It’s been about two weeks since we’ve returned from AWS re:Invent and we have BIG news. Although it was just our first year attending re:Invent, VMware {code} had a successful event. Our booth, located inside the Aria Hotel in the “maker space area” of the conference, was a hub of activities throughout the week. From our sensor giveaways, to raspberry pi labs, to power sessions in our theatre, we had over 2000 new members join VMware {code}. If you didn’t get the chance to attend re:Invent, you can still join code!
Just like we did at previous conferences, we brought back our popular Power Sessions, thirty minute talks on different technical topics, ranging from Kubernetes, VMware Cloud on AWS, and more. To get participants involved with the rest of our booth activities at AWS we added a sensor giveaway- all attendees who watched any of our power sessions throughout the week would get a raspberry pi sensor of their choosing. With over twenty options, the giveaway was a hit and every single one of our sessions was full of listeners in our {code} theatre. One of our most popular sessions was team director Eric Nielsen’s “Sensor Deep Dive”, a thirty minute talk which showcased the different sensors we were giving away and the many ways they could be used. You can watch the full talk here.
On top of our power sessions, one of the most popular activities in our booth was our labs. With three lab benches all hooked up with raspberry pis, instructors led participants through a number of labs. The basic principle of the lab involved hooking up LIOTA IOT framework to Wavefront which allowed participants to build an IOT device and stream data to a cloud-based metrics and analytics system. With this framework, participants were able to run labs using the raspberry pi sensors that they had won in the giveaway. For those interested in trying the labs at home, the step by step instructions can be found here.
Last but not least, our booth featured a full espresso bar and barista, a much needed pick me up for tired conference go-ers. This added attraction garned high praise from attendees and facilitated a space for networking. In order to receive a coffee from the barista, attendees had to pick up a stamp card from the front desk, a task which almost always started a conversation about the {code} program, raising brand awareness and gathering new interest.
As the year comes to a close, it is wonderful to have had such a successful final conference and so many new members involved with the {code} program. I cannot wait to see what the New Year brings and I’m looking forward to seeing the program grow and becoming more involved at events similar!
