The software giant essentially explains that they have better things to do with their time in January.
Over on Microsoft's Technet blog, the company's Corporate VP of Corporate Communications Frank X. Shaw wrote up a brief post explaining that after 2012, the company would no longer be making a keynote presentation or running a booth at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Citing the timing of the show—Microsoft's major news about upcoming releases simply don't fall within the window of the January show anymore—MS has decided to pull up stakes and only use the event as a chance to meet with partners.
I have to imagine that there were some talk behind the scenes about CES changing their dates, but if there were any, it looks like the organizers weren't going to blink. Who knows, maybe there was no conversation, and MS and the CES folks shook hands and parted amicably. Either way, it's the end of a good, long run.
It's pretty short, so I've decided to include the release below:
Our industry moves fast and changes faster. And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways. To ensure it does, we constantly challenge our assumptions. For example:
· What’s the right time and place to make announcements?
· Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers?
· Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”?
After thinking about questions like these, we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES. We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing.
As we look at all of the new ways we tell our consumer stories – from product momentum disclosures, to exciting events like our Big Windows Phone, to a range of consumer connection points like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft.com and our retail stores – it feels like the right time to make this transition.
Microsoft has enjoyed a close to 20-year working relationship with the Consumer Electronics Association – and we look forward to working with CEA for many years to come.
In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you on Monday night, January 9th, to kick the year off at CES 2012.
Posted by Frank X. Shaw
Corporate Vice President, Corporate Communications, Microsoft
CES runs from January 10th-13th.
[Source: Technet]
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