We’ve focused a lot of attention on the sessions and learning opportunities at Microsoft Ignite—for good reason! The event is home to thousands of great sessions to learn about updates, product tricks, and so much more. But MS Ignite is an opportunity for more than learning—it provides you an opportunity to network with your peers, your community and meet new people. Below you’ll find some areas for you to connect with your peers and meet new people interested in products and topics, just like you!
Community Happy Hour
Start Microsoft Ignite right with Community! We have a Happy Hour planned on Sunday at Howl At The Moon from 5:00PM–7:30PM. Come by to meet Microsoft speakers, MVPs and fellow attendees over a bite and a drink, with live dueling pianos! Flash your Microsoft Ignite pass at the door for entry.
Community Central
Community Central, located in the West Building, is a dedicated space for community members to come together, connect, learn about other communities and share experiences. Community Central will be home to the Microsoft Tech Community area—where you can come to learn more and sign up for the Community. You can also find details about the MVP Program and watch a live artist drawing on a ‘scribe wall,’ documenting themes from the themes of the day. Community Central will also be home to @Christian Buckley’s TweetJam, every day from 12-1PM.
Community Takeover Days
During the week, Community Central will be the home for Community Takeover Days! Community Takeover Days are day-long events highlighting product milestones, what’s happening within the communities and provide you with an opportunity to network with both Microsoft and non-Microsoft community influencers. Activities and giveaways will be running from 9:30AM-5PM, and focus on the following daily themes:
- Monday is Data Day! Come meet with your SQL and data-driven peers and community influencers and connect over cupcakes!
- On Tuesday, Microsoft Azure will take over. Whether you’re interested Azure Development, Azure Management & Security, PowerShell, or Hybrid Platforms, come meet up with PMs and community influencers like
and @Magnus Martensson throughout the day, and pick up some Azure-branded swag! - Wednesday is Microsoft Office’s turn and there are birthdays to be celebrated! They’ll be celebrating OneDrive turning 10, Tech Community turning 1, and Exchange turning 21! We hear they’ll have waffles. Come join the birthday celebrations, hear from the experts and collect more swag.
- On Thursday, MS Windows will be taking over. Enjoy treats, collect swag and meet Windows Insiders, MVPs, product teams and more! Community Reporter
will also be reporting live.
Other Opportunities
If you know of other planned community meetups, happy hours or other great networking tips and tricks, share below to help others get the most out of Microsoft Ignite!