Microsoft Pulling Major Conference Out of Seattle Due to Rampant Homelessness and Open-Air Drug Use

Public policies have consequences. Microsoft is pulling their major ‘Build’ conference out of Seattle because their members are tired of tripping over homeless people and junkies.

So now the city will lose a major source of revenue because they refuse to enforce laws and keep the city clean and inviting.

Think of all the working people in the city who are going to lose wages and tips because the leaders place more value on the dregs of society who contribute nothing of value.

#BREAKING: I have obtained the internal memo outlining reasons behind Microsoft Build’s(@Microsoft) exit from Seattle. This is an absolute indictment on Mayor Bruce Harrell’s(@MayorofSeattle) administration and shows his failure to get the homeless drug crisis under control. https://t.co/T5P4wyNrv0 pic.twitter.com/aI50Nnkza2

— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) June 7, 2025

From the Post Millennial:

According to an internal email obtained by journalist Jonathan Choe of the Discovery Institute, Visit Seattle—the city’s official tourism and marketing organization—was informed that Microsoft will cancel its 2026 event and release all future holds for the conference in Seattle. The email, titled “DEFINITE BOOKING CANCELLATION NOTICE,” said the decision was heavily influenced by the experience of company leadership and attendees walking the downtown core between the Hyatt Regency and the Arch Building on 8th Street.

“The customers cited the general uncleanliness of the street scene, visibility of individuals engaging in drug use, and unhoused individuals, including the recurring tent in the Arch Tunnel,” the email stated. “Microsoft has previously addressed these concerns and Visit Seattle has been working actively with SPD, DSA [Downtown Seattle Association], the Care team, and others… Unfortunately for Build, it was a contributing factor to their final decision to move out of Seattle.”

Microsoft’s Build conference has long served as a showcase of Seattle’s innovation and global tech prominence. It typically brings in thousands of developers and tech insiders from around the world and has been a signature event for the city’s economy. Its departure is a major blow to Seattle’s struggling tourism and convention business, especially as downtown continues to battle the aftermath of the pandemic, rising crime, and a homelessness crisis that city officials have so far failed to contain.

This is terrible news for the working, law abiding people of Seattle, but the people who run their city just don’t care about them. They care more about the rights of the homeless junkies camping on the sidewalks.

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