The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the world to a halt. Offices, schools and other institutions pausing their functioning in order to reduce human interaction which leads to the spreading of this deadly virus.
Tech giants often hold their keynotes/events in large venues with hundreds of people but this year, things will be different.
Microsoft is planning on making all of its internal and external events digital-only until July 2021 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The company had already revealed Build 2020, due to be held in Seattle in May, would transform into a digital event. This digital-only focus is now extending to far more events over the next year. According to a recent email sent to Microsoft MVPs “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 means that events like Microsoft Ignite will be held digitally in September. The Computex 2020 which was rescheduled for September, won’t involve an in-person event. This decision will also affect Microsoft’s plans for CES 2021 and Build 2021 event.
The company has also cancelled its in-person Inspire event for partners that was due to be held in July. The company is still working out whether this will also become a digital event or not. It also expected that no in-person ‘Surface’ reveal will take place this year.
Microsoft is not the plan going digital with its events. Apple too will be holding a “digital-only” event for its WWDC 2020 event scheduled for June this year