# My Experience at the New Relic x AWS Gameday

I had the exciting opportunity to participate in **New Relic’s AWS Gameday** on the 18th of June, 2025. This event was a thrilling and fast-paced competition that gathered a diverse group of individuals, including tech enthusiasts, cloud engineers, and monitoring fanatics. Participants came from various backgrounds and levels of expertise, all eager to test their skills in a challenging environment. The event was designed to simulate real-time operations, providing a hands-on experience using the New Relic observability platform in conjunction with AWS infrastructure. Throughout the day, we engaged in a series of complex scenarios that required quick thinking, strategic planning, and effective collaboration. This immersive experience not only tested our technical abilities but also fostered a sense of community and learning among participants, making it a memorable and enriching experience for everyone involved.

### Challenges

* Identify the vulnerability of the OS with the help of New Relic’s Vulnerability Management: [https://one.newrelic.com/vulnerability-management](https://one.newrelic.com/vulnerability-management)
    
* Create Alert Condition for AJAX Response Time
    
* Optimise Database queries to reduce latency issues
    
* Fix TypeErrors across pages with the error of the Uniflix App
    

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1750273713652/42a37eea-e441-4551-8e80-f5b8a0bb1fd2.png align="center")

### The Power of Teamwork (and Humor)

While we didn’t end up among the top scorers on the leaderboard, we *did* win a different kind of award — **Best Team Name**!

More than the points, though, what made this Gameday unforgettable was the collaboration, quick thinking, and learnings shared along the way. It was a reminder that solving complex problems is just as much about communication and creativity as it is about technical prowess.

### Key Learnings

Here are a few gems I walked away with:

* **New Relic is an incredibly powerful ally** when troubleshooting complex environments. The platform’s observability tools helped us go from blind guesswork to informed decisions.
    
* **Team dynamics matter.** Splitting tasks effectively, asking the right questions, and staying calm under pressure made a huge difference.
    
* **Learning through play is powerful.** Gameday offered a pressure-free space to try, fail, and learn — all in a simulated but realistic environment.