Microsoft Ignite After Party – Online and free MSIgnite 2021

• A Microsoft Ignite After Party is a Watch Party where you invite your community members to come together to watch a pre-selected Ignite session together, spark conversations around the topic, bringing our content closer them.
• The recommended duration for the After Party is 60-90 minute session.
• You may kick off with watching the pre-selected session together.
• After the session is viewed, a technical discussion is led by the host fostering 2-way conversation and Q&A for deeper dive into the content.
• Remember, After Parties should be held during a designated time period – in this case, from November 2021 to January 2022, after the Microsoft Ignite event

If you miss this event , you can find more here 

About Microsoft Ignite After Parties

1. When is Microsoft Ignite taking place?

Microsoft Ignite is taking place on November 2 – 4

2. What is a Microsoft Ignite After Party? What is the concept of the After Party?

Microsoft Ignite After Party is a watch party, held after the Microsoft Ignite event, with the intent to share Microsoft Ignite content, spark conversations around the selected topics and create opportunities to dive deeper into the content. It is also an opportunity to build and foster relationships in the community. After Parties are held after the Microsoft Ignite event, during a designated time period from November – January. After Parties are led and hosted by MVPs.

3. Is it mandatory for the After Party to be digital? Can I host a hybrid model or in- person?

We trust your judgement and knowledge about local COVID related restrictions and guidelines when it come to deciding if you should host a digital, hybrid or in-person After Party. Microsoft events are currently all digital hence we are unable to provide any additional funding or logistical support for in-person activities.

4. How is this year’s After Party different from to that of Build’s?

Unlike Microsoft Build Watch Parties, as a host for Microsoft Ignite After Parties, you now have the option to invite Microsoft Cloud Advocates (CAs) or Community Leads to share their expertise, produce your own party and choose the platform to stream on!

Hosting a Microsoft Ignite After Party

5. Is there a criteria for MVPs/Hosts to be selected for a After Party?

MVPs who are passionate for the community and willing to take on the huge commitment are encouraged and welcomed to host a After Party. Being a Microsoft Ignite After Party Host can be an extraordinary experience. It’s also a big commitment. These are 3 main responsibilities. Tasks of a host are also listed below.

• Create a Microsoft experience

Authenticity, Diversity and Inclusivity are just a few qualities that make a great Microsoft After Party. Think like what you as an attendee would want to experience. Spark community connections and conversations.

• Produce great content

You may think as an After Party Host, you are just replaying a session of Microsoft Ignite, but in reality, you are responsible for creating a program that sparks conversation and an opportunity to go deep-dive into the tech topic! That takes a lot of time and effort! So be prepared to be both organizer and producer of the After Party!

• Excite your audience, encourage them to skill-up

Making your audience happy is essential for a successful event, and in this case, your After Party, but we all know the devil is in the details. Think of your attendee’s journey – from the moment they receive their invitations, to the minute hop into the virtual meet-up. Think of their needs like how you would as an attendee.

As a organizer and producer, this can be said of your tasks:

• Plan your After Party program and envision how you would like the 60-90 minute session to pan out.
• Think of what value you will be bringing to the attendees joining your After Party.
• Prepare talking points.
• Invite attendees within your community and network to attend your party.
• Leverage Ignite marketing materials to promote your party, drive attendance.
• Track RSVPs, distribute evaluations and collect attendee feedback.
• Technically produce your show, playback session videos.
• Be a rockstar on the actual day! Deliver an awesome Microsoft experience!

6. What is required of the hosts?

The idea of After Party is spark conversations and connection, to dive deeper into the tech topics and eventually encourage skilling of the attendees.

As a organizer and producer, this can be said of your tasks:

• Plan your After Party program and envision how you would like the 60-90 minute session to pan out.
• Think of what value you will be bringing to the attendees joining your After Party.
• Choose the breakout session that you will be sharing at your session. Download the recording of the breakout session, watch recording and prepare talking points.
• Invite attendees within your community and network to attend your party.
• Leverage Ignite marketing materials to promote your party, drive attendance.
• Track RSVPs, distribute evaluations and collect attendee feedback.
• Technically produce your show, playback session videos.
• Encourage attendees to complete Learn Modules.
• Be a rockstar on the actual day! Deliver an awesome Microsoft experience!

7. How can my After Party stand out from the rest of the After Parties given that there are other parties happening during the same period?

As a host for Microsoft Ignite After Parties, you have the option to design your program to tailor to your audience. With the new format, you also have the option to invite Microsoft Cloud Advocates (CAs) or Community Leads to share their expertise, also to give a different perspective. This will help add value to the conversation and to your After Party.

8. I have requested for a Co-host to be assigned to me. Would the co-host be someone from my timezone?

We’ll definitely do our best to match a Cloud Advocate (CAs) or Microsoft Product Manager from your timezone. As a first criteria, CAs or Product Managers must be knowledgeable in the topics that you have selected. Then we will ensure that CAs or Product Managers that we are matching with you are aligned with your time zone and agreeable to hosting in your time zone. You will be able to reject or change your mind later if the match is not appropriate.

9. Based on the sessions we choose, will we be grouped by Microsoft to plan the After Party?

Microsoft will not be grouping MVPs to plan the After Party. MVPs can choose how they want to host their After Party. They can choose to host it individually, request for Microsoft to match a CAs or a Microsoft Product Manager to co-host or get a community/user group member to co-host.

Should MVPs indicate for a CAs or Product Manager to co-host, we’ll then recommend CAs/Product Managers for the host’s consideration.

10. When will recording of breakout session be available for download?

Recording of breakout sessions will be available post Ignite, after November 4.

11. Can we create event on local meetup page to get more attendees?

Yes. Hosts may choose to place their event details on a external site like Meetup, Facebook, LinkedIn, EventBrite or others. You can also choose to place on their very own Community site, not on any external site.

12. When we can start with the promotion of our After Party?

You can promote it any time now, once you have your details ready.

13. Would the Workstream recommend Teams or Teams Live?

There are several options – we would recommend a platform that Hosts could be comfortable with and something that the community can relate with. There are multiple ways to meet in Microsoft Teams: Meetings; webinars; Live Events. Unlike Teams Meeting, Live event is designed where few people are presenting and all the other are attending the event with just a single type of collaboration which is text based Q&A, attendee cannot share screen or use your mic while attending the Teams Live Event. It also provides more control for a greater audience. However, it may be less engaging, though it may be a comfortable option for some hosts. A good middle ground could be webinars – where a smaller group can have full interactive capabilities. There are also other options outside of Teams that Hosts may choose to explore.

14. After our After Party event is completed, do we need to provide any information back to Microsoft? Like statistics or something like that?

Yes. Cheat Sheet #3 in Microsoft Ignite After Guidelines provides guidance on what’s required post- After Party.

• Thank you and Call to Action

Be sure to include the Learn Collection Modules as your post After Party Go-Do in all your communications to encourage your attendees to skill up. We would be delighted to learn how many of your attendees completed a Learn module!

• Submit attendance

Please provide us with your final attendee count for your After Party. If you have more than one After Party set up, please give us a break down of the attendee for each of the parties.

• Acknowledge that survey has been sent/shared with attendees

Confirm that survey has been shared with attendees. We will advise on the submission date for all evaluations nearer to date.

• Share photos and highlights

Share with us photos and what you have done. Do share them live on social #msignite and also be sure to send them across to your CPMs so that we can have them shared

• Share learnings

Share with us what went well, what could have been better and any ideas sparked for the next After Party. We’ll be sending that across for attendees to complete. This is to help us understand how we can host better After Parties.

Your CPM will be reaching out to obtain these information after the After Party.

Support from Microsoft

15. What kind of support is Microsoft providing MVPs who are hosting this After Party? Will there be financial support from Microsoft?

As we take on a 100% digital/virtual approach, Microsoft will provide digital assets that can be customised to help you make the event a success. This includes email invitations, powerpoint templates that you can customise, Teams background, amplification assets like Twitter, LinkedIn tailored images and stickers. Microsoft will also assist to amplify all parties, placing them on a central page and amplifying these pages through our various Microsoft platforms.

16. Will Microsoft be providing us with swag? It’s extremely popular in our region.

As we take on a 100% digital/virtual approach, Microsoft will provide digital assets that can be customised to help you make the event a success. This includes email invitations, powerpoint templates that you can customise, Teams background, amplification assets like Twitter, LinkedIn tailored images and stickers.

17. How can I access the resources? I have difficulties accessing the MVP Award Teams.

MVP Awards Teams is accessible via the link here

If you are unable to access link, please fill out the following form to request access – You will need this for other resources assets that we are sharing.