AWS Startup Announcement

An entire month of AWS technical knowledge is being dropped into San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood starting June 4th and running till June 27th. In-person, real-time and on-demand expertise, answers and knowledge are not just available almost continuously, they are entirely free. As Jeff Barr so eloquently puts, “This is re:Invent on crack.”

If you are a startup searching for technical education on specific AWS services, best practices from other startups, networking opportunities, AWS hands-on labs, technical bootcamps, or 1:1 sessions with AWS subject matter experts, come and join us! Stay for a session, hang out all day, or come back again and again. Learn what you want and when you want — that is the entire point of the AWS Pop-up Loft.

Where We Have Popped Up

A casual storefront space located at 925 Market Street in San Francisco, close to 5th and Market.

When We’re Up and Running

Guests are welcome to stop in every day but Sunday between June 4th and June 27th. Hours are 10 to 8 on the weekdays and 10 to 6 on Saturdays.

What’s Being Served Up

A lot. See below for a high level summary of the activities that are taking over the space. See something you like, go here and then start filling your calendar.

Ask an Architect: Reserve a 30 minute one-on-one, face-to-face session with a member of the AWS technical team. Bring your questions regarding AWS architecture, usage of specific AWS services and features, cost optimization, and anything else AWS-related. Walk-ins are always welcome, too.

AWS Technical Sessions: We culled and updated the re:Invent and AWS Summit sessions most popular with startups to create an experience that helps people with varying levels of AWS experience — beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Every day has its own theme, too: Introduction to AWS, Mobile & Gaming, Databases, Big Data, Compute & Networking, Architecture, Operations, Security, etc.

AWS Technical Bootcamps: Limited to twenty participants, these full-day bootcamps occur every Saturday that The Loft is open. Usually these cost $600, but they are on the house so startups can take advantage of them. Here are the bootcamps you can register for: “Getting Started with AWS” (beginner level), “Store, Manage, and Analyze Big Data in the Cloud” (intermediate level), and “Taking AWS Operations to the Next Level” (advanced level).

Self-paced, Hands-on Labs: Also free, these online technical labs are ready and waiting for walk-ins throughout our operating hours. Choose your topic based on the AWS service and your experience level and then take one, many, or all of them.

Behind the Scenes Customer Speaking Events: The hottest startups in the Bay Area open up about the technical and business journeys they undertook as their ideas came to life. Coin, TinyCo, AlphaSense, Flipboard, the SFSU FEATURE project, Sumo Logic and others will be highlighted speakers during our evening happy hours.

Werner Vogels Fireside Chat: Come hear Amazon CTO Werner Vogels and Michael Skok of Northbridge Venture Partners discuss the evolving startup community on June 17th. Then mix, mingle, and network with other high-profile attendees throughout the evening.

AWS Hack Night: On the night of June 6th we are revisiting one of re:Invent’s most popular activities. This interactive, hands-on learning hack scenario familiarizes players with the AWS environment while developing operational their crisis management skills. Teams build an AWS environment, trade credentials with each other, inflict damage on one another, and then repair and assess the damage from the onslaught.

There’s a lot for everyone to take part in and it’s all geared for you, the startup. Come and join us early and often. We are here to help you however we can.