AWS GameDay Nordics 2024 (Helsinki)

AWS GameDay is always a highlight of the year, and the second AWS GameDay Nordics was something special. Gunnar Grosch, AWS Principal Developer Advocate, hosted the overall event, which ran simultaneously across Bergen, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Jyvaskyla, Oslo, Tampere, and Trondheim. Cloud2 sponsored and hosted the Helsinki leg at their office, and 51 participants showed up ready to compete. The competition kicked off at 18:00 EET across all locations.

For those unfamiliar with the format, AWS GameDay is a team-based, hands-on learning exercise where teams of 3-4 tackle real-world cloud scenarios on AWS. You could bring your own team or come alone and join one on-site, which kept the barrier to entry low. Teams score points by completing tasks under time pressure, and things get competitive fast. It is a great way to learn by doing rather than just listening to talks.

The energy in the room was noticeably different from a regular meetup. People were huddled around laptops, debating architectures, troubleshooting issues, and celebrating small victories. There was a healthy mix of teamwork and friendly competition, with teams trying to outpace not just each other in Helsinki but also teams in other Nordic cities. That cross-border element added a layer of intensity I had not quite expected.

I enjoyed watching how quickly strangers formed into functioning teams. Some groups had clearly prepared together, while others met for the first time that evening and still found their rhythm within minutes. That kind of hands-on collaboration is hard to replicate in any other format.

Thanks to Cloud2 for hosting the Helsinki leg, to Gunnar Grosch for running the show, and to AWS Community Nordics for pulling off a GameDay that stretched across seven cities in multiple countries with prizes for the best-performing teams. Events like this are a reminder that the best way to learn cloud is to get your hands dirty.