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content/posts/awsreinvent-2024/index.md

@@ -6,17 +6,174 @@ summary: My life has changed
 tags: ["programming", "aws", "conference"]
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+  alt: Banner handing from a ceiling reading "AWS re:Invent"
+  caption: AWS re:Invent 2024
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-Five days, over 60,000 people, 3000 speakers, 5 hotels dedicated for content. This was by far that largest conference I had been to in my life. And it was life changing.
+## Summary
 
-I left inspired.
+- **What**: AWS re:Invent
+- **When**: 2nd - 6th December 2024
+- **Where**: Las Vegas
+- **Why**: Investing in my skills as a developer
 
-Tips for my furture self.
+Five days, up to 60,000 people, over 3000 speakers, 5 hotels dedicated for content. **One life changing event**.
 
-Overload with what I had to learn
+I had the immense privilege of attending one of the biggest conferences I will probably experience in my life, [AWS re:Invent 2024](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/).
+
+I left inspired, overloaded, feeling completely out of my depth, and amazed at what can be achieved with AWS services.
+
+However, I wish I had some tips on what to expect from this event. So, that is what this post will represent - advice to my former self.
+
+Who is my former self:
+
+- First time at AWS re:Invent
+- First time to a technology conference
+- No AWS experience
+
+## What is AWS?
+
+Simply put, [Amazon Web Services or AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/) is a cloud service. They offer hundreds of services around compute, storage, databases, and the list goes on.
+
+[Amazon S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) which offers storage is one of their first ever services, [launched back in 2006](https://press.aboutamazon.com/2006/3/amazon-web-services-launches).
+
+## My AWS Experience and Focus for the Conference
+
+Coming into this event, I had very little experience of AWS (You could call me a complete beginner).
+
+For the job, we use AWS, but I'm not working our infrastructure day-to-day. I am a developer and I mainly contribute to writing code.
+
+I have no AWS certifications, and have not watched a single tutorial.
+
+My only experience with AWS is playing around with the console creating random S3 buckets and spawning an [EC2 instance](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/) only to ssh into it to learn about working as a sys admin and linux.
+
+I want to briefly talk about my intention going into this conference. Because of my lack of experience, I'll be pushed outside my comfort zone.
+
+I'm going to feel out of my depth. There will be people working for large companies, on very complex and important problems. On top of this, there will be very smart individuals, much smarter than I am. And that's okay, I'm here to learn.
+
+Great advice given by a previous mentor is to be a generalist. This conference will give me a good oppourtunity to become a more complete technologist.
+
+I'll be taking the blinkers off. Instead of focusing on code, I'll be diving into the world of devops.
+
+So, I am going to this conference expected to be pushed outside my comfort zone. I'll be taking the blinkers off and instead of focusing on code, I'll be diving into the world of devops, and seeing what AWS has to offer to make me a more complete technologist.
+
+On top of this, re:Invent is a good oppourtunity to meet people in the technology sector. This is probably the only oppourtunity where I am going to see so many people who are in the technology realm. So if I'm waiting in line, I'll try and talk to people waiting in line. If I'm going to have a meal, I'll try and sit with a stranger and get to know them. If I'm on the shuttle bus, I'll talk to the person I'm sitting next to.
+
+## Planning
+
+There is so much to going on the conference and even in Las Vegas that you might be overwhelmed like I did. I didn't have any guidance going in so I was bound to make mistakes and potentially "miss" oppourtunities.
+
+For that, I just forgave my future self and did the best I could. There is always next time, so try and make the most out of this trip.
+
+That being said, I've written this to try and give any readers a head start based on my experience and what I would do next.
+
+### Booking the Conference
+
+You can book the conference through the AWS Events [portal](https://reinvent.awsevents.com/) dedicated to the re:Invent conference.
+
+Through the portal, you can also book accommodation on the Las Vegas Strip at an agreed rate.
+
+### Where to Stay?
+
+{{<figure src="/mandalay-bay.jpg" alt="Towering building with lite signage saying 'Mandalay Bay Hotel'" caption="My accommodation for the week in Las Vegas">}}
+
+There are plenty of hotels to stay on the Las Vegas Strip. I opted to stay at the Manadalay Bay, which is at the south end of the strip and also one of the five hotels hosting content for the conference. This is the reason I chose to stay here as well as an afforable rate.
+
+At the time, I arrived I thought it would have been better to stay at the Venetian, since this is where the keynotes took place as well as the Expo hall. But now when writing this, I think it was a fine decision to book the Mandalay Bay, since there was good transport between hotel venues (via the free shuttle).
+
+### Events App
+
+About a month before the actual conference, there is the ability to book events using their events app.
+
+There are thousands of talks to choose from and to make it easier to search through them, the app offers a comprehensive filters. You can filter by experience, topics, location, content type and so on (I'll make an attempt to explain these content types later on, but be weary that the AWS team are constantly iterating on this idea).
+
+You might see that most of the events are fully reserved. This doesn't mean that the event is completely full. This isn't official information, but from talking to others at the conference, not all seats are able to be reserved. There will be some seats for walk-in, which is for a first-come-first-serve basis. If some of the reserved members don't turn up within 10 minutes of the event, then their seats are released to those in the walk-in.
+
+The only downside is that you will to need queue early for an event depending on how popular the event is. If you are near the end of the queue, then there is chance that they will run out of seats. This did happen to me on a few occasions.
+
+## Arriving in Las Vegas and the First Weekend
+
+Not only is this my first technology conference, this is also my first time in Las Vegas. I made the effort to travel the weekend before to do some exploring and tourist things.
+
+{{<figure src="/las-vegas-airport.jpg" alt="Sign above an archway displaying the text 'Welcome to Las Vegas'" caption="Entering the madness of Las Vegas">}}
+
+I landed Friday afternoon, 29th November. I met with some other conference-goers at Harry Reid Airport and took to the taxi to my accommodation, Mandalay Bay.
+
+As soon as I checked in, I walked down the Las Vegas strip. It was bustling to say the least.
+
+{{<figure src="/strip.jpg" alt="Large blue light in the background with traffic in the foreground" caption="The Sphere in the distance">}}
+
+Also, in the weekend I made the effort to visit the Grand Canyon, and Hoover Dam.
+
+{{<figure src="/hoover-dam.jpg" alt="Water dam surrounded by red rocks" caption="Hoover Dam">}}
+
+{{<figure src="/eagle-point.jpg" alt="Red rocks shaped as an eagle" caption="Eagle point at the Grand Canyon">}}
+
+{{<figure src="/grand-canyon.jpg" alt="Red rocks below with blue skies above" caption="Grand Canyon">}}
+
+I finished Satuday evening with Michael Jackson ONE, which was the show for the Manadalay Bay. A spectacular watch.
+
+My colleague arrived Satuday night, but we caught up on Sunday, where we spent time with resident colleagues of Las Vegas (our company org-chart is a bit complicated).
+
+We also headed to the Venetian to pick up our badges and some free merchandise. We also got a taste of what's to come!
+
+## The Conference
+
+### Monday 2nd December
+
+Remember, how I am a complete AWS noob? I took the oppourtunity of take the "Tech Essentials" bootcamp.
+
+The bootcamp was a day long event and it's goal was to take you from zero knowlegdge to having some bearing of AWS.
+
+I found it extremely useful. There was a main speaker who would run through the main points. For example, explaining [AWS Identity and Access Management](https://aws.amazon.com/iam/) and then after talking about this topic, we would perform a lab exercise with a dummy AWS environment.
+
+There were a number of friendly helpers, who are also a part of AWS who are happy to answer questions about the labs, or you can even ask them for advice about the conference. One individual gave me the idea to head to the Expo hall, where they have AWS solution architects (experts in the area of AWS) and whiteboards so you can talk over specific problems.
+
+We also covered other topics like EC2, databases, storage.
+
+### Tuesday 3rd December
+
+Tuesday morning was the keynote by the AWS CEO, Matt Garmen. This was quite good because this where a lot of announcement on new technologies as well as the direction of the company. Since I am new to AWS, I didn't find this talk compared to someone else who is on the bleeding edge of AWS technologes.
+
+I didn't go to the Venetian to watch this live, instead I watched this from the Content Hub at Mandalay Bay. [More on the Content Hub](#content-hub).
+
+{{<youtube LY7m5LQliAo>}}
+
+After the talk, I met up with the the boss of our AWS account manager (I think). Since we are an AWS customer, we are assigned to an account manager. This is quite good to know because an AWS account manager is there to help you out.
+
+For example, if you have a questions about setting up your AWS services, the account manager has access to a solutions architect to walk your through the process. The bonus is that this does not incur any extra charge.
+
+I also went to some talks about. One related to S3 and another related to setting up infrastructure in China, which has its own complications.
+
+At the end of this day, there are many "after-party" like events thrown. Usually, emails are sent requiring RVSP to an invitation. There is also an community-created events page to keep track of these parties.
+
+One after-party that my colleague and I attended was Top Golf with others from the Australia and New Zealand region. I met an individual from Wellington who had a golden jacket. This represented earning all the AWS certifications and he told me it took him 7 years to complete.
+
+### Wednesday 4th December
+
+I attended in interesting event in the morning. It's better to describe it than give it a name. It involved simulating a C-suite "war room" for a business. You would make decisions and based on these decisions, you would get a score on how well the business is doing.
+
+The example we were given was navigating technical debt. This was quite different to how I do my job. In my job, I'm focusing on code. In this exercise, I'm thinking at a more strategic level. On top of this, I was communicating with stranger at the conference, further getting outside my comfort zone.
+
+This took place at the [Content Hub](#content-hub)
+
+In the afternoon, I ventured into to Venetian and walked around the Expo hall. This was a huge space, where lots of companies had their booths set up. Remember on day one, where one of the helpful AWS people told me to talk to the people around the whiteboards? That's what I did.
+
+At the center of the Expo hall, there were experts for every topic in AWS. Whiteboards set up for databases, one for storage, one for compute and so on. We would diagram the application at work and they would offer improvements and "how-to-dos".
+
+At the end of the evening, I missed out on the after-party events because most were too full. So, I took some time for myself and went to local dance studio and did a lesson in Salsa.
+
+#### Content Hub
+
+Each hotel that was hosted content had a Content Hub. This acted as a centralised area where you can watch different talks (there were headsets for a particular talk). On top of this, there was Peer talks (where you can have group chats or one-on-ones with other people). Finally, there were computers present for self-directed learning.
+
+One discovery I made was [AWS Skill Builder](https://skillbuilder.aws/), where during week of the conference, attendees had free access. AWS Skill Builder offers a collection of hands-on courses, where you can learn particular AWS technology. I thought this would be useful if you want to play around with a particular technology without having to commit to entire course programme.
+
+### Thursday 5th Devember
+
+Everyday at re:Invent there is a keynote. On Tuesday, the CEO gave their keynote as you recall. Most of the keynotes, though presented well, I feel they are presenting to the press.
+
+TODO: provide link for talk