Top 5 Experiences that Created a Sense of Community at Microsoft Inspire

This past week while attending the Microsoft Inspire conference in Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, there were crowds of enthusiastic attendees all ready to hold meetings, make connections, and really drive the momentum on their decision making. Partners gathered to learn about each other and all the advances that Microsoft was primed to share with the world. While navigating a massive event such as this, it can sometimes be hard to find your footing and make significant connections. Valuable learning opportunities were endless so there were many chances for people to participate and seek out the answers they needed and even some that they didn’t know that they desired. 

While taking part in this large ecosystem, the Women in Cloud community held and took part in intimate experiences in order to harness the real power behind all of the learning opportunities.  Here are the top 5 community experiences at Microsoft Inspire that left a lasting impression:

Archive360 Executive Roundtable

Dan Langille, Global Director – Microsoft, Archive360 and Erika Trenkle, Director of Channels – Americas, Archive360 led a discussion moderated by Chaitra Vedullapalli, President & Co-Founder of Women in Cloud sharing about how Archive360 conducts enterprise deals with Microsoft.

Learning moments:

• Becoming successful with Microsoft Partnerships
• Go-To-Market opportunities with Archive360
• Winning Contracts using D&I Levers

WIC Executive Dinner powered by M12 – Microsoft’s Venture Fund

Women in Cloud hosted a dinner event for a group of 30 women entrepreneurs and thought-leaders to discuss alignments on access to investments, talent, and customers via corporate contracts in an intimate setting. The dinner experience at La Veranda, Four Seasons was generously sponsored by M12 – Microsoft’s Venture Fund. The overall intent was to foster meaningful connections that would last far beyond the Inspire event. Colleen O’Brien, VC Marketer, M12 also moderated a talk within the Inclusion Lounge in the Community Zone on the topic Women in Cloud: Make Your Business Fly. A highlight of the dinner included the exchange of anonymous motivational messages from other women in attendance. 

Women in Tech Luncheon featuring Sutherland Global

Microsoft has been working closely with Women in Cloud (WIC), the International Association of Microsoft Partners (IAMC), and The WIT Network (TWN) to create an event optimized for partners to recognize both the advances and opportunities as we work together for greater inclusion of women in the tech industry. Sutherland Global sponsored a table with Women in Cloud at this powerful luncheon featuring talks by Satya Nadella and Gavriella Schuster. 

Create Smiles Gratitude Boxes powered by Meylah

Create Smiles is a youth service project located in Sammamish, Washington. It empowers youth entrepreneurs to create opportunities with inclusion, diversity, and community impact. The Create Smiles gift box is a community program and fundraiser which allows the group to continue to provide  programming and education services with social impact and commercial-community integration. Complimentary Create Smiles boxes were offered to Microsoft Inspire attendees to encourage them to share it with someone else and acknowledge their efforts, show appreciation, or brighten someone’s day. The Create Smiles gratitude box giveaway was featured in the Inclusion Lounge within the Community one of Microsoft Inspire. 

The Female Quotient Inclusion Lounge

The Inclusion Lounge that was featured in the Community Zone provided to the attendees just what it boasts – a place of belonging. Various activities to inspire connection took place in the lounge and thought-provoking panels took place in the adjacent open-theater. Throughout the course of the week of Inspire, over 2,000 people attended the Inclusion Lounge. While offering a space to elevate your promotion game with the digital first business card experience, or step into the shoes of someone else with the VR for empathy experience. This relaxing area, across from the main meeting location for pre-scheduled meetings, really allowed for people to meet, connect, and discuss their experiences.

The support of our Women in Cloud sponsors aided in more visibility and some key moments that we can all be proud of as a part of the Women in Cloud community:

• Announcement of 2020 Women in Cloud Summit – January 25, 2020 – Microsoft Conference Center, Redmond, WA. Early bird tickets on sale now until September 15, 2019
• Global Expansion announcement to Microsoft US Sub
• 200+ new Women in Cloud connections made
• Presence on 10 panels or experiences throughout the week
• 30+ TechNative Videos created (7M Reach)

Finding a sense of community can be an overwhelming environment to the first-timer or long-time return guest. It is really something quite valuable to an Inspire attendee. As a part of the #WICtribe we aim to enter spaces with a sense of community and connection that everyone desires. Thanks to our sponsors Archive360, M12, Meylah and Sutherland Global for helping us in going beyond the standard of conference and tradeshow encounters.

For more information on how to get involved with the Women in Cloud community throughout the year as we continue to work towards global expansion and  $1Billion in economic impact for female technology entrepreneurs, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.