What is a Talk Level?

If you go to an event, you will often see Level 100, Level 200, Level 300, or Level 400 written next to a session title and abstract. These are classifiers that inform the audience of the technical level that the speaker has assigned to the content. They are there to help an audience member choose the right session for them and their technical level.

I have met many people who have never noticed the level before or don’t understand what it means.

Before I joined AWS, someone was smart enough to write down what these levels mean in an AWS context. We publish them on the event websites along with the schedule, and I have also repeated them below in case you have never seen them before:

If you see a level next to a session or workshop at an AWS event, this is what we mean by it:

Foundational (100)

This content introduces the audience to AWS services or features, with an assumption of zero or minimal AWS knowledge. Authors explain basic use cases, functionality, and benefits, and offer resources to get started.

Intermediate (200)

This content focuses on providing an overview of AWS services or features, with the assumption that the audience has a working knowledge of the topic. Authors highlight common use cases, using multiple services or features, functionality, and benefits.

Advanced (300)

This content dives deeper into the selected topic. Authors assume that the audience has familiarity with the topic but may not have direct experience implementing a similar solution. Code may be shared, but this is not the primary focus of the content.

Expert (400)

This content is for an audience that is deeply familiar with the topic, has implemented similar solutions already, and is comfortable with how the technology works across multiple services, architectures, and implementations. Authors dive into code, cover advanced tricks, and explore future developments in the technology.