In the early days of the internet and mobile, the brands and developers who got in early with their big ideas were the ones who hit it big. For example, Mark Cuban—the Dallas Mavericks owner, Shark Tank investor, and self-made entrepreneur—co-founded an online audio streaming company, which he eventually sold to Yahoo! for billions. In a recent conversation we had with Mark Cuban, he emphasized this very point with voice technology. He said, “Now’s the time to learn it. Now is the time to experiment with it. Now is the time to start using it, because you always want to take your risks when there's the least at stake.”

Amazon is constantly inventing new ways for you to take your development skills and voice experiences to the next level. We’re excited to showcase these inventions to developers around the world during Alexa Live, our first online-only conference for developers who want to explore what’s possible with voice. This free online conference will take place May 2, 2019, from 9am-1pm PT.

Whether you’re new to Alexa or an experienced developer, you can learn something new at Alexa Live. There’s content for novice developers looking to get started with voice. There’s also content for professional developers looking to enhance their Alexa skills and scale the impact of voice through monetization. Register now to reserve your spot.

4 tracks, 18 sessions, and 23 speakers

Attendees will hear from the Alexa voice design education team, solution architects, and members of the developer community. The conference will dive deep into four tracks covering core skill-building areas, including:

• Design: Learn how to create focused, natural, and engaging Alexa skills. Sessions will cover building for voice vs. the screen, voice games, personalization, and writing engaging dialogs.
• Tools: Explore the best tools to help you build, deploy, edit, and test Alexa skills. Sessions will cover how to get the most out of the Alexa Developer Console, testing best practices, and more.
• Monetization: Discover how to make money with your Alexa skills and establish a voice business. Sessions will cover technical implementation for in-skill purchasing and offer code deep dives to walk you through how you monetize your skill.
• Multimodal: Learn how to design visually rich voice-first experiences for Alexa-enabled devices with screens. Sessions will show you how to use the Alexa Presentation Language and showcase real-world examples of engaging multimodal skills.

More than 20 speakers will deliver 18 unique sessions across these four tracks, providing technical depth, industry insights, and code deep dives. During the conference, you’ll get to chat with Alexa skill-building experts and get your business and technical questions answered. View the full agenda and register here.

Alexa Live sessions you won’t want to miss

There’s something for everyone at Alexa Live. Here are a few sessions I’m extra excited about and ones you won’t want to miss:

• How to Design Engaging Voice-First Games: Developers are adding voice to their wildest gaming ideas, re-imagining a whole new way to engage players by feeding their curiosity and firing up their imaginations, while making money and even building a business. Hear from Alexa’s Head of Education Paul Cutsinger about the diverse world of Alexa gaming and how to build engaging voice games that players will love. This session is relevant for new to intermediate developers.
• How to Build Your First Great Alexa Skill: Join this walkthrough to learn the fundamentals of creating an engaging Alexa skill. You'll learn design and engineering best practices for creating personal and dynamic skills. This session is relevant for beginners.
• Code Deep Dive on the Alexa Presentation Language (APL): Learn how to create visually rich voice-first games in this technical deep dive of our new sample skill. You'll learn how to leverage APL components to complement your voice experience on Alexa-enabled devices with screens using graphics, images, lists, and more. This session is suitable for developers who have published at least one skill.

Trends shaping the future of voice

Voice is quickly becoming a part of everyday life. But what's driving this shift to voice? And what does it mean for developers and brands trying to capitalize on this shift? Join us for a conversation with Bret Kinsella, Editor and Publisher of Voicebot.ai, for a closer look at the growing voice economy and where it's heading. This session is relevant for attendees at all skill levels.

See the full roster of speakers and sessions here.

Register now for Alexa Live

We can’t wait to see you at Alexa Live. Register to join us on May 2. When you register, you’ll also get access to whitepapers, session recordings, code samples, and case studies to educate and inspire. Register now.