- Gavin Cahill
- October 9, 2019
It’s October. Up in Bellevue, that means Fall is here, along with Halloween, pumpkin spice lattes, and harvest festivals.
And for anyone in cloud, it also means the biggest cloud show of the year is coming. That’s right, AWS re:Invent 2019 takes place December 2-6, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s less than 60 days away!
Registration is already open if you’re planning on going. If you’re not sure, then read on to find out more.
What Is re:Invent?
Every year during the week after Thanksgiving, AWS brings its community together to take over Vegas. In 2018 the 4.5-day conference had more than 50,000 attendees with over 2,400 sessions. This year has gotten even bigger, with a schedule of 2,500+ sessions.
If you use AWS, this is your chance to network, learn about what others in your space are doing, find that next crucial partner, get certifications to advance your career, or try out a new cloud tool.
Oh, yes. And have a lot of fun.
A Little Bit About the Schedule & Layout
When we say AWS takes over Vegas, we mean it. Check out this map from the re:Invent site.
Source: https://reinvent.awsevents.com/around/
Content for the conference takes place across six different hotels along the strip. It seems like a lot, but don’t worry—the most popular sessions will be repeated across venues, and overflow rooms will be available in other venues to make sure everyone sees the sessions they want.
There’s a lot to go over, but here’s a high-level view of what’s in store:
- 4 Keynotes - Delivered one day each M-Th and led by AWS leaders, including CEO Andy Jassey and CTO Werner Vogels.
- 2,500+ Sessions - Covering every AWS topic you’ve ever thought of—and some you haven’t.
- Expo - Taking place at the Venetian and featuring the AWS Village, Developer Lounge, sponsor booths, content theater, partner theaters, Builders Fair, and more.
- Play Events - From Midnight Madness to board game night to happy hours to a 4k/8k run.
- Certification & Workshops – Workshops to learn AWS and chances to take certification tests.
- re:Play – Finish Thursday night with a massive cloud party, playground, and concert.
There’s so much to do that you need a game plan before you arrive. Many companies take a whole team, and they build out a strategy ahead of time to cover as many sessions as possible, then compare notes after the fact.
How Do You Prep for re:Invent?
AWS wants to help make sure you have the best re:Invent possible, and they’ve made a bunch of resources available. Here’s how you can use them to make the most out of your time:
- Watch How to re:Invent - A series of short videos with tips, tricks, and more.
- Go over the Session Catalog - Take advantage of the tags and subtags to search for the sessions that will help your team the most.
- Look for other learning opportunities – Sessions aren’t the only way to build your team’s skills. Make sure you look at all of your options, so you don’t miss out!
- Reserve some seats - Reserved seats for popular sessions are back for 2019. Reservations should be launching soon!
- Convince your manager – Check out the Justification Letter for ideas about getting your trip approved.
If you take some time now, then you’ll be able to have a great time at re:Invent that will push you to greater cloud heights in 2020.
Will Apptio Cloudability Be There?
Cloudability has been a part of re:Invent since the beginning in 2012—so of course, you’ll find us there. We'll be on the Expo floor in Booth #3512. Stop by to see a demo of our cloud and hybrid financial management systems, grab some swag, and more.
We’ll show you how you can move fact, spend wisely, and do more with your cloud.
Register for AWS re:Invent 2019 today. We’ll see you there!
