Given the health crisis that the world is going through, Microsoft has announced that it plans to digitize a large number of its external and internal events for its 2021 fiscal year (which runs from July 2020 to June 2021).
This means that Ignite 2020, Ignite The Tour, Build 2021 and Inspire 2021 events could also be exclusively online-only events. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that Microsoft events that will run until the end of the 2020 will all go digital.
Coronavirus: all Microsoft events will switch to online-only until 2021
“In light of the challenges presented by Covid-19, we are adjusting our event calendar and strategy. For the remainder of 2020 we are embracing the opportunity to experiment with new platforms. This is to provide our partners, customers and developers the highest quality, digital-first experiences.” said Microsoft spokesperson to ZDNet.
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As a reminder, Microsoft had already announced the cancellation of its MVP summit. It was to be held in Seattle in March 2020. The American giant also canceled its developer conference Build 2020, scheduled for mid-May in Seattle. In addition to Inspire 2020 partner conference in July in Las Vegas. Build normally attracts around 5,000 participants; Inspire drew 40,000 participants and Ignite up to 25,000. This year’s MVP Summit, Build and Ignite events will be exclusively digital.
Microsoft officials have released how-to guides for users of its platforms. That’s to give them more information about online meetings and live events. Microsoft’s advice is to use Teams meetings for small groups that need to interact actively, but to use Microsoft 365 Live Events for “one-to-many” or “little-to-many” scenarios, such as speeches, public meetings and round tables.
The company’s officials also said that until July 1, 2020, the company temporarily allows 100,000 participants to participate in events using its live event assistance program. Microsoft 365 Live Events allows users to broadcast immersive shows to a wider audience while maintaining interactive conversations, questions and answers. These live events can take place on Teams or in Yammer.
