This year marks my first year attending re:Invent. It has been on my bucket list for a very long time and to have the opportunity to go, with support from my AWS Partner – Cevo Australia, leaves me incredibly grateful. A huge shoutout to my leadership team for supporting me and affording me the chance to experience re:Invent in all its glory!
First Timer’s Advice:
- Shoes must be soft – expect to be on your feet for up to 10 hours a day and expect a step count to topple 15,000 steps each day – no sweat
- Hydrate and then hydrate more
- Chapsticks are your lips best friend
- The distances between venues is huge – expect 30-40 mins just walking between venues
- Google maps walking estimates is wrong – 20 minutes equals 30 mins in reality – people walk really slow in these parts and take up the whole footpath
- Venues themselves can offer shortcuts – cut through venues to reduce distance wherever possible
- Wear noise cancelling headphones if sensitive to noise
- People – make your experience about people – sessions can be watched on Youtube later – except for chalk talks and some other sessions which are not recorded – attend those ones
- Bring with you Berocca or equivalent supplements to keep up energy and help fight fatigue
- Eat meals – prioritise this over attending sessions
- Pay attention to breakfast times – they change on some days and finish early – 08:30 on Tuesday!
- Community Hub – breakfast closes at 10:00am – great quality food and it’s free!
- Lunch is between 12:00 and 1:30pm – there is nothing left after 1pm!
- Take time to decompress – utilise the sensory rooms and Community Hub to get some time away from the crowds and noise
- Attend events to avoid paying for dinner and start eating early
- It is really tough to get to sleep due to all the stimulation – use the events to tire you out and avoid excessive alcohol – you will dehydrate
- Talk to as many strangers as you can – join random tables
- Ask questions – this is the time to ask them – everyone is a stranger after all
- Note down people’s names as you meet them – this way you can tag them in posts
- Follow up with people when you get home and engage with new connections and their posts
- Ask people if they are speaking at any sessions or events, chalk talks or other opportunities – I met people, and we talked about all sorts of things then found out later they were speaking at an event I could have attended to support them
- Give back to the community – if a person mentions a unique problem they are trying to solve for, lean in and help where you can
- Attend the Game Days – they test your knowledge more that any other method in my opinion and you get to work with complete strangers
- Be yourself – immerse yourself in a space where you can truly be yourself with all walks of life attending
- Take the opportunity to do activities you would not have had the chance to do – hiking, ice hockey matches, helicopter rides, zip lines – you name it – Vegas has it!
Things I would Do Differently Next Time
We all have hindsight and there is something we can learn from past experiences. Personally, these are the things I reflect on that could be improved for next time.
Networking Early
Knowing the size and scale and anticipating this, I would begin my networking early. Reach out to all my key contacts and ask them if they are attending so we can catch up. I missed so many of my connections as I did not know they had attended and were not able to catch up. Finding out which events they were attending could have helped a lot.
Better Event Planning
I would have better ownership of the events to attend finding the most valuable ones to attend based on the demographic. I would lean in more to the community events to have more shared experiences with people. I put this down to exhaustion, however I recognise improvements could have been made on my own part to find the motivation.
Automate Tasks
Finding ways to automate my blog writing. My initial attempt at a template failed miserably as it did not align to the experience for me to write about. It took a lot of energy to write them and I could have done this better.
Team up with Marketing
I didn’t engage my marketing team as fully as I could have. Next time, I’ll plan ahead more effectively, and with automation, we could have published blog posts much more quickly. My team wasn’t fully prepared, and we should have aligned on the process before I left for Vegas to avoid delays.
Another improvement is restarting my own blog. I had one in the past but let it fall off. By publishing directly to my blog and sharing with marketing, we could publish content simultaneously.
I also need to be more proactive on LinkedIn. I took many photos and met a lot of people, but I was slow to tag and share content to take advantage of the LinkedIn algorithm. I know I can do better in this area.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AWS re:Invent 2024 was an invaluable learning experience. Despite challenges, the key takeaways will help me plan better, network more effectively, and make the most of future events.
