Author: Pluralsight
AWS re:Invent 2021 is nearly upon us. But what will one of the biggest events in the world of cloud hold for us this year? In this post, we’ll look at what to expect at re:Invent 2021, which begins Nov. 29 and runs through Dec. 3 in Las Vegas, and how to get the most out of it, whether you’re attending in person or virtually.
What is AWS re:Invent 2021 going to look like?
2020 brought with it some changes to many things. (You may have noticed.) As a result, AWS re:Invent 2020 was a bit different, going virtual for the first time. This year, re:Invent celebrates its 10th year by going back as an in-person conference with a virtual component.
What’s that mean for you? You can attend for free from the comfort of your laptop, or you can travel to Las Vegas for all the in-person tech conference you can handle.
As much as anyone can predict what re:Invent 2021 will look like, we think it’s better to not think about it as a “hybrid event.” There are things for folks attending remotely, but expect re:Invent to feel much more like a full in-person conference and less like the totally virtual conferences we’ve seen over the past year.
Watch re:Invent 2021: AWS Heroes on What to Know Before the Show for our big bets on what to expect and the keynotes we’re most looking forward to.
Attending re:Invent 2021 in person
The in-person portion of re:Invent is now sold out. But you wouldn’t go on a last-minute flight to Vegas for a tech conference anyways, would you? So if you’re already in Vegas or on your way, what do you need to know to get the most out of re:Invent 2021?
- re:Invent 2021 may be one of the first major in-person conferences for many in some time, don’t expect the same jumbo-sized bash of years past.
- The venues are now smaller and closer(-ish) together and only a reasonable distance apart, at least by Las Vegas’ definition of reasonable distance. That means you’re still going to be putting in some steps if you’re on the ground for re:Invent 2021.
- If you’re attending in-person, you’ll want to keep up with the health measures and requirements in place for attendance. Currently, the event requires attendees to wear a mask and be fully vaccinated as defined by CDC.
- Reserved seating is in play—as it has been in the past—and you can currently go in and reserve seats for the sessions you want.
- Make sure you leave breathing room in your schedule for hallway conversations. Especially this year, we think the in-person connections are going to be massive. Make sure to check out the AWS Heroes Lounge and other lounges around the venues.
- For the most in-depth insider’s guide to AWS re:Invent 2021 around, check out the Ultimate Guide to re:Invent 2021. And keep tabs on the official agenda to keep tabs on the week’s events.
Attending re:Invent 2021 virtually
You’ve got a little less planning to do if you’re “attending” re:Invent virtually.
- You can register to attend re:Invent virtually for free here.
- The re:Invent official agenda offers a view to just show sessions that you can attend virtually.
- The main re:Invent keynotes will be streamed, as will leadership sessions and some spotlight sessions. Keynotes will be broadcast live and then later for different time zones around the world. At the last in-person re:Invent, these videos were up on the AWS Events YouTube page quickly, so keep an eye there if you miss them live.
re:Invent 2021 keynotes and other don’t-miss sessions
Here are the five main keynotes:
Tuesday, Nov. 30 8:30–10:30 a.m. PST AWS SEO Adam Selipsky kicks things off with insights and news around customers, services, and products.
Tuesday, Nov. 30 3–5 p.m. PST At the Global Partner Summit keynote, Doug Yeum, Head of AWS Partner Organization, Sandy Carter, Vice President of Worldwide Public Sector Partners and Programs, and Stephen Orban, General Manager of AWS Marketplace and Control Services, talk about cloud innovation with AWS.
Wednesday, Dec. 1 8:30–10:30 a.m. PST Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Amazon Machine Learning, talks end-to-end data strategy and the latest on databases, analytics, and machine learning.
Wednesday, Dec. 1 3–4:30 p.m. PST Peter DeSantis, Senior Vice President of Utility Computing and Apps, talks about how AWS has optimized its cloud infrastructure.
Thursday, Dec. 2 8:30–10:30 a.m. PST Werner Vogels, Amazon.com CTO, gives a behind-the-scenes look at how Amazon approaches tech problems and gives insights on building resilient architectures and the future of software development.
A few other sessions we have our eye on include the following:
Building on 15 years of compute innovation with Jeff Barr – Tuesday, Nov. 30 @ 1–2 p.m. PST
Containers on AWS: Everywhere and anywhere with Deepak Singh – Monday, Nov. 29 @ 5:30–6:30 p.m. PST
Modernize your data infrastructure at warp speed with AWS with Jeff Carter – Wednesday, Dec. 1 @ 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. PST
Check out the list of leadership sessions for the full rundown of these events. And view the event’s official agenda to keep tabs on the week’s events.