see all the signs of being neurodivergent, and how he struggled to fit in, especially in a workplace environment. He advocates for better work environments for neurodivergent people, and shows how even small changes can make a big impact. Matt has illustrated his talk with wonderfully funny and relatable illustrations, and does a great job at being both serious, inspiring and hilarious at the same time. We send a big #H5YR to Matt!
On Linkedin, Matt elaborates on the experience of sharing his story
"Honestly, this was a big deal for me as it was the first time I’ve ever publicly shared my own ND story after getting diagnosed last year. I won’t lie, it was pretty nerve-wracking putting myself out there like that, but you all made it so much easier with how welcoming and engaged you were.
What really blew me away was how many of you reached out afterwards. So many of you are navigating similar journeys yourselves or supporting ND family members, friends and colleagues. Hearing your stories and knowing I’m not alone in this has been incredibly meaningful. Whether you’re figuring things out after your own late diagnosis, advocating for others, or just trying to understand better – every conversation has reminded me why sharing these experiences matters."
- Matt Brailsford
Connecting, sharing, and shaping the future
The main part of the MVP Summit revolved around several open circle chats, created to give room to everyone present to speak and collaborate with each other. The open circle chats revolved around the following topics:
Bellissima Backoffice Development & Extensions
Headless use cases and best practices
Backoffice Editor Experience
Community Growth & Engagement
Version Migration & Adoption Barriers
Training & Educational Resources
AI Integration & Innovation
Meetups & Events
Package Development & Community Contributions
Content Modeling
What features are missing in Umbraco