Making Kubernetes and KubeCon less scary

Around 2/3rds of attendees at KubeCon San Diego were first-timers. This is great for the community and shows growing interest in Kubernetes. However, what's not so great is that many of these first-timers were overwhelmed and felt like sessions went over their heads -- even sessions on the basic track assumed prior experience and prior knowledge. 

This annoys the hell out of someone like me, who spends their life helping people take their first steps with Kubernetes. And that's the polite version ;-)

So, here's what I'm doing to make KubeCon Amsterdam as amazing as possible...

Something now: A video course

My Kubernetes 101 video course is a great way to master the fundamentals of Kubernetes. And it's less than two hours long, so you can consume it over a couple of lunch breaks. 

To help you prepare for KubeCon, you can get it for a one-off $10 payment if you use the 'KUBECON-PREP' coupon code before March 8th.

Something the day before KubeCon: A workshop

I'm running my popular Kubernetes 101 workshop on Monday 30th March. This is the day before the main conference starts and is known as "day zero". It'll be at the Crown Plaza Hotel, about 1km from the main conference center, and you'll learn Kubernetes background and architecture, you'll deploy an application, break it, watch Kubernetes automatically fix it, scale it up and down, and perform a rolling update. Basically... everything you need to get started with Kubernetes and hit the conference running.

Sign-up here as part of your KubeCon registration.

Something at KubeCon: A free book

I'm teaming up with the guys at NetApp to give away over 100 paperback copies of my best-selling book, The Kubernetes Book. I did this with Docker, Inc. at KubeCon in San Diego and it was great to meet so many people.

Watch my tweets and LinkedIn posts, closer to the time, for the exact time and location of the book signing session.

Speaking of the book... there's also an Audible version that's had great reviews. Sadly, I don't have a way to generate discount codes for that.

Something else at KubeCon

I'll be at the NetApp booth again on day two, this time hosting a talk and conversation about getting started with containers and Kubernetes. But don't worry... I won't be trying to sell you anything from NetApp, it'll be 100% independent and there'll be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and connect.

Supporting the open-source community

As well as being passionate about helping you learn Kubernetes, I'm also passionate about the open-source community. Earlier this year chose to sponsor the OpenFaaS homepage as a direct result of revenue from my KubeCon San Diego workshops. 

I'll be doing something similar at KubeCon Amsterdam, but this time I'm giving you a chance to get involved... Everyone that comes to the book signing will get a chance to influence which open-source projects that the contribution/sponsorship goes to (OpenFaaS and Let's Encrypt will be options). NetApp will match fund, boom!

Other ideas

As always... I'm happy to talk, and open to suggestions on everything, including:

• Other conferences that would benefit from a Kubernetes 101 workshop
• Content you'd like to see in a Kubernetes workshop
• What the CNCF and KubeCon organisers can do to improve the event (they've started the ball rolling to get me involved with some aspects of KC Boston organisation)
• What your biggest Kubernetes learning challenge/difficulty is

Feel free to hit me up on Twitter and drop by my website and blog. Hope to see you at KubeCon in Amsterdam!