5 Tips for Getting the Most out of AWS re:Invent 2017

The Amazon Web Services (AWS) re:Invent conference is one of the biggest cloud industry conferences in the world, and the 2017 conference, taking place this week in Las Vegas, is expected to have the largest turnout yet. More than 40,000 people are estimated to attend more than 1,000 sessions, keynotes, workshops, hands-on labs, chalk talks, boot camps, hackathons, you name it…over roughly 1.4 million square feet of event space spanning six major Las Vegas venues.  Another 50,000 attendees will join via live-streaming.

In other words, this event is huge and is a testament to the fact that the cloud is recognized as a key enabling technology for digital transformation. A lot of ground will be covered this week, literally and figuratively, with major topics focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT), serverless computing, artificial intelligence (AI), containers, security, and our favorite topic at Wasabi–storage.

With all that’s going on, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, so here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your trip, or your virtual experience if you’re staying home this year:

1. Follow the Cloud Thought Leaders

Evan Kirstel will be reporting live from re:Invent, interviewing speakers and attendees, and sharing his insights and key takeaways from the sessions he attends throughout the week. Evan is an internationally recognized IT thought leader specializing in cloud, data security, AI, IoT, mobility, and health tech, among others, with more than 157K Twitter, 28K LinkedIn, and 131K Instagram followers. Follow Evan on Twitter @evankirstel and read his daily posts on LinkedIn.

Kevin L. Jackson, CEO, and founder of cloud consultancy GovCloud Network is a globally recognized cloud computing, storage, and security expert, and will be sharing his re:Invent experience throughout the week. You can follow Kevin on Twitter @Kevin_Jackson, and check out his award-winning Cloud Musings blog for deeper analysis.

2. Subscribe to Our Blog to Get Our Daily Recap

 Each day this week, the Wasabi blog will capture the insights shared by these thought leaders and other newsworthy events from re:Invent. To make sure you don’t miss a thing, subscribe to our blog.

3. Register to Watch Live Streams of Keynote Addresses

Can’t make it to the live event this year? Amazon is streaming keynote addresses featuring Andy Jassy, CEO Amazon Web Services, Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon.com, and Peter DeSantis, VP of AWS Global Infrastructure.

Check out the keynote schedule and register to be notified in advance of each event. The first live stream begins Tuesday, November 28 at 8 pm PST. You can also tune into live stream announcements, discussions and demos, as well as interviews with AWS experts throughout the week on Twitch.

4. Plan Ahead and Give Yourself Time to Change Venues

The event is sprawled across six different venues this year. Make sure to select and map out the sessions you want to attend in advance, so you have enough time to get there. Amazon recommends giving yourself 30 minutes to travel between venues.

This handy campus map provides average walking times between venues as well as shuttle schedules.

5. Remember: Wasabi Hot Storage is 100% Compatible with AWS S3

We admire what Amazon has accomplished, as well as the incredible innovations that cloud computing and storage continue to drive across every industry. The breadth of products and options across AWS compute, storage, and database services are mind-boggling. (Their myriad of services is sometimes as overwhelming to navigate as their conference.)

All Wasabi does is cloud storage. It’s our only focus. If you’ve read our manifesto, you know that our mission is to make cloud storage an inexpensive, one-size-fits-all utility. That’s why we made Wasabi hot storage 100% compatible with AWS S3 from the beginning. A utility needs to be standards based, and the AWS S3 API is the closest thing to a standard the industry has. If the record-breaking attendance at re:Invent 2017 is any indication, we’re pretty sure we backed the right horse.

As you listen to the amazing case studies this week—from the rapid advancements being made in health and science to the new revenue streams that media companies are forging with active archive strategies (what I like to call dearchiving Hollywood), to the lean cloud-native startups that continue to topple major incumbents—ask yourself this question:

If all this is possible by embracing Amazon Web Services, what else would be possible by embracing AWS-compatible cloud storage that is 1/5th the price and 6x faster than Amazon S3?

Take our free Wasabi hot storage test drive, and find out for yourself.