This post is based on the content from my YouTube channel video Cloud Hasta En La Sopa

This is my fourth year attending AWS re:Invent and I really wanted to create a guide about the event itself, about how to plan and make the most of this unique experience.

I find it a very interesting event, but at the same time I think planning for it can be challenging. That’s why I’ve decided to share all the tips and tricks I’ve learned over these years so you can survive and enjoy re:Invent to the fullest.

In this post we’ll cover:

• ☁️ What AWS re:Invent is and why it’s special
• 🌵 Las Vegas particularities you need to know
• 🏨 Where to stay: the best hotels according to your budget
• 🎒 What to pack (and what’s essential)
• 📚 How to navigate sessions and keynotes
• 🎁 The Expo and swag
• 🎉 Parties and social events
• 💡 My final survival tips

What is AWS re:Invent? ☁️

re:Invent is AWS’s annual event held in Las Vegas. I’ve always seen it held in Las Vegas since it started, 12 years ago.

The event always happens around the same dates: right after Thanksgiving in the United States.

This year (2025) runs from December 1st to December 5th. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, so the event starts the following Monday. That means late November or early December.

I consider it AWS’s most important event, where they announce major news, deliver thousands of technical sessions, and bring together tens of thousands of professionals from around the world (over 65,000 attendees in recent years).

Las Vegas: What You Need to Know 🌵

A Desert with Peculiarities

Las Vegas is quite a peculiar city within the United States, obviously known for gambling and being America’s playground, but there are some important things you need to know.

The Desert Climate

The first thing is that it’s a desert, and this is crucial. The temperature isn’t very low in general, but it does get cold.

Since it’s a desert: nights are cold, days are quite warm. Not excessively hot (it’s December), but there is a very large temperature difference.

On the other hand, the environment is very, very dry. You really notice this, especially at night. When you wake up, you’ll notice your throat is very dry and throughout the day your lips get very chapped.

The Strip: Bigger Than It Appears

Las Vegas isn’t the largest city in the United States, but it’s a big city, especially the Strip area.

The Strip is the main street where all the major hotels are located that we’ve seen a thousand times in movies with their grand hotels and neon lights. However, it’s bigger than it appears in the movies.

The hotels seem very close to each other, and they are indeed close, but they’re gigantic. Moving from one hotel to another takes time. Moreover, getting out of a hotel can sometimes be complicated, since they’re basically designed so you don’t leave them.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix

I think it’s important to know that right before re:Invent, the Formula 1 Grand Prix takes place. Therefore, you’ll see the city a bit different from usual, as it will have Formula 1 barriers. The circuit runs precisely through the Strip and almost all the casinos where re:Invent is held.

As an example, the typical image of the Bellagio fountains is quite different - you won’t see this photo because the grandstands are right in front of the fountain (although you can still see the show and it’s pretty cool).

Conference Centers 🏢

The event takes place in different conference centers. The conference centers are normally associated with a hotel and are located on the Strip.

In total there are six conference centers, although I think the Encore and Wynn can be considered as one. The main ones are:

• Venetian and Caesar Forum, which are the most important
• MGM Grand
• Mandalay Bay
• Wynn/Encore

Moving from one conference center to another isn’t simple and takes quite a bit of time.

There are event buses (free) that allow you to move between them, but with the Formula 1 construction work, they’re quite slow and it can take a long time to move from one to another.

Between the Venetian and Caesar Forum it’s easy since they enable a pedestrian bridge that connects them, so it takes little time (10-15 minutes).

Between Caesar Forum and MGM Grand there’s a monorail that’s quite fast. I recommend using it to move between these two hotels because it’s the fastest and it’s free (only on that stretch, from MGM to Caesar or Caesar to MGM).

The Wynn and Encore are also connected, so going from one to the other isn’t a problem.

Where to Stay: Hotel Guide 🏨

The Best: Venetian (But…)

Obviously the best hotel is the Venetian, because that’s where all the action is: where the Expo is, the keynotes, and there are tons of sessions. Plus it’s very close to Caesar Forum, and lastly, it’s the hotel where all the partner events will be.

But it’s also the most expensive, excessively expensive. It’s a five-star hotel, plus it’s practically entirely reserved by AWS and partners, so getting a room is very complicated, not to mention it’s extremely expensive.

The Best Alternatives

Recommended Hotels

Note: The order is not necessarily by preference.

• Harrah’s: One of the best hotels, adjacent to the Venetian with direct access to Caesar Forum. So you’ll be very close to the sessions and the expo.
• The LINQ: Adjacent to Harrah’s, it’s also a very good hotel and shares access with Harrah’s, the access is between both hotels.
• Flamingo: This is the hotel where I’ll be staying this year. It’s very close to Caesar Forum. It’s the next hotel on the strip on that sidewalk. It’s a hotel that’s not as close to the Venetian but is close to Caesar Forum.
• Treasure Island: A highly recommended hotel, quite cheap compared to others. The hotel is across from the Venetian, although it’s close it takes a while to get to the expo since it’s at the other end of the hotel. It’s a hotel that sells out quickly on the re:Invent website.
• Horseshoe: This is the hotel where I stayed last year, it’s somewhat more separated, but you can reach Caesar Forum in 10 minutes. To get to the strip you also have to cross a commercial area.
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club Resort: It’s not on the strip but has access to Caesar Forum very close by, although it’s not the main entrance.
• Westin: Also close to the strip and Horseshoe, it’s not on the strip but it’s easy to get to Caesar Forum.

As you can see, I prioritize the Caesar Forum area a lot, basically because it’s the Conference Center with the most rooms and is directly connected to the Venetian expo.

There are more hotels, but really, the further you get from the Venetian, the further you’ll be from all the action.

I stayed at the Excalibur in previous years - it’s not a bad hotel, but it’s very far from the Venetian and getting to MGM Grand is complicated. Plus, with the F1 construction, you lose a lot of time on the bus.

What to Pack: Essential List 🎒

Appropriate Clothing

For Daily Use

• Comfortable clothes

  You walk quite a bit, so I recommend jeans and t-shirts or certainly comfortable clothing.

• Layers

  Due to the temperature difference between day and night, I recommend bringing sweatshirts or light jackets. On the street it can be cold (especially at night), but while walking you might get quite warm.

• Comfortable shoes

  You walk a lot, several kilometers per day, so if you don’t want to suffer much, bring comfortable sneakers for walking.

For Nighttime Parties

If you’re going to any partner events at night, some of them take place in Las Vegas nightclubs. If you want to enter any nightclub, you’ll need something more formal.

That’s why, if you’re going to parties, I recommend bringing a more formal outfit.

Note, this only applies to nighttime parties and nightclubs. In general it’s not necessary, but if you want to enter OMNIA or Hakkasan, you need to dress more formally.

I personally don’t usually go on principle.

Essential Items

1. Lip Balm

Bringing lip balm, vaseline, or lip protector is crucial. One of the problems in Las Vegas is that the environment is very, very dry. Your lips usually get very dry and can crack, so I highly recommend bringing it.

2. Water Bottle

A water bottle is crucial. At re:Invent they usually give us a water bottle to refill. We’re in a desert - you can easily suffer dehydration. You walk a lot and I recommend staying well hydrated and drinking lots of water.

3. Backpack

For moving around re:Invent, I only recommend carrying a backpack. It doesn’t need to be full, but if you go to the Expo and get some swag, you can put it in the backpack and don’t have to carry multiple bags and weight. You can even hang bags on the backpack.

4. Extra Carry-on Luggage

If you’re traveling and have checked a suitcase, also bring a carry-on suitcase. Even if you bring it empty on the way there, on the way back with all the swag you’ll probably need it.

5. Laptop (Optional)

Whether to bring a laptop depends on each person. I usually bring it. There are sessions where it’s interesting or even mandatory to have a laptop. I usually recommend that you at least bring the laptop to Las Vegas and then, depending on whether you’re going to these types of sessions or not, put it in your backpack.

Sessions: Navigating the Catalog 📚

Mainly, re:Invent is a technical and educational event. Here we have tons of sessions and choosing them is really difficult - the session catalog is infinite.

Although the official tool is fine, for planning I recommend Raphael Manke’s unofficial Planner.

It’s much better than the official tool and allows you to make lists. Here’s my provisional one.

Keynotes: Essential

First we have the keynotes, which are the main sessions where AWS VPs and the AWS CEO will speak. There’s one each day, Monday through Thursday:

Keynote Schedule

Monday evening: Dave Brown - Infrastructure and core services

Tuesday morning: Matt Garman - The AWS CEO, the most important keynote.

Wednesday morning: Swami Sivasubramanian - AI, ML and Data

Thursday morning: Werner Vogels and Peter DeSantis - The most technically recommended, a session you should attend.

Thursday afternoon: Ruba Borno - Partners (if you’re not a partner, it’s usually not very interesting)

Keynote Tips

The keynotes obviously are recorded and broadcast live on YouTube - you don’t need to go, but the atmosphere of the keynote itself, being there, seeing AWS news live, is usually pretty cool.

Important trick: I recommend being one hour early, sometimes even more, in the keynote line to be able to enter and get a good seat.

It’s curious because there are quite a few reserved seats, and if you enter just 5 or 10 minutes before the keynote starts, you can sit in a very good spot. But you can also be left out, especially for the most in-demand ones.

Other Types of Sessions

Besides keynotes, we have different types of sessions:

• Breakout Sessions - The main technical sessions, which are recorded and are what we see on YouTube.
• BootCamps - There’s the possibility to enroll in a BootCamp. (Requires laptop).
• Builders’ Sessions - 1-hour hands-on sessions with a brief theoretical introduction. (Requires laptop).
• Chalk Talks - More interactive and technical sessions that aren’t recorded and are very interesting.
• Code Talks - Sessions similar to Chalk Talks focused on code that also aren’t recorded.
• Exam Prep - Sessions to prepare for AWS exams.
• Gamified Learning - GameDays, AWS Jams, Escape Rooms and other interactive sessions that let you compete and learn in an entertaining way. (Requires laptop)
• Interactive Training - Interactive training sessions similar to Skill Builder, but with experts on-site.
• Lightning Talks - Short 15-20 minute sessions focused on use cases and very interesting (here are the AWS community sessions that are authentic hidden gems in the catalog)
• Workshops - Practical labs where you have a laboratory and can play with it. They’re quite interesting, plus you have a prepared AWS environment and experts to ask questions. (Requires laptop).

Session Planning and Booking

The Catalog Challenge

The session catalog can be horrible, it’s very large. We’re talking about more than 2000 different sessions and requires planning.

The first thing you need to do is plan and that’s why the unofficial planner is extremely important.

Why Is Planning Important?

Because conference centers are very separated from each other. You might be very interested in a session at Mandalay, but your next session is at MGM or Venetian in 10 minutes and you won’t make it.

Also, you need to consider that sessions need to be booked. You can enter without a booking, but only 15% of capacity isn’t reserved. Plus you depend on people with bookings not showing up and you’ll have to be there much earlier than the session.

My Planning Strategy

What I normally do is see which sessions are most important to me and build my agenda around that, then I mark which conference centers I’ll spend more time at. I try to spend almost the entire day at a single conference center - I prefer not to move around much because you lose a lot of time.

But if there’s a very interesting session at another conference center, I’ll go. I think this is quite important and I usually plan this out and get everything prepared.

When Bookings Open

In early October (approximately first or second week of October) session booking opens. There are sessions with very small capacity that are highly in demand (Chalk Talks and Code Talks).

Some sessions, like Lightning Talks, can’t be booked, keynotes can’t either, but sessions that can be booked - it’s important to book them early.

My Booking Strategy

Moreover, I book them the same day the agenda opens. I set an alarm on my calendar, I’m there 10 minutes early with everything prepared to book sessions.

Here it’s important to plan well, know which sessions you’re going to book.

Managing Session Load

Don’t Overload Yourself

I recommend that you relax, keep in mind that if you go to many sessions you’ll be very tired. My first year, for example, I think one day I did seven or eight sessions, which is absolutely barbaric.

Also, my first year, the first day I even forgot I had to eat - lunchtime completely passed me by and it was a disaster. I had to eat in a rush, horrible.

Plan Meals and Breaks

I recommend that you plan breaks to always be able to stop for a while. I also recommend that you stop to eat at a table. There’s the option of takeaway food - you can grab a bag and eat it on the way or eat it outside very quickly, but I recommend sitting down because it will stress you out tremendously otherwise.

Your agenda will explode

All this is very nice, but you should know that no matter how much you plan, you need to consider that your agenda will explode. On one hand, you might not make it to a session or even find something more interesting to do during that time.

You might also have a meeting scheduled at the same time as a session at another conference center (happened to me) and you have to replan your agenda.

Or you might sign up twice for the same session on different days (there are sessions that repeat). I’ve known people this has happened to.

Finally, there are sessions that aren’t on the agenda yet and appear during the event. If a new service appears, it normally has associated sessions, but they aren’t released until they’re published in the keynote, so stay alert for these sessions about new services or features.

By the way, the session about a new service might be at a different conference center than where you planned to go…

The Expo and Swag 🎁

What to Expect at the Expo

At the Expo there’s tons of swag (free merchandise). There are loads of plushies, t-shirts, tech gadgets, and all kinds of gifts from different partners and vendors.

I recommend stopping by every day to see it. It’s gigantic and the swag changes, but it’s also interesting to learn about the new things partners bring.

Swag Strategy

Last day: In general, getting swag isn’t difficult, but the last day is very easy since they have to get rid of it or they’ll have to take it back. So it’s usually the easiest day to get swag.

That said, that day there might be weird sizes or things nobody wants left. (Watch out, I’ve gotten many plushies at the last minute)

Parties and Social Events 🎉

Importance of Networking

Parties are also very important at re:Invent. There are tons of parties, tons of ways to socialize with people. This depends on each person, obviously.

I’m not a big fan of parties and don’t usually participate much in them, but they’re a good place to have fun and meet people.

Dress Code for Parties

Many of them have a dress code, but mainly those held at night in nightclubs.

If you go to a restaurant for dinner in the evening/night (there are tons of events like this), they usually don’t require a dress code, but if you go to a club at night, they do require a dress code.

You always have to book these parties before going - it’s usually by invitation but there are ways to get them.

Conference Parties

You have an incredible website called Conference Party where all the parties are listed. The website has all the parties being planned for re:Invent, with links to book them and where they take place.

You have to fill out your information and they’ll always ask you questions. Then they’re very persistent in the following months trying to sell their product (obviously that’s what they do these types of parties for).

re:Play

There’s one party you should definitely go to (at least once), which is re:Play - it’s the official event party on Thursday night.

The party takes place at the Las Vegas festival grounds and it’s absolutely amazing. You have everything: music, DodgeBall, scavenger hunts, various games, food.

The truth is it’s like a nerd festival, with a bit of everything.

Usually a well-known group plays (Weezer in 2024 and Portugal The Man in 2023) and an important DJ closes (Zedd 2024, Major Lazer 2023 and Martin Garrix 2022).

My Recommendation About Parties

If you want to go, you should go - they’re pretty cool and you’ll have a great time, but also rest. Going to all of them is impossible.

There are people who say: “Hey, this week I’m going to all the sessions, all the parties, I won’t sleep and when I get home I’ll sleep.” You can do it, but it’s very complicated.

My recommendation is to take it easy the first few days it’s a week - re:Invent lasts from Monday to Thursday, and you need energy to really take advantage of the event.

My Final Tips 💡

• Remember to eat - Don’t be like me and remember to eat. Each day at each venue there’s a different menu from some country (I recommend not going to eat at the Venetian - the dining room is gigantic and it takes forever to get to a table)
• Stay hydrated - Drink water constantly.
• Learn - re:Invent is an educational event and you can learn a lot.
• Network - There are many people with different backgrounds you can learn a lot from.
• Manage the hype - Launches are always impressive, but you should try to lower the hype a bit and see if what they present is interesting or just smoke (especially wait to see the pricing)
• Meet AWS faces - Seeing Advocates or Jeff Barr isn’t impossible, and they’re quite open people - you can ask them for a selfie.

re:Invent can be overwhelming the first time, but with these tips you’ll be prepared to make the most of these intense days in Las Vegas.

See you in Las Vegas! 🎲🌟