Microsoft is preparing to host all its events, summits and conferences virtually through to July 2021 as the coronavirus outbreak has forced companies to take a hard look at their planned events this year. While a majority of the workforce is adjusting to working from home, events and conferences scheduled by companies are being postponed to a later date or scrapped off completely.
Many such events have been shifted to an online-only model like Microsoft Build 2020 and now the company seems to be getting ready to host virtual events and conferences until July 2021. In a mail to Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professionals (MVP), the company states that all its external and internal events will be transitioned to a digital-first experience.
“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 decided to transition all external and internal events to a digital-first experience through July 2021,” reads the mail.
This also means that Microsoft’s MVP and Regional Directors (RD) Summit that is scheduled for March 28, 2021, will be held virtually, much like the Build 2021. Similarly, Microsoft Ignite in-person events that were scheduled to be held from September 21-25 across 30 cities is being transformed into a digital-first event.
Microsoft says that it will resume in-person meetings when the situation allows for it, which is to say when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. As for its next online-only event, Microsoft is going forward with the Build 2020 developers conference from May 19 to 21. Google’s annual developer's conference, Google I/O 2020 was earlier announced to be shifted online, however, it now remains cancelled.