Despite concerns that the event would have to move online in the face of Covid-19 restrictions, AWS re:Invent 2021 will be hosted in Las Vegas and begin on.
Explore our technical analysis of AWS re:Invent 2024 price reductions and performance improvements across DynamoDB, Aurora, Bedrock, FSx, Trainium2, SageMaker AI, and Nova models, along with architecture details and implementation impact.
Get up to speed on all the GenAI, AI, and ML focused 300 and 400 level sessions from re:Invent 2023!
Get up to speed on all the storage focused 300 and 400 level sessions from re:Invent 2023!
Who doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to socialize with like-minded experts and technology partners? AWS re:Invent is the premier event where you can be the first to hear about product announcements, get in-depth training, take certification tests, grow your network and meet AWS experts from all across the globe. Given its absence from being an in-person event in 2020, the excitement for re:Invent 2021 is palpable.
The first re:Invent AWS organized was in 2012 with the involvement of various startups and technology partners and has been held successfully in one form or another each year since.
In 2012, there were only around 6,000 attendees at the first re:Invent. However, it has seen exponential growth from the previous years and 2019 registered an impressive 60,000 in attendance.
Despite concerns that the event would have to move online in the face of Covid-19 restrictions, AWS re:Invent 2021 will be hosted in Las Vegas and begin on Monday, November 29, and end on Friday, December 3, 2021.
AWS is also facilitating their attendees to join virtually to ensure no one misses out. Given the infrastructure put in place to hold the event virtually in 2019, we anticipate this will be a smooth experience.
re:Invent 2021 will include keynote announcements, training and certification opportunities, access to 1,200+ technical sessions, the Expo floor, after-hours events and more.
AWS is putting health measures in place to reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19. Those include:
Because the status of Covid is fluid, it’s best to check the official site for any changes to the health protocols.
What’s on the Agenda?
Anybody involved in cloud tech can set their expectations high ahead of the upcoming mega event. The agenda hosts speakers who are well-recognized in the cloud industry for their advancements, knowledge, and products. This event is THE platform for AWS revelations and announcements. The re:Invent management team is also pushing exciting updates on their official Twitter account.
The biggest tip we can offer is to register for your sessions as soon as humanly possible (as in right now). Sessions are often duplicated, so if you can’t get into your first choice, look for it at another time.
It’s also important to remember that getting from place to place in Vegas takes quite a bit of time, so be sure it’s reasonable to make it from one session to the next. Shuttle busses are available, but sometimes an Uber or walking is your best option. There is also a monorail that can be handy, despite its limited choice of stops. However, even with the help of the monorail, expect to do quite a bit of walking.
On that point, a pro tip is to bring several pairs of shoes for the week and make sure they are all comfortable. It’s not abnormal to clock five to ten miles of walking a day.
Expect the 2021 re:Invent to be full of productive talks, fun activities, and networking opportunities. Here’s an outline of all the typical pursuits and speeches to attend:
Presentations
Exam Readiness Sessions
AWS DeepRacer Competitions
Performances and Entertainment
Top Five Keynote Speakers
If you take deep interest in cloud computing, you will likely be familiar with some of these names who are pioneers of their industries. These keynote speakers are worth listening to:
The big question on everyone’s mind is if Andy Jassy will make an appearance given his new role. Andy has always been a great speaker that everyone looks forward to hearing from, but Caylent’s prediction is that he will hand over the reins and not present a keynote.
Although every AWS re:Invent is full of energy and enthusiasm, it’s also a great place to catch up on the latest cloud trends. This year’s event will be no different, with many interesting speakers joining to discuss cloud technology. Also, Amazon officials are likely to announce something new and groundbreaking at this conference.
Particularly for engineers, who are typically working in a billable hour environment, re:Invent presents an opportunity to fully immerse in education, certification and networking.
The virtually held re:Invent in 2020 included some important announcements from AWS and their partners. AWS officials also announced some changes to their products. Here’s an outlook of these historical announcements.
Hybrid cloud offerings were front and center as then CEO Andy Jassy unveiled smaller formats of AWS Outposts, additional AWS Local Zones, and the extension of Amazon’s container service to on-premise deployments with new capabilities.
A more efficient way for IT teams at organizations worldwide to move workloads into hybrid environments is now available through two powerful services: Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) and Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS).
AWS announced new products tailored specifically for its enterprise customers. The Graviton2-powered C6gn instances can process data at an unprecedented rate, while larger and faster io2 Block Express volumes in compute/storage will allow businesses more options when it comes to storage systems or cloud computing requirements.
You can explore a complete list of historical announcements on the re:Invent Announcements Page.
Have any other suggestions or questions about re:Invent? Drop them in the comments and our team will give you their perspective! If you want to stop by and meet the Caylent team, visit us at booth #624.
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