If you’re interested in working for Amazon.com in Asia (in most cases, based in the beautiful city of Singapore), check out the open positions we have: Amazon Web Services, Singapore and Asia Pacific.
As you can see, there are many: some technical ones, such as Solutions Architects or Data Center experts, or some sales-related ones, such as Regional Sales Manager, Account Manager, or ISV/SI Sales Manager. Most of them are related to a specific market in Asia, being India, Australia, China, Korea, Singapore, or other ASEAN Countries.

If you find a job opening that fits your profile, you can either:
1) Apply directly for the job; OR
2) Contact me, and we can briefly discuss it (simone at amazon dot com)

Please remember that I cannot discuss internal details, e.g. how the selection process works, and such. However, I can take a look at your profile, and help you determine if you are a good fit for the job.
You might also want to take a look at these blog posts:
How I got hired by Amazon.com;
The official Amazon Web Services blog;
This nice presentation: Introduction to Cloud Computing and Amazon Web Services, plus demo (remember to download the PPT to read the notes); also, if you like it, please share it on Facebook and Twitter, I’d appreciate that :)

Do you have a dream?
Do you want to start your company, but need some help?
Are you ready to work hard, nurture your idea, ship it, and be successful?

One way to do it is just by starting your own company.
There are also easier, more effective ways to increase the chances that your company will be successful.
For example, doing it with the Founder Institute.

This is how it works:
1) You join the program
2) You pay an initial fee
3) For a few months (a semester) you’ll share the experience of thinking about your company, your product, your idea, with other wannabe entrepreneurs.
4) After only a few weeks, you’ll have to incorporate that company.
5) During the semester, you’ll enjoy the help of world class mentors (I’m not talking about myself here), legal help, etc.
6) In exchange, the Founder Institute, and the mentors, will acquire a small equity in your company.

What are the main benefits of going with the Founder Institute?

The Founder Institute strives to increase the quality of starting a technology company, while reducing the cost from over $20,000 in the first year to as little as $2,000, also thanks to a great list of partners.

These are the cities where the Founder Institute will be operating in 2011:

United States
Silicon Valley, San Diego, New York, San Francisco, Denver, Boston, Seattle, Houston, Washington DC, Los Angeles

Europe
Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Paris

Asia
Singapore

South America
Santiago, Bogota

So, what are you waiting for? :)

In my case, roughly half of these flights are longer than 4 hours, and involve a noticeable, but not huge, difference in time zones. In fact, since I live in Singapore, most long flights go “vertically” south to north or vice versa, and not “horizontally”. India is usually two and a half hours behind Singapore. Hong Kong is on the same Time Zone. Australia might be up to three hours of difference, and so on.
But why I mention this?

It seems that Jet Lag may cause stupidity. Part of the article says that:
Jet lag poses a serious health threat, said study coauthor Erin Gibson of the University of California, Berkeley. Studies have shown that people with work schedules that require them to frequently change their sleep patterns have higher rates of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer.

I’m a little worried.
Flying around is easier than ever, and airports and planes are much more comfortable than they were ten or twenty years ago.
I always fly economy class, and never business class, with only two notable exceptions in my entire career. I think that the level of discomfort that you can experience on a long flight, sitting in economy class, might increase the negative effects of jet lags, or an unpredictable food regime, and things like that.

What’s the solution? There are many, at least to mitigate the problem. I’m not a Doctor or an expert in medicine, but I think that the following makes a lot of sense:
1) Tune up your food regime: in my case, I decided to turn vegetarian, after reading some books on the matter, and especially liking Dan Ornish’s The Spectrum.
2) Try to exercise at least two, three times a week.
3) Avoid flight food as much as you can or, if allowed, take fruit or vegetables only. (the quality of airline food is usually poor, with a few exceptions such as Singapore Airlines). When you eat, eat slowly, enjoy every single bite.
4) Rest, long enough. Don’t pack your days with too many meetings and calls, otherwise you’ll end up being poorly effective, and seriously stressed.
5) Meditate, if you know how to do it, it’s great to reduce tension even if done for only 15 minutes a day. Easy to do during flight. Music can help concentrate.
6) Reserve some nice time for you: this means, try to do things that you like and make you happy. I enjoy great espresso coffee whenever I can, because I love it. I take photographs. I talk with strangers. I occasionally play Sudoku on my phone for a few minutes a day, or chess. I read interesting books.
7) If possible, avoid checking email on your mobile every five minutes, at least during meals. Your productivity isn’t affected that much, but your stress level goes down if you silence the phone for at least twenty minutes. This should be the rule even if you don’t travel.
8) If you can, fly business class on long flights. Your blood circulation, and sleep quality, will thank you.

Well, that basically what I can say.
When I adhere to these rules, they work superbly. That’s what I suggest to people when they ask me how can I cope with the amount of travel I do.

Here’s my schedule:
May 10th: Perth
May 11th-15th: Melbourne
May 15th-18th: Gold Coast
May 18th-21st: Melbourne
May 21st-28th: Sydney

I’m busy on most days, but I’d be happy to meet with you if you’re around.
If so, please email me at this address: simoneb at am__a__zon dot com (remove _ ), and we’ll arrange a meeting!

Thanks :)

I’ll break all records, doing:
3 talks;
2 keynotes;
1 workshop.

Here some examples of my slides:
One.
Two.
Comments are appreciated.

The workshop is very technical, but I’ll do a demo and I doubt I’ll use slides. So… You can’t watch it :)

In the next few days my blog activity will go down to zero, at most. I hope you’ll use this chance to look at some of my older posts.
Maybe you have better things to do, but I think it’s worth a try.
I don’t want to give you any hint… Just randomly look.

Or, if you read italian, check out my italian blog.

I wish you a great week!
Mine started well from the beginning ;-)