It has become normal to hear about companies cancelling conferences and events, but everyone is looking forward to a time when we can return to normalcy.
It seems Microsoft has no expectation that that time will come anytime soon, and has decided to give some certainty to conference-goers by announcing that all of their external and many of their internal events will go virtual-only all the way till July 2021.
In a note to MVPs they write:
“In light of the challenges presented by Covid-19, Microsoft has been closely monitoring the developing global situation and re-assessing the overall company-wide in-person event strategy. As a company, Microsoft has made the decision to transition all external and internal events to a digital-first experience through July 2021. This will include future MVP & RD Summit which is currently scheduled for March 28-April 2, 2021. We will continue to evaluate the situation and look forward to connecting in person when the situation allows.”
This means not just this year, but also next year’s Build is being cancelled, and likely both Ignites and many MVP conferences.
The replacement will be virtual events, which should paradoxically improve access, as travel will no longer be an issue.
What do our readers think of the move? Let us know below.