Prepping For Jnuc 2025

This October, I’ll be heading to Denver, Colorado, for the Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC 2025). It’s a week that brings together community, learning, and all things new with Jamf, and this year, I’m especially honored to be attending as one of the recipients of the JNUC Diversity Sponsorship.

The Sponsorship Experience

The Diversity Sponsorship program reflects Jamf’s commitment to amplifying the voices of underrepresented individuals in the tech industry. Now in its ninth year, the program selects up to 10 individuals to attend JNUC with full conference registration, a travel stipend, and access to exclusive networking opportunities.

Being chosen for this year’s sponsorship is both humbling and energizing. It’s not just about attending sessions or seeing the latest product announcements—it’s about being recognized as part of a broader effort to ensure diverse perspectives are present in conversations that shape the future of Apple administration and security.

Why I Applied

This will be my first time attending JNUC in person. In the past, I’ve only been able to participate virtually, back when Jamf still offered remote attendance, before shifting to posting recorded sessions a few months after the event.

The reality is that childcare responsibilities and other personal factors have often prevented me from traveling for extended periods of time. The last in-person Mac admin conference I attended was the Penn State University Mac Admins Conference in 2019, just before the COVID pandemic. Since then, opportunities to be present in the community physically have been few and far between.

That’s why this sponsorship is so meaningful. I applied because I wanted the chance to be in the room—learning, connecting, and sharing alongside peers who understand the challenges and opportunities of managing Apple at scale.

It’s also not lost on me that I’m receiving a DEIB sponsorship during a time when diversity efforts are under attack in much of the U.S. political climate. While I don’t veer into politics in my professional role working with the federal government, I can’t separate myself from my reality: I am a Black man in tech. And while I may not always feel I can be as vocal as I’d like, I live with the knowledge of the systemic disadvantages I face and fight against every single day.

Wanting to belong is universal. Organizations that prioritize diversity and belonging are essential for our communities and their advancement.

Diversity in tech is vitally important. Programs like this one create opportunities for individuals like me to be present, to be heard, and to help ensure that the community continues to represent all of us.

Why JNUC?

Throughout my career, my roles have required me to manage Apple devices via multiple MDM vendors; however, I’ve primarily utilized Jamf Pro.

For over 15 years, JNUC has been a consistent place where the Apple admin community is able to refresh their skills and ideas—whether you’re managing a small fleet of Macs or supporting thousands of iOS devices across an enterprise. Conferences like this are where real-world workflows are shared, automation scripts are exchanged, and best practices regarding security and compliance are discussed.

As someone who spends much of my professional life focused on compliance frameworks, security baselines, and scaling MDM workflows, JNUC isn’t just another conference—it’s an opportunity to sharpen my practice, hear how peers are solving the same challenges, and carry those lessons back into my own environment.

And on a personal level, I’m excited to connect with both familiar and new faces, including some of the more popular names in the Mac Admins space, as well as former coworkers from past roles who I know will be attending.

My JNUC Agenda

Building my schedule for JNUC 2025 has been no small task—there are far more sessions than I’ll realistically be able to attend. Still, I’ve registered for a strong mix of keynotes, deep dives, and community sessions that align with both my current work and where I see Apple management heading.

Comparing my planned schedule against what I have favorited to come back and review, it will be non-stop each and every day of the conference, with little break in between. Several sessions have already been marked as full. And while Jamf can always adjust things between now and the conference, I think I’ve created a decent combination of sessions across various levels and categories.

My current planned JNUC 2025 Agenda

I have overlaid all the sessions I have favorited so that I can watch them on demand later due to overlapping and time constraints.

A few highlights I’m especially looking forward to include:

• The Opening Keynote – Jamf’s vision for the future of enterprise Apple management.
• Commercial & Security State of the Union – always a must-see for understanding how Jamf views today’s threat landscape.
• Infrastructure as Code with Jamf – bringing DevOps practices directly into device management. Terraform is one tool I intend to learn over the coming months and years to expand my own skills within device management, so I hope this session will help jump-start my commitment to this learning goal.
• Super Friends – this session will focus on S.U.P.E.R.M.A.N., the amazing tool that helps organizations enforce software updates to macOS devices. I’ve been a very big advocate of the tool, but to be honest, I am primarily attending this session just to shake Kevin White’s hand :D as he has been a large contributor to my own personal growth as a Mac Admin.
• Configuration Profiles 3.0 – a deep dive into the future of profiles, a critical component of macOS and iOS management.

Beyond the sessions, I’ll be making time for the hallway track: visiting vendor booths for tools I use daily, stopping by to learn about products I’ve been curious about, and sparking conversations with fellow admins about their work and the tools they rely on.

I’m also signed up for a couple of brain dates, which offer smaller group discussions around shared topics. These are great for digging deeper into challenges that don’t always get airtime on the main stage.

There are a few brain dates that I would recommend to folks, even though I personally won’t be able to get to some.

• “What Compliance workflows do you need?” with Jan Vozenilek who will hold open discussion around the continuous evolution of the Compliance benchmarks roadmap. I’ve personally spoken to Jan on multiple occasions and have provided my own feedback on Jamf Device Compliance Benchmarks. If you use this tool and have questions, or want to provide feedback directly to the time, I would prioritize this braindate.
• “Let’s do a JNUC check-in” with Kat Garbis to talk about what you’ve learned so far, what you’ve liked, and what surprises have come out of JNUC. I believe this talk will be beneficial for the numerous people, like myself, who will have to return to work the following week and share the knowledge gained from JNUC with the rest of their teams and organizations. It would be nice to first speak with others who are also at JNUC about what they’ve learned as well.

Note: These Brain Dates may be full by the time you attempt to register depending on when you read this post.

Of course, there will be tough choices—many great sessions overlap—but I’ll catch up on the ones I miss through Jamf’s on-demand portal before those recordings are released to the broader public.

DEIB and the JNUC Experience

One of the reasons I value JNUC is Jamf’s visible commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB). Their approach goes beyond statements—it’s embedded in the event itself:

• A diverse lineup of speakers across industries and backgrounds.
• Accessibility at every level, from wheelchair-accessible seating and captioning in multiple languages, to ASL interpreters and lactation suites.
• Community-driven spaces, such as Proud Corner for LGBTQIA+ attendees, an interfaith prayer room, and volunteer opportunities, offer a chance to give back while connecting with peers.
• Pronouns on badges and gender-neutral restrooms, creating a respectful, inclusive environment for all.

For me, these commitments signal that JNUC is more than a technical event—it’s a space where belonging is prioritized alongside innovation.

Looking Ahead

Part Two of this series will capture my on-the-ground experience: the sessions I attend, the conversations that stick with me, and the lessons I bring home to share with my team of Mac engineers.

For now, I’m just grateful—grateful to Jamf for this sponsorship, grateful to be part of this community, and grateful for the opportunity to contribute my voice to the conversation in Denver.

If you are attending JNUC, I would love to be able to meet with you and just say “hi.” I am also a voluntary “if you need someone to hangout with because you came by yourself” tag-along. If you do not have anyone to go through JNUC with, I am more than willing to be a person you know so it’s not overwhelming or lonely in a sea full of attendees!

I can’t wait! See you soon.

Fun Fact of the Day - JNUC 2025

Denver’s nickname, the Mile High City, isn’t just marketing—the 13th step of the Colorado State Capitol building is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. Be prepared: the higher altitude can make you feel winded faster than usual, so hydrate often and pace yourself during the week of JNUC.