How to re:Invent — 17 useful tips
Running through my notes after attending 4 re:Invents I have suddenly come to the following realization. Apart from loads of new ideas and projects to introduce at my workplace, I have also gathered significant re:Invent experience.
With a conference of this scale, knowing what to expect and how to prepare in advance can greatly boost the overall experience. That’s why I decided to share 17 useful tips I tend to follow every year. Hopefully with these you will be able to maximize your next Vegas trip.
In case you are interested in a more in-depth re:Invent experience, please take a look at re:Cap: AWS re:Invent 2019.
1. Try to stay closer to the venues
That will save you a lot of walking and precious time. You might even get into some sessions at the very last moment. If budget allows I’d recommend staying at the Venetian. That is basically the re:Invent central hub — keynotes, Expo, badge registration, and lots of sessions. For cheaper alternatives you can also consider Treasure Island or the Mirage — those two are very close to most of the venues. Mirage was even a venue itself in the past!
2. Register early
Sessions start already on Monday morning, and you definitely don’t want to waste your time standing in line for the badge. If possible, come to Las Vegas on Saturday or Sunday before. This way you will also have time to adjust to the local time-zone in case you’re flying from afar. Also remember that you can get your badge from the airport directly.
3. Don’t trust the map
Seriously! If you are used to “one block is five minutes of walking” that’s not the case in Las Vegas. Looking at the map you might think that all the venues are conveniently located close to each other. In reality walking time from the Venetian to Mandalay Bay is approximately a whopping 55 minutes.
4. Plan your sessions in one area
Given the previous tip, it shouldn’t be surprising that commuting might take a significant amount of the conference time. Thus, planning your sessions for the given day in one area is undoubtedly a great idea. Ideally, you should be able to walk from one venue to another since buses might be quite unpredictable due to traffic jams.
As an example, MGM, Aria and Mandalay Bay would make a perfect cluster on the furthermost (from the Venetian) part of the Strip. On the other side, the Venetian, Wynn and Mirage are all within ~15–20 minutes by foot.
5. Walk fast
Faster you can reach your next venue — more chances you have to get into the session. I have had countless examples of making it to the session solely due to super fast walking pace.
6. Familiarize yourself with the walking routes
Try to remember routes and shortcuts. Venues are located in hotels, all of which will have casinos. And those are real mazes! In fact, they are designed this way on purpose — to incentivize more gambling. Eventually you should start noticing various alternate routes within that can help you to save precious minutes.
7. You probably don’t need a reservation for breakout sessions
There are different types of sessions available at the conference, the most prevalent one being the Breakout session. That’s the one with the most seats available (500 if I’m not mistaken) where speakers would present a given topic. You can think of it as a University lecture. Given how many free seats there are, you rarely need to have a reservation in advance. Just come over and wait in line.
8. Check YouTube for breakout sessions you missed
Go over to the AWS official channel AWS Events and check for the sessions you wanted to visit but could not. It is handy to save the session code so that it is easier to find it later. It will usually have three letters followed by 3 numbers, such as ANT206.
9. Overflow sessions are good
Those sessions are live broadcasts from other venues. There are usually plenty of free seats, so if you see that you cannot make it to the session in person, it’s a smart idea to just drop by overflow.
10. If you want to get into a chalk talk session without a reservation — queue up at least 40 minutes prior
Another type of session you will be attending is called Chalk talk. In my humble opinion, those are the most useful ones. The speakers would usually actively interact with the audience, and you have a great opportunity to ask all your questions. Do note though, those sessions have limited capacity (70 people, if I’m not wrong), so if you want to get your seat it’s better to reserve it in advance. In case you are unlucky — come early. There are many other attendees like yourself willing to get in.
In 2022, the “hottest” chalk talk I attended was about Java apps in serverless — I arrived 45 minutes before the start and the queue was already pretty long (I was number 36). Luckily I made it in, but only due to tips 5 and 6.
11. All reserved spots are lifted 10 minutes before start of a session
Even with a reserved seat — don’t slack around! Every unoccupied seat for a session will be given to the people waiting in the queue 10 minutes before the session starts. The re:Invent staff is very diligent in this regard, don’t expect them to make an exception just for you.
12. Concentrate on fewer topics
There are many tracks and even more subtracks to choose from. Given that the conference is just 4.5 days short (everything closes on Friday at around midday) it is definitely a good idea to dedicate your time to fewer topics in order to gather deeper knowledge.
13. Expo is amazing
Some might find this place overwhelming, but in my work circle Expo is treated as important as the sessions. There are just so many things to do: connect with vendors, find out about new players in the market, and probably the most important one, collect swag. Be sure to swing by AWS village — there you can talk directly to Amazonians, try out newly announced services and learn learn learn.
14. Don’t waste food
Okay, that might not be exactly a tip, but I wanted to mention it here nevertheless. You can approach the food tables as many times as you like, no need to take the food you cannot finish. Also, do make use of reusable cutlery and glasses. Even though those throw-away plates have a “compostable” label, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be composted.
15. Dance at the party
The re:Play party is one of the coolest nightlife events I’ve ever attended. It features many great DJs, some of them are relatively well-known. Take this opportunity to unwind your mind and just dance a little bit — nobody will judge you.
16. Go to a casino at least once
Don’t tell me you are going to miss this opportunity to play roulette or blackjack? Seriously, allocate 100$ for this and don’t be upset if you lose — odds are against you anyways.
17. It’s dry in here
Depending on where you are coming from, you might be unpleasantly surprised by the dryness of the air in Nevada. Especially if you are coming from a humid place like Singapore or Hamburg. My recommendation here is to bring a lip balm and maybe even a nose spray. You will thank me later.
I’m sure that with those tips you will be able to get the most out of arguably the best techno conference of our time.
