Bauer Automate - Blog Posts #Communication

Two Years of Reflection at the CPPUG — And Why 2026 Has Us Excited

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 11:59:32 -0700

When we look back at the last two years of running the Calgary Power Platform User Group (CPPUG), it still feels a bit surreal. This group didn’t start with us — we had the privilege of taking it over at a time when things were quiet and activity had slowed.

What began as an opportunity to revive something meaningful quickly turned into a mission: to rebuild the CPPUG into a space that truly brings Power Platform enthusiasts in Calgary together — not just for events, but as a real resource for learning, support, and community. Office Hours became a core part of that vision, giving people a place to ask questions, learn from each other, and grow together.

Today, CPPUG feels louder, fuller, and more alive than ever.

We’ve seen new faces turn into familiar ones. We’ve watched Office Hours grow from small, question-driven sessions into packed, high-energy discussions. And month after month, the room reminds us why this community matters.

A Community That Just Keeps Showing Up

A Big Milestone: The Power Platform Conference

One of our favourite moments this year was attending the Power Platform Community Conference in Las Vegas and representing the CPPUG on a global stage! Being able to share the story of our group — how we stepped in to rebuild it, how Calgary’s community is thriving, and how we intentionally make learning fun — was a powerful and proud moment.

And then came one of those “small world” experiences we’ll never forget.

One of our CPPUG stickers made its way all the way to Mexico — through someone Ryley had worked on a past project with. A member of his company attended the conference, brought stickers back for the team… and that old colleague messaged Ryley saying, “I just got a Calgary Power Platform User Group sticker.”

From Calgary to Vegas to Mexico — unreal.

P.S. If you want to watch our presentation at the Power Platform Conference, you can view it here:

Watch Our PPCC 2025 Presentation

Looking Ahead to 2026

If the last two years were about rebuilding and momentum, 2026 is all about expansion and elevation.

We’re planning:

Bigger, more dynamic events
New training and learning opportunities
Stronger partnerships behind the scenes
And brand new experiences… including our first hackathon that everyone’s been waiting for 😉

We want to make the CPPUG even more accessible — more hands-on, more welcoming, and more representative of everyone shaping the Power Platform space in Calgary and beyond.

Expect:

More Office Hours
More networking
More community highlights
More fun
And definitely more photos — because our group pictures are basically tradition now

A Huge Thank You

Running this group takes time, behind-the-scenes planning, and a lot of heart — and we wouldn’t trade any of it. Thank you to everyone who has attended, volunteered, presented, shared posts, or supported us from afar. You are the reason this group continues to grow.

2024 and 2025 were transformational.

2026 is going to be unforgettable.

— The CPPUG Team

Calgary Power Platform User Group

Want to Be A Part of the CPPUG Team?

Learn About CPPUG

View Our Event photos

Automating Microsoft Teams Memberships with Power Automate & Graph API: One Nite Band Workflow

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 17:23:56 -0600

How We Streamlined Musician Scheduling Using Power Platform & Microsoft Graph

Introduction: From Simple to Sophisticated

This post is a collaboration between Ryley Bauer and Thanishque Harshaa.

What started as a straightforward project quickly evolved into a layered, enterprise-grade automation system.

A local band—One Nite Band—needed a smarter way to manage incoming show requests and musician availability. Their goal? Replace a messy, manual process with a scalable, repeatable solution using Microsoft Teams, Power Automate, SharePoint, and the Microsoft Graph API.

Core Challenge:

Track incoming event bookings
Invite the right musicians to “bid” for availability based on their based on role and priority
Automatically assign accepted musicians to a collaboration space

What started as a “weekend Power Automate flow” turned into a deep dive into identity resolution, schema enforcement, and navigating the nuanced constraints of Microsoft Teams and Azure Active Directory. While the use case was built for musicians, the architecture applies to any project requiring dynamic team assembly—whether it’s teams of developers, analysts, designers, technicians, consultants, creatives, etc.

Project Goal: Automate Smart Role-Based Channel Assignment in Microsoft Teams

The key objective was to automate how internal and external musicians (like drummers, vocalists, and guitarists) were added to their respective Teams channels based on:

Priority: Invitations were sent based on a role-specific hierarchy
Relevance: Only the required roles for the event were contacted
Automation: Accepted musicians were granted channel access automatically via Teams channel membership.
Traceability: All actions were integrated with SharePoint and Power Automate for tracking.

To avoid clutter and confusion, general requests were routed through public channels, keeping private channels reserved for more specialized teams, while allowing the wider team to coordinate openly.

Key Technical Learnings and Challenges

1. Internal vs. External Users: It's Not Just a Checkbox

At first, we treated all users the same. Big mistake. Some of the issues we ran into include:

External users contain #EXT# in their userPrincipalName, a reliable pattern we used to differentiate them.
You can’t assign external users as owners in private Teams channels as this throws an instant Graph API error
You can’t reference external users in Graph API until they’ve accepted an Azure AD invitation

Solution: We added conditional logic to gracefully handle the onboarding of external members, avoiding hard errors and flow failures.

Takeaway: External users require manual onboarding or invitation acceptance before you can automate their involvement.

2. Why concat() Almost Broke the Flow

An early approach we used was by using concat()) to build JSON payloads dynamically.

That however, did not age well.

Even one null value (like a missing user ID) would break the entire concat() chain, causing the flow to fail with hard-to-trace errors.

Solution:

Use array variables to build each member object
Wrap dynamic fields with guards: if(empty(...), '', ...)
Debug payloads one object at a time

3. User GUIDs Are Mandatory for Graph API

The Graph API requires GUIDs, not usernames or emails.

The user@odata.bind value must be:

"user@odata.bind": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{userId}"

…in which the userid must be the GUID which was retried using the Get User Profile (V2) in Office 365 actions.

*Note: If this step was skipped, the member addition will have failed silently or throw vague schema errors.

4. Schema Errors & Permission Pitfalls

The Graph API is unforgiving. Common issues included:

“Property members in payload has a value that does not match schema”
“Guest users cannot be added as owner”

Solution:

Validate user type before assigning owner/member roles
Keep the templates for owner/member schema separate
Only add accepted external users

5. Array Variables: Your Flow’s Best Friend

Switching to array variables was a huge turning point for our project.

Instead of stitching strings together, we appended validated user objects into a clean array and passed that to the HTTP request. This gave us control, modularity, and fault tolerance. Our robust member arrays instead looked like this:

{

"values": [

{

"@odata.type": "#microsoft.graph.aadUserConversationMember",

"roles": ["member"],

"user@odata.bind": "https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/users/{userId}"

}

]

}

Result: This made testing and debugging seamless, as we could preview each object before sending, as well as add failover logic easily.

6. Unexpected Microsoft Teams Constraints

Even with flawless logic, one of the unexpected hurdles we hit came from the Microsoft Teams limitations, which include:

Only 30 private channels per team
Certain roles can’t be added as owners
Graph API schema is rigid—any deviation causes full rejection

Although these were not power Automate issues, they were platform constraints by Microsoft Teams that required careful workaround via trial and error.

Real-World Impact: From Jam Nights to Project Teams

This automation now powers real-time musician scheduling for a rotating band roster—ensuring the right people get contacted, and the right channels stay clean and efficient.

But this system also models a powerful project resourcing tool beyond. We built a Project Management platform where roles (e.g., dev, QA, designer) are mapped, priority candidates are invited first, and project workspaces are created dynamically with full support for internal and external collaborators.

With a few tweaks, this could be a full-fledged project resourcing engine for any Microsoft 365 environment.

Final Thoughts: Beyond the Flow

This wasn’t just a flow—it was an education.

It taught me about:

Microsoft identity models
Power Platform resiliency
Real-world system design with API constraints

On some days, it felt like duct-taping XML to JSON. Other days, everything clicked, and the system worked beautifully.

What started as a simple ask—“Can you assign musicians to Teams?”—became a milestone in my journey as a Power Platform developer. It deepened my API knowledge, strengthened my problem-solving under pressure skills, and gave me hands-on skills that I’ll carry into every project moving forward.

Want to Learn More or Set Up A System that Works for You?

A Season of Growth

Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:53:17 -0600

My Tech Internship Journey at Bauer Automate

Discovering My Path

This fall, I'll be entering Grade 11 at James Fowler High School in Calgary, Alberta, and joining their Robotics Team. As a visual learner, I'm energized by interactive experiences that transform abstract concepts into reality. My keen interests in math, social studies, and robotics have amplified my enthusiasm for tech and innovation.

Visual arts, particularly stop-motion animation, capture my imagination. The process of stitching visuals to weave a compelling narrative thrills me. Furthermore, I’m eager to deepen my understanding of coding, technology, and robotics, driven by the awe-inspiring potential they hold for the future.

My Internship Adventure

My time at Bauer Automate was an ambitious endeavour aimed at learning and hard skill development. The internship introduced me to the Microsoft Power Platform—a robust suite of low-code/no-code tools designed to solve business problems at speed.

I diligently prepared for the Microsoft PL-900: Power Platform Fundamentals Certificate and delved into digital marketing, crafting video scripts and editing content for an educational video series on the Power Platform. Stay tuned for the upcoming launch.

Transitioning from mobile-based to a desktop environment elevated my appreciation for video editing software. From video meme creation to educational content, my video editing journey has been extensive. I’m proud to say I've advanced beyond beginner status, particularly with the CapCut Video Editing Software.

Lessons From Challenges

Naturally, the internship presented its share of hurdles. Video editing demanded extreme attention to detail—a skill essential for crafting engaging and flawless content. Creativity and precision proved to be indispensable allies in my digital media journey.

Closing Thoughts

This internship has been an enriching journey of self-discovery, skill enhancement, and technological exploration. I've gained valuable insights that will undoubtedly influence my future career trajectory. Through highs and lows, I’ve recognized the true value of perseverance, creativity, and a mindset fixed on continuous learning!