{"id":17812,"date":"2024-12-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=17812"},"modified":"2025-09-08T12:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T19:46:13","slug":"return-to-summer-camp-making-microsoft-365-copilot-fun-with-camp-copilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/insidetrack\/blog\/return-to-summer-camp-making-microsoft-365-copilot-fun-with-camp-copilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Return to summer camp: Making Microsoft 365 Copilot fun with Camp Copilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Microsoft<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Your organization has rolled out Microsoft 365 Copilot, and leadership is looking forward to all the productivity improvements it will bring. But to get there, your employees need to start using it more frequently. How do you encourage them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You could schedule mandatory training or send out mass emails. But what if you could make it fun? Like with gamification? Camp Copilot is here to help!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Readiness team in Microsoft Digital, the company\u2019s IT organization, created Camp Copilot to drive daily usage of Microsoft 365 Copilot. It was a Microsoft-wide peer-led training event that they ran for three weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Free virtual training framework<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in launching your own peer-led Copilot training sessions? Check out our Copilot Virtual Skilling Event Framework<\/a> and download a free resource kit that will help elevate your training efforts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The event was themed as an online summer camp, starting with a campers\u2019 orientation session on the first day. That sense of fun extended to the short video to promote it, filmed in the style of a 1990s infomercial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The camp was gamified with badges. To earn each badge, campers completed homework activities that helped them practice what they learned each day. A social aspect\u2014participants sharing their activities on Viva Engage\u2014reinforced learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make the camp happen, roughly a hundred people came together. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Participants competed in a scavenger hunt at Camp Copilot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cIt was a little grassroots and scrappy, but we had amazing results,\u201d says Cadie Kneip, a readiness business program manager in Microsoft Digital and the creative force behind Camp Copilot.  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Kneip leaned heavily on our Copilot Champs community<\/a> to lead sessions and to promote the camp. Each Champ invited their own team to Camp Copilot. It was an effective way of spreading the word without having to lean on communications teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tom Heath, a business program manager for Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption, acted as a project manager for Camp Copilot. He put together a V-team of business program managers and regional engagement leads who brainstormed the camp activities and promoted Camp Copilot in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI took Cadie\u2019s idea and said, let\u2019s explore it,\u201d Heath says. \u201cWe put out an idea and asked folks to lean in and make it happen. It wasn\u2019t anyone\u2019s role to make it happen; it was a stretch goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Structuring Camp Copilot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The camp\u2019s three weeks were structured so that week one focused on introducing everyone to Copilot. Week two was a deeper dive into prompting. Week three built the everyday habits of using Copilot. Each week had a main session, breakout sessions, and a campfire activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sessions were offered in three time zones so that people in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, and Asia could participate. The main sessions were hour-long presentations by Copilot enthusiasts Brian Shaw, David Moore, and David VanGilder that covered basic through advanced skills, making the camp experience inclusive of all skill levels. The breakout sessions were more interactive and focused on specific aspects of Copilot usage: for example, Copilot for program managers or for IT roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live sessions were an important part of Camp Copilot\u2019s value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen you watch somebody do it live, it\u2019s really helpful for people who are hesitant to use Copilot because they can see it\u2019s not giving the session leader what they want right away,\u201d Kneip says. \u201cThe process of watching a peer leader taking their time with Copilot, working with it using multiple prompts to get what they want, is really reassuring to people.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

There was also active participation in our Microsoft Viva Engage community. For example, one exercise was to create an AI-generated image of an enamel pin collection. Hundreds of campers shared their creations. During the camp, participants could also earn digital achievement pins, badges, and a Camp Copilot Passport stamp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was so well planned-out that it wasn\u2019t just a session you attend, it was a fully immersive experience,\u201d says Jody Ryan, director of Copilot Sales and Compete in Customer Health and Growth, the creator of Copilot Compass, and a Camp Copilot participant. \u201cI really hope we have it again\u2014now that I\u2019ve experienced a Camp Copilot, I can\u2019t imagine not having it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fun with a purpose at Camp Copilot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Collage
The team that created and participated in Camp Copilot includes Cadie Kneip (left to right), Tom Heath, Stephan Kerametlian, and Jody Ryan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Besides being fun, the summer camp theme boosted participation in the camp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt helped people feel it was safe, welcoming, and interactive, and that they could ask questions,\u201d Kneip says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was about meeting people where they were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cYou\u2019re always going to have people with varying levels of Copilot expertise,\u201d Ryan says. \u201cAnd Camp Copilot created an inclusive environment where people felt safe to ask questions. That\u2019s what happened throughout Camp Copilot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Camp Copilot was also good for advanced users. \u201cEven though I use Copilot all the time, it was an opportunity to learn and grow my own skills,\u201d Ryan says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fun of the camp experience also helps with retention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of research about habit adoption and brand loyalty,\u201d Kneip says. \u201cAssociating it with fun makes it something that people want to go back to. Associating Copilot with a fun memory makes it stick in your brain, so it expedites the habit-building experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peer-to-peer education was also an important part of Camp Copilot\u2019s success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPeople want to hear about Copilot from their own organization, not from somebody in IT,\u201d Heath says. \u201cIt\u2019s really key that you\u2019re using your champions in the business. For example, somebody needs to deliver info about using Copilot for sales in a way that resonates for them. You want somebody who\u2019s using it in each role to tell their story and get discussions going that are based on real life.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Results of Camp Copilot<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Camp Copilot was very popular. The organizers expected about 500 people to participate in Camp Copilot\u2014instead there were nearly 11,000 orientation participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs the camp went on, I started to see that attendance increased,\u201d Ryan says. \u201cPeople would say, \u2018I have to reschedule a meeting; I\u2019m in Camp Copilot right now.\u2019 And others would say, \u2018That is so cool! How do I get in that camp?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And did Camp Copilot do its job\u2014to increase daily usage of Copilot?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the camp, the readiness team saw spikes in Copilot usage in the apps that they were demoing on the day they demoed them. More importantly, they observed an increase in favorability based on surveys they ran before and after camp. Survey responses of \u201cI work faster with Copilot than when I don\u2019t\u201d increased by 23%, and \u201cUsing Copilot improves my workflow\u201d went up by 38%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Camp Copilot at Microsoft and beyond<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Microsoft, our Readiness team is taking the lessons and popularity of Camp Copilot and applying gamification frameworks to other skill-building events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve learned that people love an interactive event that brings together lots of different activities in a clear timetable and a defined period of time,\u201d Heath says. \u201cWe\u2019ll be doing other themed events. We\u2019re thinking about doing something for the holidays. We want to replicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of Camp Copilot has led to tremendous demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt least once a week, I get invited to a customer engagement to talk them through how to do their own camp,\u201d Kneip says. \u201cThere\u2019s a massive appetite among customers to replicate it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To meet this demand (and share the fun), Camp Copilot will be available for the public as an adoption kit. Soon, customers will be able to use the Microsoft Digital framework to create their own themed, peer-to-peer, gamified learning experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Key<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here are some tips for getting started with a Camp Copilot at your company:<\/p>\n\n\n\n