Microsoft’s big developer conference returns to San Francisco in June

Microsoft is moving its annual Build developer conference from Seattle to San Francisco and making some changes along the way. This year, the event will be held at Fort Mason, the former U.S. Army post located in the San Francisco Bay Area, instead of bustling downtown Seattle. Microsoft is moving Build to this location to capture the AI ​​buzz in San Francisco and make the event more intimate.

“There are big conferences that are huge, and part of that is just their scope and scale, and there are big conferences that are tiny that are really a personalized experience,” said Kyle Daigle, director of operations at GitHub, in an interview with The edge. “I think we’re trying to be in the middle, where meeting attendees is just as much a part of the actual conference content, the announcements and the use of technology.”

Microsoft is inviting 2,500 developers to register for Build this year, which will be held June 2-3 instead of the usual May. That’s fewer than the 3,000 to 5,000 people who have already attended the event. “I think this venue really forces people like us to consider the attendees and really focus on the developers who are coming to the event,” Daigle says. “They’ll be able to attend a conference, walk into a room and have the demo experience, and have a lot more interaction with each other. »

The move to San Francisco is part of some “bigger changes” aimed at transforming Build into a more developer-focused event. Over the years, Build has hosted many Windows-related announcements or news that aren’t always just about developers. “We just need to show you what we’ve done, what you’ve built on it, and how you can use it,” Daigle says. “I am not presenting to you our vision and that of a third party again and again.”

Microsoft is also inviting more external speakers to Build, and some of those speakers will appear in sessions as well. Datasette founder Simon Willison will be speaking at Build this year, as will Thiink’s Priyanka Sharma, AI engineer Shawn Wang, and more. Microsoft speakers will include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, GitHub SVP Jared Palmer, and Scott Hanselman, VP of Developer Communities.

“[Attendees] “We’ll be able to have access to what we’re advertising, as a developer in a room with your laptop outside,” Daigle says. “It should feel more like a community-centered developer experience where we learn from and with each other.”

The move away from Seattle doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft won’t return to its home city at a later date, especially since Build originally moved from San Francisco to Seattle in 2017. Daigle, however, denied reports that the decision to move was related to attendees’ negative experiences in downtown Seattle. “Build has been in many different locations over the years, but it clearly has an identity with the Seattle area, but as with anything software, it’s a bit of a boat to learn,” Daigle says. “Let’s send it to San Francisco and see what we learn this year with this audience that can come and join us, and see the years that follow.”