This article isAWS Community Builder 2024 Advent CalendarI can finally post on December 4th💦
AWS Community Builder 2023 Advent CalendarIt was written under the following projectsThe first re:Invent experience in 5 years with my own money Part 2It’s been about a year.
I’m trying to sort through the changes that have occurred over the past year.
As an AWS community builder, I would be very happy if there is one more person on this blog who wants to participate in re:Invent next year.
I went to re:Invent at my own expense, but because I couldn’t get my family’s permission, I couldn’t go for the second consecutive year. Various sessions of re:Invent, including keynotes, can be watched online, but I attended re:Invent 2018 and re:Invent 2023 because I feel that something only happens when we feel it with our five senses Impact I think this is a position.
generalize
- When I returned to Japan, I immediately suffered from burnout syndrome.
- Community events will also be suspended, and speaking engagements by IT engineers will be reduced.
- Opportunities for non-IT engineers to speak at seminars will be increased through activities that use acquired IT skills to solve local problems.
Me after returning to Japan
At re:Invent 2018, it was my first time in the United States, my first time in Las Vegas, and my first time attending re:Invent, so it was all a shock. This is the slideshow I left behind.
The difference from five years ago is that re:Invent 2023 is a re:Invent that we participate in as AWS community builders, so we can enter places that only AWS community builders can enter. For example, the biggest difference from five years ago is : I’m able to interact with people I wouldn’t have interacted with, I’m able to travel with friends I’ve met in the community over the past 5 years rather than on tour.
The difference struck me in different ways.
Five years ago, I had nothing to compare to, but this time I have a lot to compare with.
The comparison is between myself and other AWS community builders, heroes, and community members 5 years ago.
I should have been able to enjoy it, but I ended up putting myself aside and forcing myself to do ○○. As a result, when I returned to Japan, I was forced to realize that I couldn’t do it.
Not only my technical output, but various activities were hampered and I felt like I didn’t want to do anything.
The event was held a week after returning to Japan.JAWS-UG Kanazawa x AWS Startup Community launches “Let’s start a business in Hokuriku and find a startup”I was also preparing for this event during re:Invent, so I guess I was completely exhausted.
A day dedicated to community activities
Even though I’m not doing anything, I need to make sure I finish what I’ve promised.
Served as Secretary General of JAWS-UG Conference,Various preparations as a member of the JAWS DAYS 2024 Executive CommitteeBy the time I realized this, it was already March.
At the 2023 JAWS-UG Shareholders Meeting, I decided to hand over the baton of Executive Director to AWS hero Yuichi Hatano and end my community participation in JAWS-UG.
I had intended to serve as Treasurer of the Secretariat for another two years to address various issues that arose in the mature community, but I became reluctantly involved in the issues that I was trying to address, and I believe this to be true.
A half-hearted approach can get a lot of people into trouble.
I think that was the last lesson I learned.
Contribute acquired IT skills to local issues
On New Year’s Day, January 1 this year, the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture where I live. On January 4, I participated in an activity to deliver relief supplies to the disaster area. I thought I could do something because I was only 100 kilometers away from the disaster area, but in the end I was powerless. This may be related to the burnout syndrome I mentioned earlier.
AWS has proposed a disaster area support plan, but we cannot go deep into the disaster area to understand the local situation, so we cannot use it.
When disaster-stricken areas experience long-term power outages, it feels like physical support is needed for longer than IT support, as was the case with the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Kumamoto Earthquake.
In May, when the water supply was finally restored, I was able to visit the disaster area as a small business consultant.
I am shocked by the intensity of the earthquake energy and the current conditions, with no progress in recovery efforts.
In September, natural disasters continued to hit the affected areas in the form of heavy rains. Many temporary housing units housed household belongings from homes awaiting public demolition, but remaining household belongings were also submerged in the water, resulting in the loss of safe places to live, clothing and precious photographs.
A once-in-a-millennium earthquake and a once-in-a-century rain event in just nine months means past precedents are becoming less useful when it comes to the impacts of climate change.
The disaster is also significant for the Onoto area, which was originally a sparsely populated area. Due to earthquakes and heavy rains, people are generally aware that it is no longer habitable, especially the younger generation who were born and raised there, and the population decline has continued for 20 years.
After visiting the affected areas in November as a financial planner and in December as a small business consultant, I realized that while there were many supporters outside the county, the number of supporters within the county was limited.
In the area south of Kanazawa City, inbound tourists have returned to the point where it was suspected that the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred in January this year, and daily life has returned to the conditions before the earthquake and after the heavy rain.
It is normal to have inconveniences everywhere, including road conditions, so I realized how blessed our daily lives are and I was able to meet people who were trying to live their daily lives despite the difficulties caused by the earthquake. Immediately after the earthquake, I felt a sense of helplessness and felt that I could do more with my current position.
Although the current situation is far from what we would call recovery or reconstruction, if we look down, nothing will change and by helping people take one small step, we can increase the number of people who feel happy now, even though it was difficult at the time. Difficulty It made me think deeply about whether this was my role.
Reduce speaking engagements for IT engineers and increase opportunities for non-IT engineers to speak at seminars
This year, as a speaking event for IT engineers,“What has changed since becoming an AWS community builder?”I applied for two CFPs under this title. One is Taiwan AWS Community and Career Day 2024, and the other is JAWS Pankration 2024.
I particularly wanted to choose Taiwan AWS Community and Career Day 2024 because I think this is a place to directly express my gratitude to the Taiwanese people who donated after the O-Nengteng earthquake.
However, I learned from Mr. Yoshie of AWS Hero, one of the Japanese engineers selected as a substitute, that things you cannot do by yourself can be accomplished through the participation of people around you, and I am very grateful.
Another feature of this year is the increased opportunities for non-IT engineers to speak at the seminar.
at last
I plan to visit Ounengden again next month and I want to increase my sensitivity again so that I can continue to help the people of Ounengden next year.