Photo by Pixabay

It’s that time of the year — AWS re:Invent is upon us!

This will be my second year attending, and having been both a speaker and attendee last year, I wanted to share some valuable insights and tricks with you.

In this post, you’ll find my top tips for making the most out of the AWS re:Invent conference while navigating it like a pro.

This blog post was originally published on my website, “Ran The Builder.”

Table of Contents

1. Arrival Date

2. Pack the Correct Tools

3. Sessions & Getting Around

4. Night Time

5. AWS re:Play

6. Socialize

7. Shopping

8. Departure Date

Arrival Date

Coming from outside the USA, the flight can be harsh, and the jet lag hits hard. Give yourself time to relax and adjust. I’d recommend coming on Friday or Saturday before the conference starts on Monday.

Take the conference tag and swag on Sunday if possible. Come prepared with the QR code you got after you registered.

Take a hike or a short day trip around Vegas before the conference starts. The beautiful scenery will help you overcome jet lag.

Pack the Correct Tools

Everything is big in America: both the conference area and the hotels. The conference sessions are spread over several hotels. You will move from one hotel to another on foot or with free conference shuttles. However, getting from your room to the shuttles, food area, and sessions will take time. It can look close when you start walking, but trust me, it’s not; it’s far away. I found myself walking about 8+ Kilometers per day.

So, get proper walking or running shoes, lots of water, and a battery pack for your phone.

Dress in layers. When you step outside, it’s cold in the morning — 3–6C the last time I was there — but it gets warmer to 15+C in the noon. However, inside the hotels, it’s warmer, and when you walk a lot, you get hot. Dress in layers to adjust accordingly.

Sessions & Getting Around

Session registration — seats are limited. Try to register as soon as the session registration opens up as there’s limited seats.

In case you missed the seat, not all hope is lost. You can stand in line outside the session’s room before the session starts. Try to stand there one hour before the session. Most chances are that they will be able to make it. If not, for popular sessions, “repeats” might get scheduled later, and there are sometimes video rooms where you can watch it live. If not, most breakout sessions are recorded, and you can see them after the conference ends on YouTube.

As we’ve established, getting around takes time. Unless your daily sessions are in the same hotel, it will take you time to get from one to another. Plan at least 40 minutes between sessions and plan time for relaxation, food, and socializing. Try to go to a maximum of 3 sessions per day. You can do more, but you will be exhausted by the end.

Go to at least one keynote. Werner Vogels’ keynote is a must in my book. Last year, I could watch another keynote on the TV in my hotel room. Ask your hotel whether this is an option.

Attend different session types, not just breakout sessions. Go to dev/builder talks and chalk talks, as they are more intimate, and you can chat with the speakers and get a personal experience.

GameDay is an amazing experience. It’s like a four-hour hackathon. Bring a laptop; it’s challenging and fun. It’s for groups of up to four people, but you can always join people on the spot, which decreases your chances of winning the prizes.

An excellent alternative for GameDay is the workshop sessions.

Session levels — if you are an expert in a specific field, don’t go to any session below 300 or even 400 if you know that field well. 100 and 200 sessions are perfect for areas you don’t know anything about or are not a technical person.

The community track is amazing. Both builders and heroes share their knowledge there. It’s an authentic track with non-AWS employees, but real professionals share their knowledge and insights. It’s a must. Choose your preferred sessions.

Expo — Swag and fun. Attend the expo during the first two days to try your luck with content, swag, and cool gifts from many companies.

Plan, plan, and plan again. Use the nonofficial re:Invent planner, https://reinvent-planner.cloud/ to plan your sessions. It is a simple yet powerful tool built by AWS community builder Raphael Manke.

Night Time

Vegas has so many shows; there are also serverless parties and other companies that have free mixers and parties. Check out:

https://conferenceparties.com/reinvent2024/

AWS re:Play

On Thursday night, there’s the official party of re:Invent. The food is okay, but it’s crowded and loud, which makes me feel too old for it. There’s lots of beer, and you get a free T-shirt!

It’s an open area far from the hotels, so it’s cold! Dress accordingly.

Socialize

One of the coolest things about re:Invent is that you get to meet like-minded people from all over the world. Don’t be shy; socialize! Talk to as many people as possible. Don’t be afraid to reach out to AWS builders, heroes, and session speakers that you want to meet.

You can always view recorded sessions at home, but you probably can’t meet your favorite AWS expert and discuss serverless over beer.

Try to go to mixer events or parties (serverless parties were a thing last time!)

If you want to increase your chance of meeting AWS heroes and fellow community builders, someone might be eating over at Denny’s in the morning.

Shopping

Take an Uber (I think it was 30$ per direction) and get to the outlets (north or south).

Be aware that re:Invent takes place after Black Friday, so many shops might look like they survived a zombie attack, but some good deals can be had.

You can buy on Amazon.com and ship it to your hotel (check with your hotel). This is a fast option that allows you to take advantage of any Black Friday deals and have the packages waiting for you until you fly. It costs extra to store the package, but nothing too bad. You should do an Amazon Prime trial to maximize savings and deals.

Other than that, the hotel area has other malls and pretty much any shop and brand you can think of. Some of them have late Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals throughout the week.

Departure Date

Most people leave on Friday when there is at least half a day of sessions. I’ve attended some of the best sessions on Friday, but it’s really personal.

Be aware that the expo will be tearing down on Friday.

Lastly, have fun and learn!