• DACH Community Day in Dresden and the Sächsische-Schweiz

    DACH Community Day in Dresden and the Sächsische-Schweiz

    Recently I was very honoured to be invited by some of my friends in the DACH (aka Germany, Austria, Switzerland) tech community to be the keynote speaker for AWS Community Day 2022. This was going to be their first time back in person after two years of virtual events, and I was very excited to finally meet some of them in person. Rodd was going to accompany me, of course, and he had planned out some fun touristy things for us to do as well.

    We caught the Tuesday morning train from Munich. It was about a 4.5hr trip, including a short transfer in Leipzig. I mostly used the time to finish off my slides for the keynote!

    Train to Dresden

    On Tuesday night, the local AWS Dresden group were having a pre-Community Day meetup so we went along. Here’s my buddy Mohamed presenting about a couple serverless apps he built, as well as Martin from Groundfog sharing how they built a personalised web experience for visitors.

    Wednesday was the big event, so we headed over early in the morning to the conference venue to help set up. My friends Linda (from Vienna) and Markus (from Munich) were going to be kicking things off in the morning.

    Me, Linda, and Markus

    Markus insisted that I wear the AWS dress. 😂 He was also going to be introducing me on stage.

    Me and Markus

    Eventually everything was ready and the hosts kicked off the morning. I was very excited to see them launch the Förderverein AWS Community DACH, which brings together all the different AWS groups into a single association. (Bonus points for the pun in the logo – in German, “Dach” means “roof”.)

    Launching the Förderverein

    Markus gave me a very humorous intro in which he’d scraped some dubious photos from my social media accounts, but thankfully he ended with the nicest one. ❤️

    Markus introducing me

    My talk started out quite personal, talking about how isolated I felt in the first ten years of my career. It wasn’t until I started going to meetups and hackathons that I finally felt like I belonged. At that point, it turned into a big soppy love letter to the folks in the room, who were my first friends when we moved to Germany. I ended by talking about how much AWS values the external community, and some of our plans to support them even more in the future.

    My keynote

    One last photo of me with Markus and Linda, who I’m going to really really miss. 😢

    Me, Markus, and Linda

    We spent the rest of the day at the conference, going to sessions and meeting sponsors and attendees. It was a small but passionate crowd, and everyone was so excited to get back together in person. Thank you to the organisers for inviting me!

    We were pretty tired that night but of course had to take advantage of the hotel sauna…

    Post sauna

    I worked from the hotel the next day, but Rodd got me out into the sunshine for a quick walk and lunch in the city.

    Me and Rodd in Dresden

    We were very amused to see that there is actually an Australian restaurant in Dresden! The Snook was dubious, but hey, they serve kangaroo goulash soup. 😂

    We walked up to Brühl’s Terrace, a large elevated terrace overlooking the Elbe. It was a beautiful day.

    The Elbe from Brühl's Terrace

    Here we are with the Hofkirche (Dresden Cathedral), the most important Catholic church in the city.

    Hofkirche

    We also found the Lego store, which had a “Selfie Point.” Okay, then.

    Lego Store Dresden

    Our hotel was very close to the famous Frauenkirche in Dresden. This Lutheran church was destroyed during the firebombing of the city in 1945 and left in ruins as a war memorial for 50 years. It was only rebuilt after German reunification and was completed in 2005. The darker stones you can see were salvaged from the original church and were able to be reused in the reconstruction.

    Frauenkirche

    We went inside to take a look as well. It was all soft pastels, trompe l’oeil, and extravagant carvings. Very pretty! The story of how they rebuilt it is truly amazing.

    Inside the Frauenkirche

    That night we had booked a special dinner at Genuss-Atelier, a local Michelin-starred restaurant. It was described as “rustic vaults” and it felt very cozy.

    Genuss-Atelier

    One of the coolest things was that the tables had built in drawers with all the cutlery you’d need, so the waiters didn’t need to keep bringing fresh sets. I’ve never seen that before.

    Cutlery drawer

    We went with the six-course “Surprise” menu, and since it’s all seasonal and not printed, I tried to keep notes on my phone about what we had. We started with a couple small bites: pickled herring with potato chip, and felafel with yogurt.

    Small bites

    The Snook enjoyed the little bread rolls and butter. (He may have also been drafting a post for We Want Plates.)

    Bread and butter

    Our first proper course was beef tartar with sour cream and chives.

    Beef tartar with sour cream and chives

    Next was a vegetarian course – turnip cabbage (aka kohlrabi), celery, and yuzu.

    Turnip cabbage, celery, yuzu

    Next was the fish course – “eagle fish” (which we think is also called a “meagre“) with radicchio, celery, and capers.

    Eagle fish with radicchio, celery, capers

    For the meat course, we had lamb with pumpkin and polenta, and of course we opted for the extra shaved black truffle!

    Lamb with pumpkin and polenta

    Everything was delicious and beautifully prepared. We were also having matched wines with each course, all of them from the local area. Rodd was amused when the waiter excitedly told him how one of them was matured in oak, which is something of a novelty in the region. (It’s very common in Australia!) Needless to say, we were having a wonderful evening.

    And we finished with TWO desserts! First was “blueberry, butter cookie, and vanilla.”

    Blueberry, butter cookie, and vanilla

    And lastly, “banana, coconut, mango sorbet.” Yum!

    Banana, coconut, mango sorbet

    Highly recommend Genuss-Atelier if you are ever in the Dresden area!

    (more…)


  • Shared today on Twitter

    RT @DaveHogue: I think we should notice the number of experienced tech workers who step away from the industry to do things which are more…


    Sure, professional accomplishments are great and all, but have you ever successfully decoded a reference in a brand new Taylor Swift song without having to look it up? 💅



  • Shared today on Twitter

    @jaimekristene @mathowie I think Matt’s idea was to go back to blogging, which I’d love. I imagine my circle would get a lot smaller though.



  • Shared today on Twitter

    Exploring Dresden Castle with the King. 🤴🏻❤️ @ Residenzschloss Dresden https://t.co/DNINJ7QTtg


    RT @TanjaBueltmann: 🇩🇪 German phrase of the day for you:

    Jetzt haben wir den Salat🥬

    Literally: ‘now we have the salad’. Used when somethi…



  • Shared today on Twitter

    @devdevcharlie I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as bad as you think! People don’t know what you MEANT to say. I bet it was great!


    RT @hoegertn: 🎉 After a very long break, the AWS UserGroup Stuttgart is back.

    This evening we are meeting at ZOI to talk about video stre…


    Things you don’t expect to find in Dresden: an Australian restaurant! 😂🇦🇺🦘 @ Dresden, Germany https://t.co/AMvnrBOz2m



  • Shared today on Twitter

    RT @bhandari_barsha: Call for Papers for the First Ever AWS Community Day in Nepal !!! 
    👉 Submit your topic by filling out the form: https:…


    Tech check for #AWSCommunityDayDACH with @linda_mhmd and @osterjour! Looking forward to a wonderful day. #AWSCommunity https://t.co/PvLOXzsUdu


    RT @bombadil_tom: @web_goddess at #AWSCommunityDay https://t.co/uz1BcgTLt8


    Thank you for not sharing any of the HORRIBLE PHOTOS @Osterjour slipped in, @mohammedradwan. 😂❤️ https://t.co/WWtkmIrM4r


    My first session of the day is Fabrizio Gattuso from @NordcloudDACH talking about how everything is an event on AWS. Great to see that he’s an AWS Community Builder! #AWSCommunityDay @jasondunn @AWSCommunityDE https://t.co/juK60eyI2x


    RT @ghumare64: Today, @awscloud launched the AWS Parameters and Secrets Lambda Extension, a method for AWS Lambda users to retrieve paramet…


    RT @DataDuke: Finally beeing received in AUDIENCE with @web_goddess 😉😇😄🤗 to learn about the @AWSCommunity, the highly passionate and drivin…


    RT @DataDuke: CELEBRATING #AWSCommunityDay with engaging sessions by @linda_mhmd @rosenbeli @Osterjour @web_goddess & Fabrizio @NordcloudHQ…


    Really great session from @danbdo on @dynamodb single table modeling. I learned heaps, and he brought in some great best practices from @houlihan_rick and @alexbdebrie. #AWSCommunityDay @AWSCommunityDE https://t.co/GyIL0XubDc


    Ha. @Lockhead warned us all that it was his first in-person talk in 4 years, but it was unnecessary. He did great! He spoke about building a serverless, event-driven platform at FICO. And he’s another AWS Community Builder! 🙌 #AWSCommunityDay @AWSCommunityDE @jasondunn https://t.co/N682RpFMxq


    And how do we unwind after a full day at a tech conference? 15 minutes sweating in a 90C/194F sauna followed by a cold shower and then COLLAPSE. 😅😅 https://t.co/WRbqaJh6Ba



  • Shared today on Twitter

    Fine-tuning my keynote for tomorrow’s AWS Community Day DACH on the train to Dresden! Spoiler: it’s a massive love letter to the German, Austrian, and Swiss developer communities. ❤️🚊🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇭 #AWSCommunityDayDACH https://t.co/RnHYbQrf9D


    RT @Typhon666_death: Amazon Web Services announces 190 billion baht investment to drive Thailand’s digital future https://t.co/UOQ3tGuVYq


    Very excited to see @mohammedradwan present on serverless applications at the AWS Dresden meetup! @AWSCommunityDE https://t.co/9ymLep7Mhw


    RT @DataDuke: WARM-UP for @AWSCommunityDE DAY Dresden – Talk by @mohammedradwan on his private serverless project to start/stop/schedule yo…


    @bombadil_tom Just drove past it in a taxi!! See you tomorrow…


    Great thread, and absolutely all of this applies to me at the #AWSCommunityDayDACH tomorrow. You won’t be able to miss me – I’ll be the one in the dress with the AWS logo all over it. 😂 https://t.co/GsJHYxogTV


    RT @FranklinHabit: A haunted house, but every room contains a guy who learned to knit a month ago and is now an authority who thinks he inv…



  • Shared today on Twitter

    @IanMmmm Congrats! I know that @OlenaKutsenko went there last year, and she’s fantastic so I can confirm you’ve got some good folks on your team. 🙂


    @NickyWill100 @CosmicRami @Astronomisty Oh very cool! My friend @HeartOfPluto_ created a giant knitted universe that’s currently on display at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne: https://t.co/wD69EZAAph


    RT @AwsugNepal: AWS User Group Nepal is proud to announce AWS’s flagship event, AWS Community Day 2022🎉 for the first time in Nepal.

    📅 So…


    @Typhon666_death I recognise these lovely people! Hello to you all. ❤️


    @bhandari_barsha @RKridhima @anjaniphuyal Very happy to support! Ridhima – let’s plan out when we go to Nepal next year. 😍


    RT @Typhon666_death: Let’s rock!!

    #jawsug #AWSCommunityAPAC https://t.co/Xvl0rgNQmi


    @IanMmmm @OlenaKutsenko Sadly not this year. Will be packing up the house to move back to Oz!


    @CosmicRami @NickyWill100 @HeartOfPluto_ Oh that’s super cool! I actually saw it back in June when I was in Melbs. Such a small world. ❤️ https://t.co/7NAVZteFgf


    @CosmicRami @NickyWill100 @HeartOfPluto_ Incidentally, I’ve had this in my Ravelry queue forever. One of these days… https://t.co/z2bqtkcybN


    @Vel12171 @guimathed Agree – that dress is stunning and so are you!


    @Vel12171 @guimathed Facebook and Instagram keep showing me ads for dresses from African designers. This must be a sign that I need to do some shopping!!


    @chrisgander I just want to see Daemon chopping them all to bits.



  • Shared today on Twitter

    RT @bhandari_barsha: AWS User Group Nepal is excited to announce AWS’s flagship event, AWS Community Day 2022, happening for the first time…


    I suspect this is the last warm day of the year, and Westpark is busy. I’m really going to miss this. These days make me want to smile and weep at the same time. 🍻🍁🍂 (2022 Biergarten count: 15) https://t.co/awKepl5LyV


    RT @BicycleLobby: Are you riding a bicycle today? Any type and for any reason? Then you are doing it right.


    @rotnroll666 That looks glorious.


    @steve_evil @jennydoesthings I am! Two more months until we head back to Sydney. Today is glorious.


    🧶🫖🍁🍂 @ Munich, Germany https://t.co/4gZw70Q9ID




ABOUT

My name is Kris. I’ve been blogging since the 90’s. I live in Sydney, Australia, and I spent most of my career in the tech industry.

No AI used in writing this blog, ever. 100% human-generated.


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  1. This is one of those ones I just can’t remember (haven’t used it enough). Can do it when I look…

  2. Really excellent. It’s had a Much extended run here so who knows!


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