The Tactile Group started using Amazon Web Services (AWS) five years ago. Even though we are a small business company, Tactile provides solutions for the government, the City of Philadelphia, and enterprise business clients. All of this happens because AWS provides different types of cloud services. We don't need to spend a lot of resources on the hardware infrastructure; we can instead focus on our application development. As a lead developer with The Tactile Group, I always want to find out more about adapting AWS best practices in our cloud services as well as new trends in technology. AWS re:Invent was a good opportunity to learn and get connected with different engineers and developers.
Blog
My First AWS re:Invent @2018
First Thoughts
re:Invent had over 50,000 attendees this year in Las Vegas and was hosted in seven different venues. Attendees came from around the world. I appreciated the “How to re:Invent” videos, which provided information about navigating the AWS re:Invent expo as well as offered good tips that allowed me choose sessions in different venues to maximize my learning experience.
What I Attended
AWS re:Invent had different levels of sessions allowing attendees to learn throughout the conference. Thousands of sessions, keynotes, chalk talks, workshops, builders’ sessions, and hackathons covered all different services and topics. The sessions started at 8:30 AM and some lasted until midnight. I got overwhelmed on how many topics were available that I choose could from. Beside the keynotes, I attended sessions on how to optimize costs, Alexa voice development, a hands-on-lab for serverless development, and a chalk talk about SageMaker and RoBoMaker. Moreover, I also checked out various sponsors in the expo whose services Tactile could use to support our clients. I also got some fun swag: socks, stickers, hats, and pins.
Not only Learning but also Playing and Networking
The Midnight Madness event kicked off the conference on Sunday night and featured the Tatonka Challenge (the largest chicken wing eating competition), the largest air drum ensemble, and the most people lighting glow sticks simultaneously. A pub crawl on Tuesday was a great way to network with different professionals. The AWS Certification Appreciation Reception on Wednesday was specifically for certified engineers to network. Thursday night’s re:Play was awesome and full of outdoor activities like Lazer Dome, dodgeball, broomball, other games and a music club. It was quite fun to watch other attendees playing and enjoying the music.
In Conclusion
AWS re:Invent is an awesome conference, not only for those using AWS services, but also for anyone who wants to know about the new innovation of products being released in the coming year. Within the week-long conference, I learned about the best practices for AWS services, and was able to connect with engineers from countries around the world. Last but not least, all the information I received about the new technology trends was incredible: Serverless, NoSQL, Robotic, Machine Learning, and AI. All were very hot topics. Learning the latest in technology helps me build better solutions for our clients and increases my own professional knowledge.
If you are interested in this year’s AWS re:Invent, the keynotes and some other the sessions are available on their YouTube channel.