At Amazon, we believe natural user interfaces such as those based on speech represent the next major disruption in computing. Now is a great time for developers, designers, and technology enthusiasts to learn to build engaging experiences for Alexa, Amazon’s voice service and the brains behind millions of devices including Amazon Echo.

Today, we’re excited to announce we’re teaming up with Coding Dojo, a pioneer in the coding-bootcamp space, to train hundreds of Alexa developers in person in the US in 2017. Coding Dojo is bringing Alexa skills workshops to its six locations in the next few months.

Coding Dojo got in early to teach their students how to build Alexa skills. In 2016, the organization hosted several in-person Alexa bootcamps and even created an Alexa video series for Python developers. Coding Dojo’s instructors have been trained by Amazon Alexa experts to teach you how to build for voice with Alexa—no voice-design knowledge required.

Why Should I Learn to Create Alexa Skills?

With these Alexa skills workshops, you’ll gain experience with three services: Amazon’s Alexa Skills Kit, AWS Lambda (part of Amazon Web Services), and the Node.js backend JavaScript framework. Second, once certified, your new skill will be published in the Alexa Skills Store so millions of customers can use it on devices with Alexa.

Find a Workshop Near You

Below are upcoming workshops brought you by Coding Dojo in the next few weeks. Find an event near you, sign up, and go!

Build a Skill, Get a Shirt

The Alexa Skills Kit (ASK) enables developers to build capabilities, called skills, for Alexa. ASK is a collection of self-service APIs, documentation, templates, and code samples that make it fast and easy for anyone to add skills to Alexa.

Developers have built more than 12,000 skills with ASK. Explore the stories behind some of these innovations, then start building your own skill. Once you publish your skill, mark the occasion with a free, limited-edition Alexa dev shirt. Quantities are limited.