Corporate Tech Decisions had the chance to attend Microsoft’s #WorkingFromLumia event on July 11th in Boston. Tents were erected, lounge areas were laid out, and a small pool was constructed at the Boylston Plaza outside the Prudential Center to prepare for the game show-like events that would grant the victor a $5000 vacation.
The event was created to promote the acquisition of Nokia by Microsoft, and to highlight the capabilities of the Lumia 1520 4G smartphone. With a DJ playing top hits, free food and drinks served throughout the day, and plenty of small contests with prizes for those visiting the event, the atmosphere was perfect for the 80-degree summer day.
“The purpose of all of this is to show how easy Microsoft mobile products are for working out of the office,” says Emily Purdie, a marketing coordinator for the event. Participants were recruited, screened, and separated into two teams for the day-long event. The teams worked in conjunction during events, while every individual accrued points. The top three contestants moved on to the final round to compete for the grand prize.
“They are promoting a new product in a super visible and innovative way,” says Bill Ference, founder and CEO of LiveTherapy.com, and a contestant in the contest. “It’s really fun, each event is unpredictable, and it’s nice to get outside for a while on a workday.”
The first event saw the teams face off in a freeze dance competition. Participants skyped with dancers, followed their moves, and froze when the music stop playing. After a break, the contestants hopped on stage for a relay race in the pool. Between laps, teams had to complete functions in Excel on Lumia 1520 phones.
At noon time, the teams headed into the puppy pit for the third event. Individuals built the story of the three little pigs on PowerPoint while sitting in a playpen for of puppies.
Afterwards, food and drink was served, and visitors entered a raffle to win MicroSoft tablets. In the final team event, contestants received spray paint tattoos while filling out resumes on MicroSoft Word. Tallies were taken, and the three top contestants were chosen for the final round. At the end of the day, the three finalists used MicroSoft’s personal voice assistant, Cortana, to complete tasks while using hoops. The winner was presented with their $5000 grand prize, food, drink, and more prizes were handed out, and the crowd went home with a better understanding of MicroSoft’s work from home capabilities.
Check out a demo of Cortana’s capabilities.
In its entirety, MicroSoft’s #WorkingFromLumia event was a fun way to exhibit a trend that is becoming more pervasive in the workplace. More companies are allowing part and full time work from home policies for employees. As such, companies need to utilize the right technologies to ensure connectivity no matter where their employees are. MicroSoft showed that, even in the middle of the city, surrounded by pools, patios, and prizes, employees can get work done with their products.
Says Michael Nguyn, event manager for #WorkingFromLumia, “We’re just out here showing people that MicroSoft is available from anywhere.”
Video: Watch the first round of the puppy pit challenge at MicroSoft’s #WorkingFromLumia event.
https://youtu.be/AOBtlfpBoxQ
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