My first year as an AWS Community Builder

Is one year already?

Wow time was delivered as fast as CloudFront deliver content 😊

Around this time last year, I was doubting myself about applying for the Community Builders program. I did some research before applying to give me some comfort. I discovered that the number of applications was huge but that was not the scariest part, the scariest part was to know that only a small selection is accepted. I told myself well, is it all or nothing so I did it and here I am sharing my story.

Let me share with you some questions I asked myself about this program and why was I interested in joining this community.

Why did I want to join this program?

I have one or two lines for this question – AWS has been an amazing tool for my personal career development and I just enjoy working with AWS-Cloud 24/7. I also love writing articles and sharing what I have been learning throughout these years with others.

What is AWS Community Builder program?

The AWS Community Builders program offers technical resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities to AWS technical enthusiasts and emerging thought leaders who are passionate about sharing knowledge and connecting with the technical community.
source: https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/community-builders/

I will provide more insights about this later in this article.

What services categories does the AWS Community Builder program offer?

• Security and Identity
• Machine learning
• Serverless
• Developer Tools
• Network content and delivery
• Storage
• More ...

What would one do if it was selected?

You would have the opportunity to share the love you have for AWS through different channels such as:

• Writing blogs about your experiences with AWS thus others can learn from them
• Public speaking about AWS
• Videos sharing of the amazing tools you have built
• Live demos
• Live interviews
• Really anything that you can imagine

Who is selected?

Passionate people wishing to share their excitement for all things AWS with the rest of the world. Does this sound like you?

What would happen if one is not accepted?

Don’t worry too much about this question because if you are not accepted the first time you can try again. The program is very competitive, so are you. Aren’t you?

Do Community Builders get paid?

No, we do not get paid but we are rewarded with too many amazing things. I don't want to spoil the surprise for you here but believe me you will be happy 😊

Hopefully all these questions and answers will give you a good start to your own application.

Now, let me walk you inside AWS Community Builders' house and you could picture what to expect. I will break this into a few bullet points so I don’t take too much of your time.

• You will have access to a fantastic Slack channel where you will find subchannels of each of the categories I mentioned above. You will be assigned to one channel but you can participate in all of others channels as well.
• Many e-live events and workshops that can help you to improve your knowledge of AWS.
• Engage in e-meetings with champions Community Builders, AWS heroes and AWS experts from around the world.
• You will be provide it with your own blog account in dev.to under the community channel so you can share all your exciting work and learn from others as well.
• Did I mention many surprises already!

What AWS Community Builders program expect from you during this year?

You will need to set personal goals of how much knowledge you want to share through your blogs, podcast, videos … with the rest of the world during this year. That’s it

Thank you again to AWS Community Builders program for such a ride this year and best of luck for those who are trying to get into this program.