It has been a challenging couple of years.
The transition to working from home, keeping those community connections alive, and learning what’s next has been challenging as well. That’s why attending the first AWS APAC Community Summit in Thailand was a pleasure and a privilege.
160 AWS Community Builders, Heroes, Dev Alliance members, and User Group Leaders gathered in Bangkok for two days of learning, connecting, and celebrating. As well as getting in touch with people we have only met online, it was great to share experiences in building community and honour our region’s leaders.
Learn
We began with a welcome from Jeff Barr and Felipe LeMaitre, followed by a panel of global community leaders discussing the AWS approach to supercharging the community. Our day was then filled with lightning talks from leaders around the region, inspiration, and interactive community programmes. I especially enjoyed “The Art of Storytelling” by Justin Garrison and panels showcasing the incredible women in our region.
Inclusion in Communities and Tech: A
Panel Discussion
Connect
The most important part of the summit was to connect. To reconnect with friends, meet new ones, and shake hands with people we’ve only known via video calls. There were plenty of opportunities to share stories of how we’re building our unique communities and user groups.
We heard how the community in India are growing their user groups across the country. Then how the JAWS group in Japan ran a 24-hour event. And how the ASEAN dev.to blog has over 50 contributors. It’s inspiring to see how leaders are encouraging so many new connections and sharing their knowledge.
Celebrate
To finish the week we celebrated success with a networking dinner, talented dancers and singers taking the stage, and awards. Seeing so many leaders recognised for their efforts was a brilliant way to end the week. Congratulations to all the winners!
None of this would have been possible without the hard work and planning of the organisers. Thank you to Kris Howard, Shafraz Rahim, Belinda McKeon, and the AWS team for such a well-planned and executed event. I can’t wait for the next opportunity to see everyone again to learn, connect, and celebrate.
Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels
