It All Started with One AWS User Group Meetup
It All Started with One AWS User Group Meetup
On 24 September 2022, I attended my first AWS User Group Pune meetup.
At that time, I was in the 5th semester of my B.Tech. My professor, one of my friends, and I went to the meetup at the Icertis office in Pune. It was the first in-person AWS User Group Pune meetup after the COVID-19 lockdown.
I had no idea that this one meetup would change my career.
A Session I Still Remember
During that event, I had the chance to meet both Vishal Alhat and Dheeraj Choudhary for the first time. Both welcomed me into the fold, and that initial interaction turned into long-term mentorship.
One of the sessions was by Vishal Sir was on AWS Cloud Security. Before that day, I was learning penetration testing and doing bug bounty hunting as a freelancer. I knew very little about cloud computing. The session was easy to understand and very inspiring. That small conversation became the starting point of my cloud journey. I went home, started learning AWS, and slowly became more interested in cloud security every day.
My First AWS Community Day
A few months later, on 10 December 2022, I attended my first AWS Community Day Pune at Hyatt Regency. I had already bought my ticket, but my college scheduled my DBMS end-semester exam on the same day. After finishing my exam, I went straight to the venue. I reached around 3 PM, so I could attend only the last few hours of the event.
Even though I was there for a short time, I loved the experience.
The people were friendly. The energy in the community was amazing.
From Attendee to Volunteer
I kept learning AWS and attending meetups. Over time, I got more chances to learn, help at events, meet amazing people, and give talks.
My journey looked like this:
- AWS User Group Meetup Attendee ( September 2022)
- AWS Community Day Attendee ( December 2022)
- AWS User Group Pune Volunteer (April 2023)
- AWS Cloud Club Captain ( April 2023)
- AWS Community Builder (2025)
- AWS User Group Pune Leader (2026)
Looking Back
Today, when I look back, I feel thankful for saying "yes" to that first meetup.
Over the last three years, I have been able to:
- Volunteer and co-organise 20+ AWS User Group Pune meetups
- Volunteered for 3 and Co-organised 2 AWS Community days : 7th October 2023(ACD Pune), 6th Jan 2024(DevSecOps Edition), 3rd August 2024(Annual Edition), 3rd May 2025(AI/ML Edition), 24th August 2025(Annual Edition)
- Deliver 35+ technical talks across India
- Publish 23 technical blogs
- Meet thousands of people who love learning and sharing knowledge
None of this was planned, it grew naturally from a shared passion for learning and giving back.
Below are pictures from our 2023, 2024, 2025 community days -
AWS Community Day Pune 2023
AWS Community Day Pune 2024 DevSecOps Edition
AWS Community Day Pune 2024 Annual Edition
AWS Community Day Pune 2025 AI/ML Edition
AWS Community Day Pune 2025 Annual Edition
Thank You
I want to thank Vishal Alhat and Dheeraj Choudhary for their guidance and support throughout my journey. Thank you to the AWS Developer Experience team, UG Team, the AWS User Group Pune volunteers, our speakers, sponsors, venue partners, and everyone who has helped build this wonderful community. Importantly, thank you to every person who attends our events. Every meetup starts because people choose to learn together.
If You Are Thinking About Attending Your First Meetup...
Just go. You do not need to know everything about AWS. You do not need any experience. You just need to be curious. Three years ago, I attended my first AWS User Group Pune meetup as a student. Today, I work as Cloud Security Consultant. You never know where your first meetup might take you.
From attending my first AWS User Group Pune meetup to helping organize meetups and AWS Community Days, the journey has been far more than collecting milestones. Every opportunity to volunteer, speak, and contribute has been possible because of a community that believes in sharing knowledge freely.
This journey reflects our motto: For the community, by the community.
Follow AWS User Group Pune and join us at August 2026 meetup-OpenClaw on AWS on 22nd August 2026, 10am: https://www.meetup.com/aws-user-group-pune/events/313517975/
See you all soon,
Thanks and Regards,
Sankalp Sandeep Paranjpe
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sankalp-s-paranjpe/
https://www.instagram.com/sankalp_in_awsverse/
Enjoyed reading this content? Let the author know!
Your likes, comments, shares, and saves help creators reach more builders.
Loading recommendations
Loading article