AWS re:Invent is always THE event in cloud. This year a lot of people can’t attend in person. This post tells you how to get the most out of the virtual side of the event.
I’ve got a lot of content up around AWS re:Invent 2021. Be sure to browse the full list. If you’re attending in person, you want, “[The Ultimate Guide to AWS re:Invent 2021](/2021/the-ultimate-guide-to-aws-reinvent-2021”
Index
Registration
Attending AWS re:Invent 2021 virtually is free. You just need to sign up and that will give you access to the event system.
…and yes, we now know that AWS is using a slightly modified version of their new event platform from AWS re:Invent 2020. That was a mixed bag last year but with the vast majority of the event happening in person, it should be a better experience this year.
If you haven’t already registered, make sure you take care of that soon. Remember that in-person attendance is now sold out.
The Platform
The main focus of the platform is your agenda. This is essentially your event calendar.
There are two major problems with it;
- It’s locked into the platform. There’s no simple way to export or sync with your actual calendar 😔
- The search feature is very weak. It will only show results for the selected day 😔
It’s hard to find sessions and then to remember to attend them. Not a great start but it’s what we have to work with.
No matter, the content is divided into two main areas; live and on-demand.
It’s not mentioned but I suspect that the in-person sessions will be published here but I hope they end up on the AWS Events YouTube channel as it’s a lot easier to share content from there.
On Demand
At the moment, there are currently 554 unique sessions listed as “on demand.” This sounds close total number of breakout sessions. The other session types; Chalk talks, workshops, and Builder’s Sessions aren’t typically recorded.
I’ve dumped the session catalog to make it a bit easier to search. You can use your browser’s find function to locate a session you’re interested in and then click through to that session on the re:Invent platform.
Not ideal, but simple and easy to work with…well easier than the platform itself.
The question that I can’t seem to find an answer to is when will the sessions become available on demand? When I find out, I’ll update this post.
Live
The live schedule is as expected. The five keynotes and the leadership sessions will all be broadcast live based on Pacific Time. They will then be rebroadcast twice, once for Europe and again for Asia.
Additionally, we’ll get regular content on Twitch via the AWSonAir program. That’s going to be running 24/7 and will include these shows (with some repeats for the time zones);
- Launch Sessions
- Game Day
- Community
- Industry Live
- This is My Architecture
- Get Started
- Daily Recaps
- Voice of the Customer
- BugBust Hackathon
- IoT All The Things
- All in the Field
- All Things Automotive
More about these shows in the description on the event platform.
If you like “This is My Architecture”, I’ve been doing reaction videos of old episodes over on my YouTube channel.
I’ve added all of the live events to an accessible calendar. To make it easier to overlay the broadcasts with your actual calendar. Not perfect but better than having that data locked in the platform.
As is reasonable, things may change and the AWS re:Invent platform is the ultimate source of truth here. Make sure to double check the timing & schedule.
My Strategy
This is the first time that I’m not on site for a physical re:Invent. I have very mixed feelings about it. In order to get the most out of the virtual side of the event, I’m planning on the following;
- Watching (and live tweeting!) the keynotes (…but will probably skip the Global Partner Keynote)
- Watching the “Opinions my own” series where Corey Quinn sits down with various AWS leaders…which I’m sure they immediately regret
- Catching a few of the leadership sessions. Specifically, Stephen Schmidt’s security session, Deepak Singh’s session on containers, and Francessca Vasquez panel, “Leading through Uncertainty: Resilience, Grit, and Courage”
- Watching on demand sessions as they are published on the platform. I’ll be following a bunch of the sessions I recommended in my Hero Guide (which you can add to your agenda with one click on the platform)
- Actually taking time to use the new features/services and provide some analysis here on my site and via Twitter, where I’m @marknca
- Joining Andrew Brown for at least one Twitter space to talk about everything
What I’m missing out on is all of the personal connections. It’s been too long and sadly, it’ll be a little bit longer for me. I’m happy to connect virtually throughout the show, I’m sure there’s going to be a lot to talk about.
