re:Invent was a huge conference with many venues and over 60,000 attendees. If you don’t plan properly, you will end up sitting in various shuttles, traveling up and down the strip. Here are some tips from my experience.

1. Book your ticket early. The popular sessions fill up quickly and you will end up on the waiting list for most of them.

2. When the re:Invent planner says that the next venue is 30 minutes away, trust that. I walk fast, I run. Still it is hard to get from one venue to another in time. This has nothing to do with your walking speed. The convention centers are deep inside a casino and you will spend 10 minutes, just to get to the shuttle bus. Then another 10 – 20 minutes on the shuttle and another 10 minutes for walking. So plan accordingly.

   

3. Pick your badge from the airport. This is very convenient. Also you have one less thing to worry about.

4. Pick you swag on the first day morning itself. If you go late, you will still get the swag, but most likely they will not have the size of the hoodie that you want. It would have been better if re:Invent organizers asked the hoodie size during registration to avoid this.

5. Install the AWS App. It allows you to go quickly change your sessions and add other interests.

6. Breakfast and Lunch are provided. If you don’t want to sit and eat and prefer a grab n go box, reach early. These boxes disappear fast.

7. Carry chargers. There are charging ports all over the conference centers.

8. Attend Builder sessions and workshops. There you get hands on experience with AWS experts. Give lower preference to the talk sessions. They are recorded and posted on YouTube, which  you can watch later.

9. Ask directions. re:Invent staff is present all around Vega — in the airport, on the strip — and they can answer anything. They are the ones in blue jackets with a re:Invent flag on their back. They herd cats efficiently into massive meal rooms, into the massive keynote hall and into shuttle busses. The conference was a huge success due to their hard work.

10. Attend the re:Play party. It’s fantastic.