Autodesk University, PTC LiveWorx Go Virtual for 2020

Autodesk University (AU), traditionally held in Sin City around Thanksgiving week, will go completely virtual this year.

This week, Lisa Campbell, Autodesk's Chief Marketing Officer, publishes a blog post stating, "As we continue to monitor and respond to the challenges caused by COVID-19, we have decided to host all AU conferences as digital experiences this year. This includes our flagship Autodesk University conference ... as well as our international AU events in the UK, India, Japan, China, and Germany."

At AU 2019, attendees rushed into the keynote hall to grab a seat. This year, attendees will have to watch the event online. Image courtesy of Autodesk

Also in this week, PTC announced its annual IoT-focused event, LiveWorx (June 9), will be a strictly digital event.

"In light of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we have decided to reimagine LiveWorx 2020 as a complimentary virtual event. This decision was not taken lightly but is in alignment with the best practices laid out by the CDC and World Health Organization," writes PTC.

AU in Vegas is usually live-streamed for attendees of AU Online, while onsite attendees watch the event in person. Online attendees usually pay a much smaller fee to attend. They also bypass the hotel and travel cost.

Last year, AU drew 12,000 in-person attendees. Autodesk hasn't announced the keynote speakers or the pricing for AU Virtual this year.

PTC LiveWorx keynote will be delivered by Jim Happelmann, PTC's President and CEO. Happelmann's talk is "Disrupted: lessons learned and the path forward."​

LiveWorx also features Kimberly Bryant, Founder and CEO of Black Girls CODE. Bryant's will discuss "finding opportunity in times of uncertainty."

AU and PTC LiveWorx join a long list of tech conferences that have gone virtual this year. The list includes NVIDIA GTC, SIGGRAPH, and Mobile World Congress.

CES 20, held in January in Vegas, was the last big in-person techshow for the year.