Why attend?
Imagine what’s possible tomorrow, today.
Your roadmap to innovation
With more than 20 breakout sessions featuring customer and partner stories highlighting real world solutions and transformative strategies, Imagine allows you to envision what’s possible for your organization.
Explore three tracks:
- Future-proof your organization: driving efficiency through modernization
- Create a thriving community: improving the student and constituent experience through innovation
- Meet your mission: aligning people, processes, and technology to maximize your impact
Connect and collaborate
The e.Republic expo is the hub of Imagine - a space to connect, create, and envision what AWS and AWS partners can help your organization bring to life. Explore how organizations like yours are working with partners to revolutionize constituent and student services for education and state and local government. Dive deeper with hands-on-demos, explore cutting edge tech, and connect with industry leaders.
Envision what’s possible together
On the 2024 Imagine keynote stage, Kim Majerus, Vice President of Global Education and US State and Local Government, invited the audience to think big, together. With nearly 1,000 leaders in attendance, her message was clear: Learn and Be Curious. Imagine is more than a conference—it is a blueprint for the future. Discover how to unleash AI's endless opportunities, leverage Amazon Q and Amazon Bedrock, and accelerate innovation with data-driven insights. You are invited to do more than just dream, but rather to imagine what's possible as you write your next chapter. Transform potential into reality.
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Innovation IRL
Bring what you learn on the main stage to life with hands-on, interactive demos with experts you won’t meet anywhere else. Think outside of what you’re doing today. How can AI-powered chat bots enhance constituent experience with improved, self-service access to information? When AI can extract, classify, and process data from documents, automating processes that traditionally rely on paper forms and records- what efficiencies will that allow your agency to explore? How can you utilize Amazon Sagemaker Canvas to predict student performance without writing any code? With a Grant Generator that creates a comprehensive outline that can be modified with ease, what resources does that free up for your educational institution? Dive in, look ahead.
Keynote Speakers
LeVar Burton
Actor, presenter, director, author and podcaster
Kim Majerus
VP, Global Education, US State, and Local Government, AWS
Sec. David Casey
Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR)
Ben Maddox
Chief Information Officer, Cornell University
Kimberley Williams
Director of Strategic Engagement and Innovation, AWS
Zach Pendleton
Chief Architect, Engineering, Instructure
Ray Kaminski
Vice President of Cloud, CentralSquare Technologies
D. Chen
Product Lead, Anthropic
Past agenda
Agenda at a glance
Overview
Imagine will take place over one and a half days, Tuesday, July 29th and Wednesday, July 30th. We encourage attendees to arrive in Chicago on Monday, July 28th.
Tuesday, July 29
8:00AM - 9:00AM CST: Registration, breakfast, expo
9:00AM - 11:00AM CST: Breakout sessions
11:15AM - 12:30PM CST: Keynote
12:30PM - 1:30PM CST: Lunch, networking
1:30PM - 4:30PM CST: Breakout sessions
4:30PM - 5:30PM CST: Day one reception
Wednesday, July 30
8:00AM - 9:00AM CST: Registration, breakfast, expo
9:00AM - 12:00PM CST: Breakout sessions
12:00PM CST: Main conference programming close, expo close
Agenda is subject to change.
Event venue
Step into the legendary Hilton Chicago, a landmark of architectural marvel since 1927. Once the world's largest hotel, this historic venue has witnessed nearly a century of transformation—much like the technological evolution we'll explore at Imagine. When first opened, the Hilton Chicago boasted 3,000 guest rooms, a 27 chair barber shop, an on-site pharmacy, a candy shop, a five-lane bowling alley, a 1,200-Seat Movie theater, and an 18-Hole Rooftop Miniature Golf Course. Today, this iconic venue continues to be a backdrop for groundbreaking conversations, now hosting AWS leaders and innovators who are reshaping technology's future.
Parking
Parking is available at the hotel for $70/day in the self-park garage. Valet parking is unavailable. Explore nearby parking at SpotHero.
Page topics
FAQs
Open allWho should attend?
Imagine for education, state, and local government is designed for leaders who are eager to learn how they can better achieve their institution or organizational mission, improve the efficiency and operations of their organization, and be inspired by the “art of the possible” through cloud technology. Technical cloud experience is not required, and there will be content offerings ranging from introductory to advanced. The event is not intended for builders looking to dive deeper with the technical- We encourage developers, engineers, architects and other end users to attend other AWS events or explore our Learning Days series tailored for an education, state, and local government audience.
Please register with your .org, .edu, or .gov email address, as the event is tailored for the public sector audience.
Is there a virtual component?
No, lmagine takes place in-person and will not be live streamed. Some sessions will be recorded and available on-demand post-event.
Is there a cost to attend?
No, the event is no-cost.
How do I update, change, or cancel my registration?
To change or cancel your registration, email aws-imagine@amazon.com
Is there a room block available for this event?
The room block for this event is sold out but you can review nearby hotel recommendations.
What accessible services will be available?
There will be assistive listening devices available in the keynote, as well as American Sign Language (ASL). Designated accessible seating will be available in the keynote room and all breakouts. Many services can be made available upon advance request. To inquire about any of these services or to request a service you don't see listed, please reach out to aws-imagine@amazon.com.
How can I contact the event organizers?
Please email aws-imagine@amazon.com with any questions.