Attending an event is easy. Getting something out of it that you can point to six months later is harder.
Plan around your Microsoft relationship, not the agenda. Before most major events, Microsoft makes its field team available for partner meetings — PDM briefings, solution area conversations, co-sell pipeline reviews. These fill up fast. Contact your partner manager several weeks in advance and ask what is available. If you do not yet have a named Microsoft contact, events are one of the best places to start building those relationships.
Map sessions to commercial objectives. It is easy to fill three days with sessions that are intellectually engaging but commercially irrelevant. Before you register, identify the one or two things your business genuinely needs — a designation you are working towards, a product decision to make, a competitive gap to close — and build your schedule around those.
Use the peer network deliberately. At events like Directions EMEA or Illuminate EMEA, most of the people in the room are either trying to achieve what you have already achieved, or they have solved a problem you are still working on. Go in with specific questions rather than general ones. “How have you approached the AI Cloud Partner Programme transition?” starts a real conversation. “What do you think of the Microsoft ecosystem?” does not.
Follow up within the week. Conference relationships decay fast. A brief, specific message referencing what you actually discussed is far more effective than a generic LinkedIn connection request three weeks later.
If you want a structured view of how to approach your Microsoft relationship and partner positioning before a major event,
Oaka Studio’s Partner Accelerate Framework is worth a look.
