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Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, speaks to Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG (not pictured), in a “homeless chat” with the media about a joint project between the two companies called the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud on February 27, 2019 in Berlin. .
Sean Gallup | fake pictures
Microsoft said Thursday that it will begin accepting registrations for its first digital-only Build developer conference scheduled for May 19-21. Microsoft originally planned to hold the event in Seattle, but canceled the in-person meetings in March as the coronavirus became more prevalent. More than 6,000 people registered to attend last year’s Build conference in downtown Seattle.
Microsoft now provides more details on its substitute for one of its core activities that brings employees together with outsiders.
This year’s event will be free and will focus more on the core audience of software developers, rather than the end users of products like Windows 10 or Office applications, or people interested in understanding a broader corporate strategy.
Last month, Microsoft held a digital event for journalists to learn about the new features of the Edge browser and other products. Build will see Microsoft delivering content to a broader audience.
Executives will talk about artificial intelligence technologies, the Azure cloud, the Microsoft 365 family of products, including the Office productivity suite.
The main presentations at this year’s Build event will be shorter, and part of the discussion that usually takes place in person will take place on Twitter. Microsoft executives will pre-record the content from their homes as they continue to shelter-in-place, although some of the content will be produced live to allow for more public interaction, the person said.
Holding the event online will mean that journalists will not have their regular press room available. Microsoft will provide a meeting place for journalists in this year’s Teams for Build communication app.
Earlier this month, Microsoft told partners that it had chosen to turn all internal and external events into digital affairs until July 2021. At some point, Microsoft will likely hold conferences in person again, the person said.
Other big tech companies like Apple, Facebook and Google have also canceled or connected online only with the main developer events they had planned for this year as Covid-19 cases increased. On Wednesday, Salesforce canceled its Dreamforce show for customers and partners.
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