AWS re:Invent 2020 Guide — How to Make The Most of The Virtual Event

It’s time to start thinking about AWS re:Invent 2020! Since 2012, AWS re:Invent has been one of the biggest cloud conferences every year — last year they drew over 60,000 attendees from around the world. Like many other big events, such as Google Cloud Next and Microsoft Ignite, re:Invent is going to look a little different this year. Over the course of three weeks (November 30 — December 18), AWS will be showing keynotes, launches and sessions — the best part is that it’s free to attend this year.

How to Maximize Your Digital Experience

Every year there’s an unofficial listing of AWS and Vendor parties that are going on at re:Invent, while they obviously won’t be happening in person this year, we can expect there to be some watch parties and online events to look out for. Follow @reInventParties on twitter or check out their website to stay up to date on all the events.

Although planning your schedule will look different this year, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Make a schedule — block out some time on your calendar in advance to allocate enough time for the event. Once dates and times have been announced for keynote speakers and sessions, we recommend putting them into your calendar for a clean visual of your day, and reminders. With 3 weeks’ worth of events, it will certainly take some time to determine which sessions you are most interested in. We’ll keep this article updated once there is more information about the schedule and whether some of the tools like this one from Carlos E Silva will be available to help navigate the scheduler.
• Take advantage of the online resources — since the event is virtual this year — and free — you aren’t as limited to what you can attend/do, so make sure you optimize this unique experience.
• Attend a watch party — virtual watch parties allow you to connect with individuals around the world, helping to supplement what would be the in-person mingling at the actual event. If friends or coworkers are tuning in, create a channel to chat about sessions and announcements. Also, make sure to follow the #reinvent2020 and #reinvent hashtags on Twitter to follow along. Earlier this year for the online AWS Summit there were watch parties so we can expect the same for their biggest event of the year.
• Look for swag and other offers from sponsors — just because you can’t visit sponsors booths doesn’t mean you can’t get swag or see a product/service. Most sponsors will likely have an online swag/prize giveaway as a creative way to get the audience involved to make up for the loss of time at the conference hall. If there are any vendors you’re interested in, sign up for their mailing lists now or make a Twitter list to keep an eye out for fun (Millenium Falcon lego set) and useful (free product license) offers.
• Get engaged now — of course, AWS isn’t waiting for late November to offer new product intros, case studies, and best practice guides. Check out the upcoming Tech Talks now.

What Will Sponsor “Booths” Look Like This Year?

On that note, AWS is offering sponsor booths for past sponsors, and their materials offer a glimpse into the as-yet-unclear format of the conference, with mentions of virtual meeting rooms and attendee chats. It remains to be seen how much participation we’ll see overall in these. They seem to have a few special events in mind, which we’ll share here once there’s more information.

Look Forward to the Announcements

Last year at re:Invent, AWS announced the launch of a bunch of services and additional services that were in preview — lookout for the announcements this year! Although this isn’t your typical re:Invent experience, this virtual platform will be able to engage individuals like never before. AWS is anticipating more than 250,000 attendees during AWS re:Invent 2020.

Keep up with updates as the event gets closer: https://reinvent.awsevents.com/

While we excitedly await more information to be posted about the speakers and events for this year’s conference, you can always watch the recap of re:Invent 2019 in the meantime.

Originally published at www.parkmycloud.com on September 8, 2020.