This year's BUILD conference is not going to be the event that was originally billed. Instead of an in-person, 2-day event with tickets costing $2,395 it has been transformed into a 48-hour digital experience that is free and open to all. More importantly the focus of the event will be firmly on developers.

The headline on the Microsoft Build site states:

For developers by developers,

Why does that ring a bell?  Oh yes, it is this site that is: 

By programmers, For Programmers

and it is good to see that Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference is going back to its Developer, Developer, Developer roots.

Build 2020 will still take place between May 19th and 21st and will still start with CEO Satya Nadella, although now he's going to be restricted to "welcome remarks" to be followed by a keynote for developers hosted by Scott Hanselmann. 

On his own blog, Hanselmann leads us to expect:

 parade of demos, technical context, continuous learning, innovation, and I'm sure my children will interrupt me even though the calendar is clearly marked BUILD 

Ah the perils of a conference live-streamed from home!

On the other hand, home sounds like a great place to attend this conference which offers 48 hours of continuous learning - though at it will all be recorded there's no need for attendees to stay up all night.

It does sound as though its a different rule for the Microsoft experts. In order to ensure everyone can watch sessions at a time that suits them they are going to be repeated three times at 8-hour intervals. We are also promised LIVE sessions that  have shorter starter sessions followed up by longer recorded ones after the event. Build 2020 will also have 48 hour workshops on Twitch, including Live Coders doing long form workshops lasting 1-3 hours. 

For most of us networking and engaging with other people, be they the experts or our peers, is what motivates attending events such as these. Surely this will be lacking?

Perhaps not. One-to-one chats with Microsoft engineers are on offer and we are also promised both live Q&A with experts and a way to foster community connections, According to Hanselman:

Sometimes the best track at a conference is the Hallway Track and we want you to spend time with like-minded people in a positive environment so we'll have ways for you to self-organize and step into your own space to share and learn.

So perhaps you can't attend this conference in your dressing gown on your unmade bed in case you suddenly want to engage in some face time with other attendees.

Also, according to Christina Warren, Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft, social hour at Build will include the Microsoft Build Film Festival. We are all invited to send in footage  - and are told to stay tuned for more information.

Registration is now open. All you need is a (free) Microsoft Account. During the registration process you are invited to propose topics you would like to see covered - yet another way in which the conference is being adapted to meet the needs of its audience.

On the other hand, Microsoft build 2020 really needs its audience to be prepared to interact and play a part in the event

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