When it comes to community programs, AWS seems to have something for everyone.
Are you a student? There are Student Builder Groups. An individual contributor looking to grow and connect with other builders? There’s the Community Builders program. Just starting your journey as a speaker? The AWS New Voices program is there to help. And for those who have gone above and beyond in sharing their knowledge and building communities, there’s the Heroes program.
But there’s one program I deliberately left out. Not because it’s less important, but because it’s particularly close to my heart: the User Groups program.
Why? Because it’s different from all the others.
Unlike many AWS community initiatives, User Groups weren’t originally created by AWS. They started organically, driven by passionate individuals who wanted to bring local cloud communities together. AWS eventually recognized their importance and began supporting the people behind them.
And that’s what makes this program so special. It’s built around the people who voluntarily dedicate their time and energy to making communities thrive.
The missing piece: bringing User Group Leaders together
AWS User Group Leaders regularly bring people together in their own cities and countries. They organize meetups, find speakers, book venues, welcome newcomers, and keep their communities alive.
But here’s the funny thing: while they’re busy connecting everyone else, they rarely get the opportunity to connect with each other.
Sure, there’s AWS re:Invent. For many of us, it’s the one time of the year when we get to meet fellow community leaders from around the world. But re:Invent is busy, hectic, and packed with activities. Finding time for meaningful conversations isn’t always easy.
And this is where an idea started to take shape.
How it all started
re:Invent is always the home of major AWS announcements, but for community leaders, it’s also where some of the best ideas are born.
Last year, I heard from Maria Encinar, AWS’s Global User Group Program Manager, that she was planning something special: regional User Group Leaders Summits.
Wow. That sounded amazing!
One of the things I appreciate most about AWS’s approach to its community is that it genuinely encourages feedback and new ideas. You can share your thoughts, propose something different, and sometimes, if you’re lucky, see those ideas become reality.
I decided to give it a try.
Since the goal was to bring community leaders together, I suggested connecting the summit to one of the biggest community events in my region: AWS Community Day CEE.
Why organize another standalone event when we could bring people together around an existing community gathering?
And AWS listened.
In May 2026, I received a message asking whether I’d be interested in partnering with AWS to host the first EMEA User Groups Summit, immediately following AWS Community Day CEE.
Of course!
What an honor.
Being from Budapest, I also loved the opportunity to show our beautiful city to fellow community leaders. For the venue, I proposed the European Youth Centre Budapest, a place that represents European unity, cooperation, and bringing people together.
I couldn’t think of a more fitting location for a gathering like this.
And so, together with AWS, we started planning something that would make history.
EMEA: Making history in Budapest
The result? 45 User Group Leaders from across EMEA came together for the first-ever EMEA User Group Leaders Summit.
For the first time, community leaders from across our region could meet in such numbers without having to cross the Atlantic to do so.
And it wasn’t just another networking event.
It was a day full of conversations, shared experiences, learning, and new connections. We brought together first-time User Group Leaders and seasoned veterans, people running communities of different sizes and facing very different challenges.
Yet we all shared something: the passion for bringing people together.
There were discussions about community building, program updates, exchanging best practices, and, most importantly, getting to know the people behind the groups we usually hear about from afar.
It was a milestone for our community, and I hope it was just the beginning.
If you’d like to get a more detailed perspective on the event from an attendee’s point of view, check out Hennie Francis’s recap.
But the story doesn’t end in Budapest.
Korea: Discovering that we’re more alike than different
I was fortunate enough not only to attend the EMEA summit but also to join the AWSKRUG User Group Leaders Summit 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.
And what an experience that was!
Held on October 24 at D.Camp in Seolleung, the event brought together 31 attendees from across the Korean AWS community.
The format was a little different, but the purpose was the same: bringing the people behind the communities together.
The day started with an introduction to AWSKRUG and its activities, followed by an update from Maria Encinar on the Global User Group program. We also got to hear about the Korean ecosystem, including student activities, individual study groups, and the wider community’s achievements throughout the year.
One particularly interesting aspect was learning how Korean User Groups organize and manage their activities centrally, and how supportive the different groups are of one another.
It was fascinating to see how a community ecosystem can develop in a different country and culture.
But perhaps the biggest takeaway wasn’t the differences.
It was the similarities.
Despite being on opposite sides of the world, we face many of the same challenges. Recruiting volunteers, keeping members engaged, finding speakers, organizing events, and making sure our communities remain welcoming and sustainable.
These are universal challenges for anyone who has ever tried to build a community.
We also had the opportunity to share experiences from other regions. I had the chance to present The Community Flywheel and highlight how AWS User Groups across Europe are driving community growth through their local activities, initiatives, and collaborations, while Raphael Quisumbing, AWS Hero and long-time co-leader of the AWS Philippines User Group, shared his experience from the Philippines.
The day included an icebreaker, quizzes, a fireside chat, brainstorming sessions, networking, and even recorded interviews with the leaders.
And, of course, no great community event is complete without spending time together over food!
What struck me most was how different the conversations were from the ones we usually have at re:Invent. There, everyone is rushing between sessions, meetings, announcements, and activities. At a dedicated User Group Leaders Summit, you finally have the time to sit down, exchange experiences, ask questions, and discuss the challenges that really matter.
That’s something special.
Why these summits matter
You might wonder why we need dedicated events for User Group Leaders in the first place.
After all, aren’t we already meeting at re:Invent? Can’t we just exchange ideas online?
Well, I think these two summits demonstrated exactly why we need them.
Running a User Group means being deeply involved in your local community. You work closely with your co-organizers, members, and speakers, and over time, you develop your own ways of doing things.
But it’s easy to get caught up in your local bubble.
You don’t always know how other communities operate, what challenges they face, or what creative ideas they’re experimenting with elsewhere. You might have found a great solution to a problem that another User Group is still struggling with. Or perhaps another community has developed an approach that you never would have considered.
And that’s exactly why these summits matter.
They give us the opportunity to step outside our local bubbles, exchange experiences, discover new approaches, and learn from people who share the same passion but may have completely different perspectives.
They also remind us that we’re not isolated local communities. We’re part of a much bigger global ecosystem, and we can learn so much from one another.
Sometimes, all it takes is one conversation to spark an idea that can make a difference back home.
Looking ahead: 2026 was just the beginning
One thing I hope is that these summits won’t be a one-time opportunity.
The EMEA and Korean gatherings showed two different ways of bringing User Group Leaders together, but they shared the same underlying idea: the people who build communities deserve a community of their own.
AWS has taken an important step in recognizing this, and I hope we can build on that momentum.
Because at the end of the day, AWS communities aren’t just about technology, presentations, or cloud services.
They’re about people.
And sometimes, the best thing you can do for a community is bring its leaders together.
2026 User Groups Summits
Here are the two summits I was fortunate enough to be part of this year:
- EMEA – Budapest, Hungary: The first EMEA User Group Leaders Summit, held following AWS Community Day CEE, bringing together 45 community leaders.
- Korea – Seoul, South Korea: AWSKRUG Summit 2026, held on October 24 at D.Camp, bringing together 31 members of the Korean AWS community.
Here’s to more opportunities to connect, learn, and build stronger communities together!