Microsoft conference changes: Convergence becomes Envision
Microsoft announced some changes for their 2016 conference lineup. The Convergence event set for New Orleans April 4-6 has been renamed Envision, and gains a focus on business leaders minus the technical Dynamics content. That content is being shifted to Ignite, bringing all of IT Pro technical content under one roof.
Chris Capossela, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, announced the change in a Microsoft Blog post today. Here is how Envision is positioned in Chris’ comments:
Microsoft Envision is designed for CxOs and their senior department and functional leaders who are driven to shape their own future and position their organizations and business for success in a mobile first, cloud first world.
I’ve never attended Convergence, but this seems like a smart move to follow-up last year’s big conference shake-up. With the move to consolidate the IT Pro conferences into a single event, it seemed odd that Dynamics was left out of Ignite. I’m not sure how much overlap there is between the Dynamics and non-Dynamics crowds, but not having to choose between Ignite and Convergence should be helpful. Unless of course they get bit by the “I can’t have all of my IT people out at the same time” problem.
I’m curious to see how adding another set of content to Ignite’s already bursting at the seams content catalog will manifest itself this year. Will something else get trimmed, or will they just stuff more into the schedule?
On the flip side, how many attendees at Ignite were form the target audience for Envision and how many of them might elect to skip Ignite now and go to New Orleans? Might that mean less of a need for 100 level sessions? We’ll see. Just a thought.
If you’re interested in the latest updates about Microsoft Envision, check out the new social media links:
- Follow Envision on Facebook (MicrosoftEnvision)
- Follow Envision on Twitter (@MsftEnvision)
- Follow Envision on LinkedIn (Microsoft-Envision) – Their new alias doesn’t seem to be working yet, so you can get to the site here.
- Hashtag #ENV16 on Twitter
In other conference news, Microsoft also announced that registration for //Build will open on January 19. The spots for this event usually go fast, so mark your calendar and get ready to click refresh over and over that day. If you’re at a University, there are a number of academic slots available at a reduced price. No sense paying more than you have to. I’d love to go, but that’s more because I’d like to get back to San Francisco (Smuggler’s Cove and Tonga Room!) and get whatever goodies Microsoft is giving out to devs this year. Sadly my employer has not been enthusiastic about financing my Tiki fix, so I’ll probably be staying in St. Louis again this year. Anyone want to sponsor me?
A side note regarding //Build… After seeing it in print in the blog post, I guess the slashes are actually part of the conference name. Are they silent or are we supposed to say slash-slash-Build? or maybe we make a slashing motion with our hands, karate style, as we say the name. That could be fun.