WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Inside Data Center podcast.
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I'm AK.
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And in this podcast, I will interview the people working in the data centre sector and tell their stories.
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If you're working in the D2 sector or you are looking to work in the sector, then this is the podcast for you.
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Welcome to the Inside Data Centre podcast.
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A bit of a different one this week.
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This is a bonus episode.
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I'm thrown in the middle of my normal schedule.
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Hopefully, quite a few of you are listening to this on room to Monaco.
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If you are there, please find me, say hello.
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It'd be great to connect to some of the listeners.
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I recently spoke with Paul Hammer of Uptime Punked about Data Centre Club, which is a group I recently started on LinkedIn.
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I really wanted to create a community that breaks down the barriers, makes it easier for all of us to collaborate, gives everyone the opportunity to learn and to develop, you know, really makes it more of an inclusive sector.
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Because I think, you know, we all know that sometimes this sector is quite difficult to break into.
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And also when you're in it, it's actually quite difficult to identify and speak with the people you want to connect with.
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So the plan is to make that all a lot easier.
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I talk with Paul about why I started the club, what is Data Center Club, what the plans are for the future, where do I think this community can go?
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And most importantly, we cover the rules of Data Center Club.
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The first rule of Data Center Club, hopefully you you all know it, is you must tell everyone about Data Center Club.
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Enjoy the episode.
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Hopefully, I'll see a few of you in Monaco.
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And if you want to join the club, find it on LinkedIn, Data Center Club.
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I'll let you in as long as I'm happy for you to join the club.
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And hopefully we can all connect soon and you know really get this community off the ground.
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So enjoy the episode and I'll catch up with some of you soon.
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All right, everyone.
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We're back for another episode with the Uptime Punks, and I've got Andy Davis back.
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Um, Andy is disrupting the space.
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That's that's something we spoke about last time, how how we can make a lot of noise.
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And um, well, everybody has the knowledge of the fight club, but let's get some knowledge on the data center club.
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Hi Andy, how are you?
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You're all right.
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Good morning.
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Ready to talk fight club slash data center club, as it's now, as it's now known, being rebranded.
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No, no, Brad Pitt, unfortunately.
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You have to uh you have to put up with me.
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Uh yeah, that's that's the thing, isn't it?
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It's like, I mean, um I I think a lot, I think almost every child in the world knows that movie, yeah.
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Um and I I thought it was quite um, I wouldn't say cheeky, but I think it's quite inspirational how you went in there and said, you know what, now we've got a data center club.
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And uh the data center club has rules as well.
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So um I don't know if you should start with the rules, or we should start with what madness got you into the inspiration of starting a data center club.
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So tell me, what what is the data center club all about?
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What's how how did you actually come up with it?
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Because I remember when we first spoke, you said you heard a song in the car.
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Yeah, so there's a number of different ways my uh my brain works in strange ways sometimes, but how I got to data center club.
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So there was the inspiration behind the fact that fight club is nobody talks about fight club, and obviously there's a lot of uh irony within that statement around data centers and how everybody says, you know, we need to attract more people to the sector, we need to tell everyone about it, but then nobody tells anyone about it.
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So kind of there was that element of it, like you know, nobody talks about it.
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It's like it's a bit like Fight Club, and then yeah, and then I was um driving home from work one day, and a song came on.
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I can't even remember the song or anything, but it was called DCC, and it just the acronym basically triggered Data Center Club in my head, and then putting the two together created Data Center Club.
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And I I guess the inspiration, in short, behind the whole thing was I wanted to start a community for a while, and I was I don't know why I wasn't doing it to be honest.
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It's one of those things I wanted to do, but just probably put off a bit too long, and then I just thought, let's just launch it and let's see where it goes.
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And there's obviously ideas behind where we want it to go, but let's get the people together and then let's see, let's create a movement and see where we end up.
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Yeah, um, I I think it's quite it's um it's it's quite good that you're doing it because um last time I mean you both spoke on our podcast.
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We spoke about how the community has just got open and how everybody's like, oh, nobody wants to come into our industry, and uh everything is sort of closed doors, and there you go.
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Month and a half later, you're starting this this club to basically um open up the doors, and um would be would be really interesting to see where this is gonna go because um from my understanding it's open to everyone, anyone can join, or do you have any like restrictions on it?
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Or no, there's rules around it as we'll go into soon, but no, no, no real restrictions.
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The the idea is that it is a community for everybody, and and then within that, we can probably create multiple smaller communities that would would help each other.
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But yeah, no, the idea behind it is that it's a platform or a community where people can ask for help, people can support each other, people can collaborate, we can all develop, etc.
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So if you're gonna create a community like that, then you can't really put restrictions on who joins.
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It's the the challenge will be as it grows, the scale of it and how we can maintain a community feel.
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But with, you know, we're already at a thousand members or over a thousand members today, and it's only been open, I think two weeks maybe.
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But we're gonna scale it quite quickly, I think, just out of people wanting it.
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So then we're gonna have to look at it and think, right, okay, how do we create micro communities within this big community so everyone's still getting the value?
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I think that'll be the challenge long term.
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Yeah, I think I think it's um I think it's quite nice because, like you say, microcommunities, because sort of everybody has a different aspect when they come into the data center realm, I would say, because people look at different things.
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You will have the operators, obviously, you will have the vendors, then you will have also the thought leadership behind it, people who want to maybe implement more of sustainability, more of diversity, um, creating a platform for young talent to be involved as well.
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So it's like really it's an endless thing.
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Um, so what are what are the rules, the rules of the data center club?
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Well, the first rule of the data center club is you have to tell everyone about data center club.
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So again, that that rule comes from, you know, I just find it hilarious the amount of conversations I have about with people saying that you know we do we need to attract more people, but then they don't really talk about what they do.
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So that was the first rule, you know, tell everyone about the club, let's create a bit of momentum behind it, get everybody involved.
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And obviously, once we, you know, when we've got community, I know we can we can really do whatever we want.
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So the first rule is just tell everyone about it and and invite everybody to join.
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You know, let's let's really push it and and get as many people involved as we can.
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And and and what is the the second rule of the data center club?
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The second rule of the data center club is you must be open to collaborate because another another element that I find um I guess amusing in the sector is that you know, when I interview people, we're in that privileged position like you are, where we get to speak to so many people in the sector, they all say, Oh, yeah, we need to collaborate to solve this challenge, we need to collaborate to solve that, and we can't do that without collaboration, but then there is no collaboration or there's limited collaboration.
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So I only really want people, and I think every the majority of people are, but we only really want people in the club that will collaborate and will help each other because we don't want that, we want to kind of remove the barriers and not have that competition.
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So you've you've got to be open to collaborate with others to basically help each other and develop, and you don't have to collaborate with everybody, but you've got to be open to the to the idea.
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So basically, it's quite similar to like the open source community, right?
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Where you basically share knowledge and try to achieve well goals together.
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Um exactly, yeah.
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And I've and and people have come in and asked already, you know, people have asking questions about you know how can I obtain these qualifications or where can I find this type of information?
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And people are sharing it.
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And again, it's like a lot of the information is out there.
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But people ask me for information on I don't know, do you know who's building this data center or do you know what's happening in this territory?
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And the information is out there, it's it's it's active, it's live, you know, it's visible, but people don't share it.
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So it's more if you if you really want something and you and you need something to help you develop, ask a question and someone will find it for you.
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And that in itself will create a lot of change because the secrecy behind a lot of the information will be will be taken away.
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Obviously, elements of it we can't share, and we know that, and nobody can share that anyway, because it's not public, but anything that's public, yeah, let's share it.
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Yeah, that's that's um well, it's all what a community is about, isn't it?
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Because otherwise it just gets very vendor-heavy, and vendors just want to speak to operators, and then sort of you're back into private meeting rooms and nobody actually knows what's going on.
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Um, that's sort of what that point of yeah, and that and that comes on to rule number three, which is you must not advertise your product or services.
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Because another point of you know the community is that it's not a platform for people to you know gain, really.
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It's a it's a platform to create that community.
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Hopefully, it's a byproduct, you know, you'll meet people and you will develop relationships that will help you know, if you're a vendor, it will help you, you know, make deals.
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If you're a I don't know, an operator, it might introduce you to a good consultant or whatever it might be.
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But I don't want anybody coming on there and saying, you know, do you want this UPS kit or you know, do you do you can do you want to meet with me next week?
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I'm in London and you know, I'd love I'd love to show you our new technology that I'm not interested in that because again, it's it takes away the community element of it.
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And I think one of the frustrations people have with platforms like LinkedIn and the like is that it becomes too advertising.
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And if you um if you look at some of the other groups that are out there on on LinkedIn and other platforms, there's no activity in them anymore because all it is is just advert after advert after advert after advert.
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Well, that's quite true because um, I mean, me coming myself from the event space, I mean, um, there's a lot of, yeah, like you said, communities.
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We don't need to name people uh or communities, whatever it is, but it becomes quite vendor-heavy, and they obviously charge fees for the vendors to actually get um entry to it, and then vendors just start offloading all the information and all the kits and everything they have, and then um the operators are not really interested because I I think from an operator perspective, you know exactly what you want, anyways, from the beginning.
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Um, so I think that the way you're going about it is probably the nicer way of doing it because if you can actually facilitate and actually consult with a question that's genuine within the chat, the conversation about your products are gonna come up at some point, anyways.
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Um, and that's normally actually the well, it's a better sales approach, even for the salespeople, because if you can actually help a client rather than be like, my UPS system is better because I do 1.5% less.
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Uh I don't know what.
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Um I'm not an expert in it, sorry, guys out there.
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But it's like I I think it's a nicer and a more organic way of approaching people and communicating and talking to them about it.
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Um, so I think you really hit the nail on the coffin with that one there, because it's like that's what makes the difference here, because um we have all these other communities and they're just basically um luring in the operators.
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Um it's like you can almost see them like uh like a hunting ground, right?
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So you put you put all the ducks there, and then you say, Okay, operators, uh first shot go to the person that pays the most money, and then we became uh yes, that's that's basically how other communities operate, and that's I think that's the major difference here with the data center clubs.
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Yeah, and it and it is a lot of my inspiration.
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Well, always comes from conversations with other people, and obviously I talk to a lot of people about these clubs and about these events and everything, and they all say kind of we need to shake things up, we need to change it, we need to there needs to be value for the people attending and for the people in the communities.
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And I just personally don't feel, and I know that other people feel the same, that they're actually getting a lot of value for what they're doing and what they're investing.
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Um, you know, I don't have any intention of making this a club with any cost whatsoever.
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You know, I hope the community can kind of look after itself.
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If we do anything that has a cost, we'll obviously ask the community to contribute or maybe we'll get sponsors, I don't know.
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But we don't want it to be a membership club.
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And you know, I feel that actually you can solve a lot of these challenges yourselves within within your networks, but not everybody has a network and it is trying to create that network where if you actually need something, you can probably find it out a lot quicker.
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And also you don't need to necessarily be a member of a club because you've got that network where you can actually obtain what you want already.
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So it's it's going to be interesting as it grows, like how how big it gets.
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And obviously, we're not looking to you know take over any of these existing clubs or members, but we are you know, I'm quite open about it.
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I want to disrupt the sector, it's like that's what I'm here for.
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So yeah, it might annoy a few people, I'm sure, I'm sure it will along the way.
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And obviously, there's a lot of irony in in what I do and and how I speak, but you know, it's if you don't I I read a post earlier about um Netflix and uh Blockbuster.
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Okay.
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How you know Blockbuster turned down Netflix because Netflix needed money, blockbuster turned them down because they they didn't what see the the base of the opportunity around online streaming.
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And I think the the founder of Netflix says something along the lines like the the moral is that you need to disrupt or you get disrupted.
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And I think that's the sector in a nutshell.
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Well, that's um, I think sometimes for progress, you just need to disrupt, and um, I think it's it's it's really important.
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It's like I mean, the pandemic was a disruption of society in general, right?
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A lot of things changed.
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I mean, me running events, events, how they run, how they operate, everything has changed.
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People realize it's not just about the exhibitors there, it's also the content you provide.
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It needs to be an experience for people, and I think it's the same with you're trying to do.
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So I'm not gonna be able to get one of these cool shirts, like data center club shirt, or like a cap, or like but there will be merch, but I'm uh there will be merch.
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Okay, watch out.
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I'm still work, I'm still working on the merch.
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I'm gonna order some stickers and plaster them around everywhere so that everyone knows who they are.
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But I'm gonna put them in Monaco next week or the week after when I'm there.
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But there's two more rules as well, so I'll just quickly cover it.
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I asked the community what they would like the rules to be, um, if anyone had any ideas.
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And and the next two, so I started with three rules, just simple, solid, you know, but yeah, how many do we need?
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Rule four is everyone is equal.
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I think a few a few people came back on that in a lot of clubs and you know, communities, as as administrators that kind of rule it and dictate what happens and what the conversations are.
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This is an open platform, like you said, you know, it's it's like open source, it is there.
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You know, if you've got a question, you can ask it.
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The only limitations will be along the rules, you're not advertising, basically.
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Um, and then there's no such thing as a stupid question, rule five, because another challenge that people have is that they feel that in a lot of these communities and and um groups and platforms that they can't actually ask the questions because they feel that somebody will say, Well, that's a stupid question.
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So there is no stupid question.
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If anyone does say it's a stupid question, I'll I'll kick them out of the club.
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Well, that makes sense.
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I mean, it's I I think it's a general rule for life.
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There's no stupid questions.
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If you don't know 100%, I don't know.
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I mean, um, we're not experts in this field, are we?
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So I'm I sometimes probably ask questions, people just go like, Come on, how come you don't know this?
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But you how would you know?
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Um, because that's exactly how I feel as well.
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I totally agree with you.
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When you're interviewing people that and when we've talked about this before, when you're interviewing people that are very technical and you're not technical, you have to ask questions because you simply don't understand.
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So yeah, you're asking the question.
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I like to think you ask the questions that the listeners are thinking, which is probably you know the same for you.
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And that's how I see the club.
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You know, if somebody wants some advice that they've just started in the sector and it's a real basic question, you they should feel confident to be able to ask it.
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If someone wants career advice, they should be confident to ask it.
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And then you probably get also some people that ask some very technical questions, and hopefully, we can kind of have enough people within the club that can answer all the different levels of questions, and that you know that would be great.
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And say it's already we're already seeing it where people are asking and uh and getting the right responses, so it's it's going well so far.
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So so what kind of like positive responses have you got so far from people, or what kind of engagement are they offering to help out, or where do they see it going?
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Or and do you have some people who are trying to already um benefit out of the club being there?
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I've had a lot of messages for people saying, thanks for doing it, you know, really need it.
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It's a great, it's a great idea, great, you know, what what where do you want to take it?
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And a lot of people have asked to meet to discuss, you know, what we can do with it.
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And I think I I do 100% see it as being a collective, a community, but it, you know, it needs to be the right people with the right mindset that that can help me take it forward because I don't want it to become something that I don't want it to become, if that makes sense.
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So there's a couple of people that I know really well that have already said, you know, I'll I'll help you push it, I'll help you promote it.
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And as we grow, we can definitely bring more people into it, but I just totally want it to be community run, community led, so that we don't lose that element.
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So, where do you see the club in in two years?
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12 months from now, where would you like it to be?
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If you go to Monaco in 24.
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Is it gonna be in is it gonna be in Monaco 24?
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That's the question.
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That's oh that's a festival question.
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But um, if 24, wherever the event is going to be, um how how would you in what kind of position would you like to see the club?
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:41.519
Well, I'd love to see over the next sort of six to twelve months is that it obviously continues to grow, it evolves, but we also start, we also start to look at those micro communities.
00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.400
So do we have a young person's data center club?
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:49.920
Do we have uh you know regional data center clubs like USA, you know, APAC, wherever it might be.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:57.119
I'd like I'd love it to get to a point where there is that much buy-in that people are using the platform to take it forward.
00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:17.920
Um, I do want to do like we've talked about, like physical events, whether that is in partner in partnership with people, or whether that's you know, it could be just a small meetup, it doesn't have to be an actual event, but I want it to be so that I see it like somebody puts a post on in the group today and says, Oh, I'm in London on Wednesday, you know.
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.519
Does anyone want to meet up for a drink?
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:23.759
And there's a constant like people getting together and bringing people together.
00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:34.000
It doesn't have to become a major, major organization, just it becomes a real fluid, self-managed community, is where I'd like it to be.
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:45.440
So when you speak about this the sub-communities, well, you mentioned young talent, which which other sub-communities would you like to see actually as a founder of the data center club?
00:19:46.720 --> 00:20:05.839
I think uh my view on it is anywhere where people feel there is a need, you know, you see a lot like I see a lot of in a lot of these groups you have women in, you know, women in, but you know, uh do women want that, or is that created because the group feels they need it?
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:11.119
You know, we're all the same, you know, I'm big believer, I've got three girls myself, three children.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.359
So women are no they're no different.
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:20.559
They don't need do they need a set, do they need a separate group, or do they just need to be more involved and ingrained into the actual collective communities?
00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.759
And and it's the same for any demographics when you look at it.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.240
The way I see it definitely going from a mini community is young people 100%.
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.519
It's a big, you know, you're passionate about it, it's a big passion of mine.
00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.200
Um, and regional.
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:50.880
I think you know, if you can create subgroups off the back of it, you know, whether that is multiple in Europe, multiple in the USA, where again there was a chat on there yesterday or the other day about two people in America and they they found out they live literally up the road from each other and they're going to meet up for lunch.
00:20:51.039 --> 00:21:01.759
So if you could create little communities, you know, like London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, wherever it might be, where people are just constantly in communication and meeting up.
00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.319
I think that would be great if we can get to that point.
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.519
You know, I don't I'm happy to start these things, you know.
00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:14.319
I'm not I'm not looking at being uh an overriding uh lord sat at the top somewhere watching everybody.
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:17.680
Exactly.
00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:18.400
That's it.
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:25.279
It it it becomes a bit, you know, like I do want it to be equal, and I think that's really important as well.
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:29.119
You know, I'd love to be going to these places and meeting up with people that are in the club.
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.680
And we're already put a post up the other day about Monaco saying, you know, who's going to Monaco?
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.160
Let's meet up.
00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:38.160
And there's probably about 30 or 40 comments on it now of people meeting.
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.680
And oh, it's incredible.
00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:43.200
There's a massive neat like desire for this.
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:43.920
That's the key.
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:51.920
And the desire is for that community to to bash down the barriers of the other communities that they're not that people aren't allowed in for whatever reason.
00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.839
Yeah, which is it's I mean, this is one of the things you see.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:57.759
I mean, if you look at the Monaco event, right?
00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759
I mean, it's a great event organizer, nothing.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.440
Against court group and everything.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.599
But I think the community itself that attends the event makes it a very exclusive.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.440
Um, if you don't know somebody, you're not gonna get in.
00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:17.279
Um, so that means if you're uh let's call it a freshy somebody green behind the ears entering the industry, you're basically sitting on the road.
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:23.359
I mean, yeah, you've got to go to the conference and listen to it, but then the rest of the day you don't see anybody because people are just behind closed doors.
00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:34.799
Yeah, and I also think that from the conversations I've had, and I'm sure you've had the same, that those people that are not within that collective actually are are afraid and fearful of going into it.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.039
They don't feel the confidence to go into it.
00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.480
And that's what a lot of people say to me.
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.359
They're like, thanks for saying that, because I wish I'd said that.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:49.839
And I I've and again, we've talked about it before, you know, as I see it as a in the middle, in the middle a little bit, you know, I'm not affiliated to any of these companies.
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:55.440
I've got my own company, it's yeah, there's no affiliation to me to any of the operators, suppliers, anything.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:01.839
So I can say things that probably other people can't because they're employed by some of the companies within it.
00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.920
But you've just got to, I think we've just got to make it.
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.640
If we we're gonna grow, we know that the sector's gonna grow.
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:24.880
We have to make it more open, generally, if we're gonna grow in in a I guess in a managed way, because otherwise we're gonna hit a wall where we can't grow anymore because there's no people, and you know, no one wants to join it, no one knows about it.
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:36.079
And and I think there's simple steps we can take to do that, and and kind of opening the doors or knocking down the barriers or whatever it is you want to call it is the first step of that on that journey.
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:41.119
And hopefully, there's a lot of us doing work within this, yourself included.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:46.799
You know, we can do that as a we can do that as a collective, but I see it as we're doing that for those people.
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.200
That's the way I look at it, not doing it for myself.
00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:56.000
Yeah, that's that's the thing because some people are not allowed to talk or they can't talk because of restrictions from the media, PR departments, whatever it is.
00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:58.799
Obviously, to speak to us without the microphones being on.
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:07.200
So we do know what's going on in the community, and we've sort of become like, okay, I wouldn't say we can't point fingers either, but we sort of know what's going on.
00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:28.400
Uh what I think is well, I think what a community can really help out is like with countries who are less developed, um, really getting into the data center market in an industry, and like data centers are being built as like mad and funding is a problem, or whatever it is, and finding the right talent down there or across the globe.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:42.240
Or and I I feel like this is where a community like this could really like become quite handy because I would love to see how, like you said, technical questions, but I would love to see how problems are being solved within the community on the platform.
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:47.599
Like, hey, we're I don't know, XY location and we're facing this problem.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:50.319
How would you how did you guys solve it in the US?
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.759
Or how did you solve it in Germany?
00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:54.960
And then you boom, you created something, right?
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:56.240
Yeah, exactly.
00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.359
And I've um, and I'm sure you have I've introduced loads of people together, like with conversations like that.
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:07.279
A lot of it off the back of whether it's off the pod or my day job, it's you know, like, oh Andy, I've really struggling with this at the moment.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:12.880
And I might have spoken to someone last month who actually said oh that they were solving it, and I'm like, Oh, let me introduce you to this person.
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:14.720
They they've been through that, they can help you.
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:20.160
And again, it's in my head, it's just madness that that doesn't already happen.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.920
And you know, um, mentors is another point that comes up quite a lot.
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.680
Oh, people saying, Andy, I'd love a mentor, but I've I struggle to find one.
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.240
I just think how how can it be so hard to find one?
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:42.880
Because everyone on my podcast says I'd love to mentor people, but but why it's a challenge is because there's nowhere for them to actually make that public and say I'd love to mentor people, or they they're just saying it and they don't actually mean it.
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.880
But I think most people do mean it.
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:54.240
So again, it's like if I can create that platform where you can ask for a mentor and there's however many thousands of people in it are at that point, and someone will reach out and go, Yeah, actually, I could really help you with that.
00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:56.799
I'm happy to have a conversation, you're like, brilliant.
00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:58.640
It just helps everybody, doesn't it?
00:25:58.880 --> 00:25:59.759
Well, that's the thing.
00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:17.440
I think also the the problem is the community doesn't really have a place to meet and talk and basically have this interaction because if you look at events, well, well, normally the people that will probably mentor come in as VIP delegates, they have quite busy schedules, they do their keynotes, their panels, and then then these close-up rooms.
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:30.799
While the people that would like to be mentored probably come as attendees to events, uh, they don't really get the chance to basically exchange any kind of words or anything with these people could be their potential mentors.
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.240
So I think, yeah, that's you you're probably also onto something really great there.
00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.160
And it comes back to the untalent.
00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:44.640
I mean, like we said last time, it's like people are complaining there's not enough people coming in, new talent, and then the doors are just closed.
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:48.000
So I think it's really um it's interesting.
00:26:48.400 --> 00:27:00.319
Probably, probably you should team up with some universities even and give talks about the data center club there and get your uh local data center chapter leaders, and then you don't don't call it a chapter, I don't think so.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:02.799
I definitely won't be calling it that.
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:15.759
But no, I'm I've I've done a bit of work at the University Technical College UTC, who've got that obviously program of it, which is a great program for the you know school age at the technical colleges, and I'm going up there in uh at the start of July, I think.
00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:23.599
So, yeah, it's there's loads we can do around you know making it sort of more public, I guess, for the younger generation.
00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:32.400
But again, what I'd love to do is to to get that group of young people and give them the confidence and the capability and open the doors for them to go and talk to those universities.
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:39.920
And I don't again, another thing I talk about quite a lot is if you want to know how to attract young people, ask young people.
00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:46.640
Stop asking people, stop asking people that are coming towards the end of their careers and they don't know, and that's no no offense to them.
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:52.319
I don't, you know, I'm mid-40s and I don't necessarily know a lot about how to attract young people.
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:55.759
But if I want to know, I ask some young people how did you find the sector?
00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:56.960
How did you find your job?
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.480
What do you think we should be doing?
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.240
So if we want people to go to universities to talk, send them.
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:08.160
Don't send us because we're yeah, we're not the right people for that demographic, unfortunately, as much as I'd love to be.
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:20.799
Yeah, no, but also the other thing is I I think um not just in technology industries and many industries, a lot of the people which in leadership roles have actually not studied the same background the young people are studying in universities now.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:28.000
So it's like somebody who's, I don't know, head of a data center division in one of the big companies, they haven't necessarily studied engineering.
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:29.920
They probably come from a coding background.
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:45.200
They have done coding 25 years ago and then just whoop, whoop, grew the way into it, and they just know how a data center looks like because they remember walking into entire complexes uh where a computer was able to run one floppy disk or something, you know.
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:51.680
Um, so yes, it's like they to relate to the young people, that's that's actually I think the biggest challenge.
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.400
And like you said, it needs to be it needs to be a proper generation transfer.
00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:59.200
I think that's probably the the best way to look at it.
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:00.799
Yeah, totally totally.
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:07.759
And also when you think about, you know, we joke about chapter and stuff and things like that, but that doesn't appeal to young people.
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:10.079
Let's be totally, let's be totally honest about it.
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:24.640
You know, a bit of irony around Fight Club does, because you you straight away get that kind of oh, that's quite funny, but also it's called data center club because that's what it is, it's not a secret what it is, it's a data center club.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:26.160
You know, everyone knows what it is.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:34.000
You could argue that I could have spelt it slightly differently to my uh to my American audience and and your yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:41.599
But you know, I did think about putting like a little cross through the RE and then putting ER next to it, but I've I've that might come in the future.
00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:45.759
But yeah, but you know, again, the the premise behind it was call it what it is.
00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:54.160
Yes, and and it's not a cult, so you don't need to uh cut cables when you enter it um and take a picture of a UPS system.
00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:55.839
And exactly.
00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:09.039
But we when we but when we get the merch, don't worry, we will be expecting pictures and but again, like in a in a humorous way to get it on socials to attract people to it, not not for any other reason.
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:23.519
You know, I've got uh I've got some stickers on order, and you know I do intend on sticking them around and just people thinking what's out, I'll probably have the you know French police gendarme after me once they find out once they find out who it is.
00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:30.720
But you know, we we've got to do things a bit differently again to to attract the right people and create that create that community.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:32.480
And it's all it's all about that, isn't it?
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.920
It's like what can we do?
00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:34.960
How can we market it?
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:47.759
How can we pitch it to get a real big broad spectrum of people within it, not just the leaders, not just the products, it's it's everybody, and it's not an easy thing to do from a marketing perspective.
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.519
You know, humour is a great way to attract anyone.
00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.200
So we're going down that route.
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:58.559
Um, is there any particular group you would like to see get more involved at this stage?
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:05.839
No, this stage it's just everybody jump on, you know, let's get involved and then and then let's really push it.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:17.279
Because I think once we get one or two people in kind of the each different region demographics, we can then use them to push and grow it within their region or or whatever it might be.
00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.039
That's how that's how I see it working.
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.519
So now at the moment it's you know, just just join, get involved, introduce yourself.
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:27.440
There's a post on there, you know, when you join, tell everyone who you are.
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:43.519
And and again, let's just try and connect some people, join the dots a little bit, and then look again in probably say two to three months, and then let's see where we are then, and then maybe we can then start to look at splitting it off a little bit and targeting certain people.
00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:49.759
Yeah, so we definitely will catch up in a couple of months again on a podcast and see where you got to and how it's going.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.319
Um, so yeah, at this point, I wish you good luck in uh Monaco.
00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.920
Um, enjoy putting your stickers up, not getting arrested.
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:00.240
Wish me luck.
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:01.599
I'll put them on my suitcase.
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:04.400
You should put one on an airplane already, flying out.
00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:07.039
Don't worry, I've got I've got a few ideas.
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:13.440
It's just what it's we as I said to somebody the other day, it's uh I have my ideas and then I have what I can get away with.
00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:15.119
They're normally two different things.
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.079
So it's like it's like finding it's like finding uh Wally to find the Data Center Club sticker.
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:21.119
Exactly.
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.039
Yeah, let's take a picture when you find one.
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:36.799
And if and if anyone wants to join, obviously it's data center club on LinkedIn, it's a group, you know, just search Data Center Club or look at my profile, there's loads of posts on it, and just you know I put the link as well in the Spotify and um wherever you guys are listening from.
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:37.359
I don't know it.
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.480
I mean it's there's so many different platforms, but the link will be there.
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.720
Put the link as well on the LinkedIn post.
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:50.960
But yeah, um, you guys try to join the movement, and um as you know that uh Andy and myself are very passionate about um making lots of noise.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:57.119
We're not always um maybe well, we're friendly guys, but we just say how it is.
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:00.480
Um, it's a very reflex wide and blunt approach.
00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:14.240
Again, like I said earlier, I I I like to think that you know, yourself included, that there's certain people in the sector that say what other people want to say, and sometimes some people don't appreciate it, I guess, but the majority do.
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:15.440
So that's the way I look at it.
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.440
We're we're doing the we're doing the right thing.
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:24.400
We're not uh we're not deliberately annoying anybody, but we're saying we're asking questions that need to be asked.
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.039
We poke the bear, let's put it like that.
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:28.640
We'll leave it there.
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:29.920
Yeah, we leave it there.
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.279
All right, thank you, Andy.
00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:35.279
It was an absolute pleasure having you on, and good luck with the data center club and for everyone.
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:42.880
Um, links will be in the bio and everything, so join and then um yeah, all best of luck, Andy, and uh don't get invited.
00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:45.839
Try not to and thanks for the support.
00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:47.200
No, it's just
00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:18.960
Welcome to the Inside Data Center podcast.
00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:19.839
I'm AK.
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:24.879
And in this podcast, I will interview the people working in the data centre sector and tell their stories.
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:30.960
If you're working in the D2 sector or you are looking to work in the sector, then this is the podcast for you.
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:33.679
Welcome to the Inside Data Centre podcast.
00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:35.119
A bit of a different one this week.
00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:36.159
This is a bonus episode.
00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.240
I'm thrown in the middle of my normal schedule.
00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.280
Hopefully, quite a few of you are listening to this on room to Monaco.
00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:43.600
If you are there, please find me, say hello.
00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:46.000
It'd be great to connect to some of the listeners.
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:52.399
I recently spoke with Paul Hammer of Uptime Punked about Data Centre Club, which is a group I recently started on LinkedIn.
00:00:52.479 --> 00:01:04.319
I really wanted to create a community that breaks down the barriers, makes it easier for all of us to collaborate, gives everyone the opportunity to learn and to develop, you know, really makes it more of an inclusive sector.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:09.040
Because I think, you know, we all know that sometimes this sector is quite difficult to break into.
00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:14.079
And also when you're in it, it's actually quite difficult to identify and speak with the people you want to connect with.
00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:16.959
So the plan is to make that all a lot easier.
00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:24.959
I talk with Paul about why I started the club, what is Data Center Club, what the plans are for the future, where do I think this community can go?
00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:28.079
And most importantly, we cover the rules of Data Center Club.
00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:33.840
The first rule of Data Center Club, hopefully you you all know it, is you must tell everyone about Data Center Club.
00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:35.280
Enjoy the episode.
00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:38.000
Hopefully, I'll see a few of you in Monaco.
00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:41.599
And if you want to join the club, find it on LinkedIn, Data Center Club.
00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.239
I'll let you in as long as I'm happy for you to join the club.
00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:48.560
And hopefully we can all connect soon and you know really get this community off the ground.
00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:51.840
So enjoy the episode and I'll catch up with some of you soon.
00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:53.040
All right, everyone.
00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:56.799
We're back for another episode with the Uptime Punks, and I've got Andy Davis back.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:59.359
Um, Andy is disrupting the space.
00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:04.000
That's that's something we spoke about last time, how how we can make a lot of noise.
00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:10.800
And um, well, everybody has the knowledge of the fight club, but let's get some knowledge on the data center club.
00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:12.000
Hi Andy, how are you?
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You're all right.
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Good morning.
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Ready to talk fight club slash data center club, as it's now, as it's now known, being rebranded.
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No, no, Brad Pitt, unfortunately.
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You have to uh you have to put up with me.
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Uh yeah, that's that's the thing, isn't it?
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It's like, I mean, um I I think a lot, I think almost every child in the world knows that movie, yeah.
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Um and I I thought it was quite um, I wouldn't say cheeky, but I think it's quite inspirational how you went in there and said, you know what, now we've got a data center club.
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And uh the data center club has rules as well.
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So um I don't know if you should start with the rules, or we should start with what madness got you into the inspiration of starting a data center club.
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So tell me, what what is the data center club all about?
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What's how how did you actually come up with it?
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Because I remember when we first spoke, you said you heard a song in the car.
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Yeah, so there's a number of different ways my uh my brain works in strange ways sometimes, but how I got to data center club.
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So there was the inspiration behind the fact that fight club is nobody talks about fight club, and obviously there's a lot of uh irony within that statement around data centers and how everybody says, you know, we need to attract more people to the sector, we need to tell everyone about it, but then nobody tells anyone about it.
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So kind of there was that element of it, like you know, nobody talks about it.
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It's like it's a bit like Fight Club, and then yeah, and then I was um driving home from work one day, and a song came on.
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I can't even remember the song or anything, but it was called DCC, and it just the acronym basically triggered Data Center Club in my head, and then putting the two together created Data Center Club.
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And I I guess the inspiration, in short, behind the whole thing was I wanted to start a community for a while, and I was I don't know why I wasn't doing it to be honest.
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It's one of those things I wanted to do, but just probably put off a bit too long, and then I just thought, let's just launch it and let's see where it goes.
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And there's obviously ideas behind where we want it to go, but let's get the people together and then let's see, let's create a movement and see where we end up.
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Yeah, um, I I think it's quite it's um it's it's quite good that you're doing it because um last time I mean you both spoke on our podcast.
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We spoke about how the community has just got open and how everybody's like, oh, nobody wants to come into our industry, and uh everything is sort of closed doors, and there you go.
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Month and a half later, you're starting this this club to basically um open up the doors, and um would be would be really interesting to see where this is gonna go because um from my understanding it's open to everyone, anyone can join, or do you have any like restrictions on it?
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Or no, there's rules around it as we'll go into soon, but no, no, no real restrictions.
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The the idea is that it is a community for everybody, and and then within that, we can probably create multiple smaller communities that would would help each other.
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But yeah, no, the idea behind it is that it's a platform or a community where people can ask for help, people can support each other, people can collaborate, we can all develop, etc.
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So if you're gonna create a community like that, then you can't really put restrictions on who joins.
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It's the the challenge will be as it grows, the scale of it and how we can maintain a community feel.
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But with, you know, we're already at a thousand members or over a thousand members today, and it's only been open, I think two weeks maybe.
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But we're gonna scale it quite quickly, I think, just out of people wanting it.
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So then we're gonna have to look at it and think, right, okay, how do we create micro communities within this big community so everyone's still getting the value?
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I think that'll be the challenge long term.
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Yeah, I think I think it's um I think it's quite nice because, like you say, microcommunities, because sort of everybody has a different aspect when they come into the data center realm, I would say, because people look at different things.
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You will have the operators, obviously, you will have the vendors, then you will have also the thought leadership behind it, people who want to maybe implement more of sustainability, more of diversity, um, creating a platform for young talent to be involved as well.
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So it's like really it's an endless thing.
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Um, so what are what are the rules, the rules of the data center club?
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Well, the first rule of the data center club is you have to tell everyone about data center club.
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So again, that that rule comes from, you know, I just find it hilarious the amount of conversations I have about with people saying that you know we do we need to attract more people, but then they don't really talk about what they do.
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So that was the first rule, you know, tell everyone about the club, let's create a bit of momentum behind it, get everybody involved.
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And obviously, once we, you know, when we've got community, I know we can we can really do whatever we want.
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So the first rule is just tell everyone about it and and invite everybody to join.
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You know, let's let's really push it and and get as many people involved as we can.
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And and and what is the the second rule of the data center club?
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The second rule of the data center club is you must be open to collaborate because another another element that I find um I guess amusing in the sector is that you know, when I interview people, we're in that privileged position like you are, where we get to speak to so many people in the sector, they all say, Oh, yeah, we need to collaborate to solve this challenge, we need to collaborate to solve that, and we can't do that without collaboration, but then there is no collaboration or there's limited collaboration.
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So I only really want people, and I think every the majority of people are, but we only really want people in the club that will collaborate and will help each other because we don't want that, we want to kind of remove the barriers and not have that competition.
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So you've you've got to be open to collaborate with others to basically help each other and develop, and you don't have to collaborate with everybody, but you've got to be open to the to the idea.
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So basically, it's quite similar to like the open source community, right?
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Where you basically share knowledge and try to achieve well goals together.
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Um exactly, yeah.
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And I've and and people have come in and asked already, you know, people have asking questions about you know how can I obtain these qualifications or where can I find this type of information?
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And people are sharing it.
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And again, it's like a lot of the information is out there.
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But people ask me for information on I don't know, do you know who's building this data center or do you know what's happening in this territory?
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And the information is out there, it's it's it's active, it's live, you know, it's visible, but people don't share it.
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So it's more if you if you really want something and you and you need something to help you develop, ask a question and someone will find it for you.
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And that in itself will create a lot of change because the secrecy behind a lot of the information will be will be taken away.
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Obviously, elements of it we can't share, and we know that, and nobody can share that anyway, because it's not public, but anything that's public, yeah, let's share it.
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Yeah, that's that's um well, it's all what a community is about, isn't it?
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Because otherwise it just gets very vendor-heavy, and vendors just want to speak to operators, and then sort of you're back into private meeting rooms and nobody actually knows what's going on.
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Um, that's sort of what that point of yeah, and that and that comes on to rule number three, which is you must not advertise your product or services.
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Because another point of you know the community is that it's not a platform for people to you know gain, really.
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It's a it's a platform to create that community.
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Hopefully, it's a byproduct, you know, you'll meet people and you will develop relationships that will help you know, if you're a vendor, it will help you, you know, make deals.
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If you're a I don't know, an operator, it might introduce you to a good consultant or whatever it might be.
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But I don't want anybody coming on there and saying, you know, do you want this UPS kit or you know, do you do you can do you want to meet with me next week?
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I'm in London and you know, I'd love I'd love to show you our new technology that I'm not interested in that because again, it's it takes away the community element of it.
00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:12.799
And I think one of the frustrations people have with platforms like LinkedIn and the like is that it becomes too advertising.
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And if you um if you look at some of the other groups that are out there on on LinkedIn and other platforms, there's no activity in them anymore because all it is is just advert after advert after advert after advert.
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Well, that's quite true because um, I mean, me coming myself from the event space, I mean, um, there's a lot of, yeah, like you said, communities.
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We don't need to name people uh or communities, whatever it is, but it becomes quite vendor-heavy, and they obviously charge fees for the vendors to actually get um entry to it, and then vendors just start offloading all the information and all the kits and everything they have, and then um the operators are not really interested because I I think from an operator perspective, you know exactly what you want, anyways, from the beginning.
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Um, so I think that the way you're going about it is probably the nicer way of doing it because if you can actually facilitate and actually consult with a question that's genuine within the chat, the conversation about your products are gonna come up at some point, anyways.
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Um, and that's normally actually the well, it's a better sales approach, even for the salespeople, because if you can actually help a client rather than be like, my UPS system is better because I do 1.5% less.
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Uh I don't know what.
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Um I'm not an expert in it, sorry, guys out there.
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But it's like I I think it's a nicer and a more organic way of approaching people and communicating and talking to them about it.
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Um, so I think you really hit the nail on the coffin with that one there, because it's like that's what makes the difference here, because um we have all these other communities and they're just basically um luring in the operators.
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Um it's like you can almost see them like uh like a hunting ground, right?
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So you put you put all the ducks there, and then you say, Okay, operators, uh first shot go to the person that pays the most money, and then we became uh yes, that's that's basically how other communities operate, and that's I think that's the major difference here with the data center clubs.
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Yeah, and it and it is a lot of my inspiration.
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Well, always comes from conversations with other people, and obviously I talk to a lot of people about these clubs and about these events and everything, and they all say kind of we need to shake things up, we need to change it, we need to there needs to be value for the people attending and for the people in the communities.
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And I just personally don't feel, and I know that other people feel the same, that they're actually getting a lot of value for what they're doing and what they're investing.
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Um, you know, I don't have any intention of making this a club with any cost whatsoever.
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You know, I hope the community can kind of look after itself.
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If we do anything that has a cost, we'll obviously ask the community to contribute or maybe we'll get sponsors, I don't know.
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But we don't want it to be a membership club.
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And you know, I feel that actually you can solve a lot of these challenges yourselves within within your networks, but not everybody has a network and it is trying to create that network where if you actually need something, you can probably find it out a lot quicker.
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And also you don't need to necessarily be a member of a club because you've got that network where you can actually obtain what you want already.
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So it's it's going to be interesting as it grows, like how how big it gets.
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And obviously, we're not looking to you know take over any of these existing clubs or members, but we are you know, I'm quite open about it.
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I want to disrupt the sector, it's like that's what I'm here for.
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So yeah, it might annoy a few people, I'm sure, I'm sure it will along the way.
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And obviously, there's a lot of irony in in what I do and and how I speak, but you know, it's if you don't I I read a post earlier about um Netflix and uh Blockbuster.
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Okay.
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How you know Blockbuster turned down Netflix because Netflix needed money, blockbuster turned them down because they they didn't what see the the base of the opportunity around online streaming.
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And I think the the founder of Netflix says something along the lines like the the moral is that you need to disrupt or you get disrupted.
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And I think that's the sector in a nutshell.
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Well, that's um, I think sometimes for progress, you just need to disrupt, and um, I think it's it's it's really important.
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It's like I mean, the pandemic was a disruption of society in general, right?
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A lot of things changed.
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I mean, me running events, events, how they run, how they operate, everything has changed.
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People realize it's not just about the exhibitors there, it's also the content you provide.
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It needs to be an experience for people, and I think it's the same with you're trying to do.
00:14:34.960 --> 00:14:45.759
So I'm not gonna be able to get one of these cool shirts, like data center club shirt, or like a cap, or like but there will be merch, but I'm uh there will be merch.
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Okay, watch out.
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I'm still work, I'm still working on the merch.
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I'm gonna order some stickers and plaster them around everywhere so that everyone knows who they are.
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But I'm gonna put them in Monaco next week or the week after when I'm there.
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.720
But there's two more rules as well, so I'll just quickly cover it.
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I asked the community what they would like the rules to be, um, if anyone had any ideas.
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And and the next two, so I started with three rules, just simple, solid, you know, but yeah, how many do we need?
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Rule four is everyone is equal.
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I think a few a few people came back on that in a lot of clubs and you know, communities, as as administrators that kind of rule it and dictate what happens and what the conversations are.
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This is an open platform, like you said, you know, it's it's like open source, it is there.
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You know, if you've got a question, you can ask it.
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The only limitations will be along the rules, you're not advertising, basically.
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Um, and then there's no such thing as a stupid question, rule five, because another challenge that people have is that they feel that in a lot of these communities and and um groups and platforms that they can't actually ask the questions because they feel that somebody will say, Well, that's a stupid question.
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So there is no stupid question.
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If anyone does say it's a stupid question, I'll I'll kick them out of the club.
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Well, that makes sense.
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I mean, it's I I think it's a general rule for life.
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There's no stupid questions.
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If you don't know 100%, I don't know.
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I mean, um, we're not experts in this field, are we?
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So I'm I sometimes probably ask questions, people just go like, Come on, how come you don't know this?
00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:14.639
But you how would you know?
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Um, because that's exactly how I feel as well.
00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:19.679
I totally agree with you.
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When you're interviewing people that and when we've talked about this before, when you're interviewing people that are very technical and you're not technical, you have to ask questions because you simply don't understand.
00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:28.879
So yeah, you're asking the question.
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I like to think you ask the questions that the listeners are thinking, which is probably you know the same for you.
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And that's how I see the club.
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You know, if somebody wants some advice that they've just started in the sector and it's a real basic question, you they should feel confident to be able to ask it.
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If someone wants career advice, they should be confident to ask it.
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And then you probably get also some people that ask some very technical questions, and hopefully, we can kind of have enough people within the club that can answer all the different levels of questions, and that you know that would be great.
00:16:56.799 --> 00:17:04.240
And say it's already we're already seeing it where people are asking and uh and getting the right responses, so it's it's going well so far.
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:13.200
So so what kind of like positive responses have you got so far from people, or what kind of engagement are they offering to help out, or where do they see it going?
00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:19.039
Or and do you have some people who are trying to already um benefit out of the club being there?
00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:25.119
I've had a lot of messages for people saying, thanks for doing it, you know, really need it.
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:29.359
It's a great, it's a great idea, great, you know, what what where do you want to take it?
00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:34.640
And a lot of people have asked to meet to discuss, you know, what we can do with it.
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And I think I I do 100% see it as being a collective, a community, but it, you know, it needs to be the right people with the right mindset that that can help me take it forward because I don't want it to become something that I don't want it to become, if that makes sense.
00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:56.480
So there's a couple of people that I know really well that have already said, you know, I'll I'll help you push it, I'll help you promote it.
00:17:56.559 --> 00:18:07.119
And as we grow, we can definitely bring more people into it, but I just totally want it to be community run, community led, so that we don't lose that element.
00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:10.480
So, where do you see the club in in two years?
00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:12.640
12 months from now, where would you like it to be?
00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:14.799
If you go to Monaco in 24.
00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:18.960
Is it gonna be in is it gonna be in Monaco 24?
00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:19.599
That's the question.
00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:21.599
That's oh that's a festival question.
00:18:21.759 --> 00:18:30.480
But um, if 24, wherever the event is going to be, um how how would you in what kind of position would you like to see the club?
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:41.519
Well, I'd love to see over the next sort of six to twelve months is that it obviously continues to grow, it evolves, but we also start, we also start to look at those micro communities.
00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.400
So do we have a young person's data center club?
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:49.920
Do we have uh you know regional data center clubs like USA, you know, APAC, wherever it might be.
00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:57.119
I'd like I'd love it to get to a point where there is that much buy-in that people are using the platform to take it forward.
00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:17.920
Um, I do want to do like we've talked about, like physical events, whether that is in partner in partnership with people, or whether that's you know, it could be just a small meetup, it doesn't have to be an actual event, but I want it to be so that I see it like somebody puts a post on in the group today and says, Oh, I'm in London on Wednesday, you know.
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:19.519
Does anyone want to meet up for a drink?
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:23.759
And there's a constant like people getting together and bringing people together.
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It doesn't have to become a major, major organization, just it becomes a real fluid, self-managed community, is where I'd like it to be.
00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:45.440
So when you speak about this the sub-communities, well, you mentioned young talent, which which other sub-communities would you like to see actually as a founder of the data center club?
00:19:46.720 --> 00:20:05.839
I think uh my view on it is anywhere where people feel there is a need, you know, you see a lot like I see a lot of in a lot of these groups you have women in, you know, women in, but you know, uh do women want that, or is that created because the group feels they need it?
00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:11.119
You know, we're all the same, you know, I'm big believer, I've got three girls myself, three children.
00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.359
So women are no they're no different.
00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:20.559
They don't need do they need a set, do they need a separate group, or do they just need to be more involved and ingrained into the actual collective communities?
00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:23.759
And and it's the same for any demographics when you look at it.
00:20:23.920 --> 00:20:28.240
The way I see it definitely going from a mini community is young people 100%.
00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.519
It's a big, you know, you're passionate about it, it's a big passion of mine.
00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.200
Um, and regional.
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:50.880
I think you know, if you can create subgroups off the back of it, you know, whether that is multiple in Europe, multiple in the USA, where again there was a chat on there yesterday or the other day about two people in America and they they found out they live literally up the road from each other and they're going to meet up for lunch.
00:20:51.039 --> 00:21:01.759
So if you could create little communities, you know, like London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, wherever it might be, where people are just constantly in communication and meeting up.
00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:04.319
I think that would be great if we can get to that point.
00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:07.519
You know, I don't I'm happy to start these things, you know.
00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:14.319
I'm not I'm not looking at being uh an overriding uh lord sat at the top somewhere watching everybody.
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:17.680
Exactly.
00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:18.400
That's it.
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:25.279
It it it becomes a bit, you know, like I do want it to be equal, and I think that's really important as well.
00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:29.119
You know, I'd love to be going to these places and meeting up with people that are in the club.
00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:33.680
And we're already put a post up the other day about Monaco saying, you know, who's going to Monaco?
00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:34.160
Let's meet up.
00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:38.160
And there's probably about 30 or 40 comments on it now of people meeting.
00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:39.680
And oh, it's incredible.
00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:43.200
There's a massive neat like desire for this.
00:21:43.279 --> 00:21:43.920
That's the key.
00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:51.920
And the desire is for that community to to bash down the barriers of the other communities that they're not that people aren't allowed in for whatever reason.
00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:55.839
Yeah, which is it's I mean, this is one of the things you see.
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:57.759
I mean, if you look at the Monaco event, right?
00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.759
I mean, it's a great event organizer, nothing.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.440
Against court group and everything.
00:22:01.599 --> 00:22:05.599
But I think the community itself that attends the event makes it a very exclusive.
00:22:05.759 --> 00:22:09.440
Um, if you don't know somebody, you're not gonna get in.
00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:17.279
Um, so that means if you're uh let's call it a freshy somebody green behind the ears entering the industry, you're basically sitting on the road.
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:23.359
I mean, yeah, you've got to go to the conference and listen to it, but then the rest of the day you don't see anybody because people are just behind closed doors.
00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:34.799
Yeah, and I also think that from the conversations I've had, and I'm sure you've had the same, that those people that are not within that collective actually are are afraid and fearful of going into it.
00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:37.039
They don't feel the confidence to go into it.
00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.480
And that's what a lot of people say to me.
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.359
They're like, thanks for saying that, because I wish I'd said that.
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:49.839
And I I've and again, we've talked about it before, you know, as I see it as a in the middle, in the middle a little bit, you know, I'm not affiliated to any of these companies.
00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:55.440
I've got my own company, it's yeah, there's no affiliation to me to any of the operators, suppliers, anything.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:23:01.839
So I can say things that probably other people can't because they're employed by some of the companies within it.
00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.920
But you've just got to, I think we've just got to make it.
00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.640
If we we're gonna grow, we know that the sector's gonna grow.
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:24.880
We have to make it more open, generally, if we're gonna grow in in a I guess in a managed way, because otherwise we're gonna hit a wall where we can't grow anymore because there's no people, and you know, no one wants to join it, no one knows about it.
00:23:24.960 --> 00:23:36.079
And and I think there's simple steps we can take to do that, and and kind of opening the doors or knocking down the barriers or whatever it is you want to call it is the first step of that on that journey.
00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:41.119
And hopefully, there's a lot of us doing work within this, yourself included.
00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:46.799
You know, we can do that as a we can do that as a collective, but I see it as we're doing that for those people.
00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:49.200
That's the way I look at it, not doing it for myself.
00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:56.000
Yeah, that's that's the thing because some people are not allowed to talk or they can't talk because of restrictions from the media, PR departments, whatever it is.
00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:58.799
Obviously, to speak to us without the microphones being on.
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:07.200
So we do know what's going on in the community, and we've sort of become like, okay, I wouldn't say we can't point fingers either, but we sort of know what's going on.
00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:28.400
Uh what I think is well, I think what a community can really help out is like with countries who are less developed, um, really getting into the data center market in an industry, and like data centers are being built as like mad and funding is a problem, or whatever it is, and finding the right talent down there or across the globe.
00:24:28.559 --> 00:24:42.240
Or and I I feel like this is where a community like this could really like become quite handy because I would love to see how, like you said, technical questions, but I would love to see how problems are being solved within the community on the platform.
00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:47.599
Like, hey, we're I don't know, XY location and we're facing this problem.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:50.319
How would you how did you guys solve it in the US?
00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.759
Or how did you solve it in Germany?
00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:54.960
And then you boom, you created something, right?
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:56.240
Yeah, exactly.
00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.359
And I've um, and I'm sure you have I've introduced loads of people together, like with conversations like that.
00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:07.279
A lot of it off the back of whether it's off the pod or my day job, it's you know, like, oh Andy, I've really struggling with this at the moment.
00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:12.880
And I might have spoken to someone last month who actually said oh that they were solving it, and I'm like, Oh, let me introduce you to this person.
00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:14.720
They they've been through that, they can help you.
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:20.160
And again, it's in my head, it's just madness that that doesn't already happen.
00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.920
And you know, um, mentors is another point that comes up quite a lot.
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.680
Oh, people saying, Andy, I'd love a mentor, but I've I struggle to find one.
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.240
I just think how how can it be so hard to find one?
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:42.880
Because everyone on my podcast says I'd love to mentor people, but but why it's a challenge is because there's nowhere for them to actually make that public and say I'd love to mentor people, or they they're just saying it and they don't actually mean it.
00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:44.880
But I think most people do mean it.
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:54.240
So again, it's like if I can create that platform where you can ask for a mentor and there's however many thousands of people in it are at that point, and someone will reach out and go, Yeah, actually, I could really help you with that.
00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:56.799
I'm happy to have a conversation, you're like, brilliant.
00:25:56.880 --> 00:25:58.640
It just helps everybody, doesn't it?
00:25:58.880 --> 00:25:59.759
Well, that's the thing.
00:25:59.839 --> 00:26:17.440
I think also the the problem is the community doesn't really have a place to meet and talk and basically have this interaction because if you look at events, well, well, normally the people that will probably mentor come in as VIP delegates, they have quite busy schedules, they do their keynotes, their panels, and then then these close-up rooms.
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:30.799
While the people that would like to be mentored probably come as attendees to events, uh, they don't really get the chance to basically exchange any kind of words or anything with these people could be their potential mentors.
00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:34.240
So I think, yeah, that's you you're probably also onto something really great there.
00:26:34.480 --> 00:26:36.160
And it comes back to the untalent.
00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:44.640
I mean, like we said last time, it's like people are complaining there's not enough people coming in, new talent, and then the doors are just closed.
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:48.000
So I think it's really um it's interesting.
00:26:48.400 --> 00:27:00.319
Probably, probably you should team up with some universities even and give talks about the data center club there and get your uh local data center chapter leaders, and then you don't don't call it a chapter, I don't think so.
00:27:00.880 --> 00:27:02.799
I definitely won't be calling it that.
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:15.759
But no, I'm I've I've done a bit of work at the University Technical College UTC, who've got that obviously program of it, which is a great program for the you know school age at the technical colleges, and I'm going up there in uh at the start of July, I think.
00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:23.599
So, yeah, it's there's loads we can do around you know making it sort of more public, I guess, for the younger generation.
00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:32.400
But again, what I'd love to do is to to get that group of young people and give them the confidence and the capability and open the doors for them to go and talk to those universities.
00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:39.920
And I don't again, another thing I talk about quite a lot is if you want to know how to attract young people, ask young people.
00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:46.640
Stop asking people, stop asking people that are coming towards the end of their careers and they don't know, and that's no no offense to them.
00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:52.319
I don't, you know, I'm mid-40s and I don't necessarily know a lot about how to attract young people.
00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:55.759
But if I want to know, I ask some young people how did you find the sector?
00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:56.960
How did you find your job?
00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.480
What do you think we should be doing?
00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:02.240
So if we want people to go to universities to talk, send them.
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:08.160
Don't send us because we're yeah, we're not the right people for that demographic, unfortunately, as much as I'd love to be.
00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:20.799
Yeah, no, but also the other thing is I I think um not just in technology industries and many industries, a lot of the people which in leadership roles have actually not studied the same background the young people are studying in universities now.
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:28.000
So it's like somebody who's, I don't know, head of a data center division in one of the big companies, they haven't necessarily studied engineering.
00:28:28.160 --> 00:28:29.920
They probably come from a coding background.
00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:45.200
They have done coding 25 years ago and then just whoop, whoop, grew the way into it, and they just know how a data center looks like because they remember walking into entire complexes uh where a computer was able to run one floppy disk or something, you know.
00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:51.680
Um, so yes, it's like they to relate to the young people, that's that's actually I think the biggest challenge.
00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:56.400
And like you said, it needs to be it needs to be a proper generation transfer.
00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:59.200
I think that's probably the the best way to look at it.
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:00.799
Yeah, totally totally.
00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:07.759
And also when you think about, you know, we joke about chapter and stuff and things like that, but that doesn't appeal to young people.
00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:10.079
Let's be totally, let's be totally honest about it.
00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:24.640
You know, a bit of irony around Fight Club does, because you you straight away get that kind of oh, that's quite funny, but also it's called data center club because that's what it is, it's not a secret what it is, it's a data center club.
00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:26.160
You know, everyone knows what it is.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:34.000
You could argue that I could have spelt it slightly differently to my uh to my American audience and and your yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:41.599
But you know, I did think about putting like a little cross through the RE and then putting ER next to it, but I've I've that might come in the future.
00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:45.759
But yeah, but you know, again, the the premise behind it was call it what it is.
00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:54.160
Yes, and and it's not a cult, so you don't need to uh cut cables when you enter it um and take a picture of a UPS system.
00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:55.839
And exactly.
00:29:55.920 --> 00:30:09.039
But we when we but when we get the merch, don't worry, we will be expecting pictures and but again, like in a in a humorous way to get it on socials to attract people to it, not not for any other reason.
00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:23.519
You know, I've got uh I've got some stickers on order, and you know I do intend on sticking them around and just people thinking what's out, I'll probably have the you know French police gendarme after me once they find out once they find out who it is.
00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:30.720
But you know, we we've got to do things a bit differently again to to attract the right people and create that create that community.
00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:32.480
And it's all it's all about that, isn't it?
00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:33.920
It's like what can we do?
00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:34.960
How can we market it?
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:47.759
How can we pitch it to get a real big broad spectrum of people within it, not just the leaders, not just the products, it's it's everybody, and it's not an easy thing to do from a marketing perspective.
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:51.519
You know, humour is a great way to attract anyone.
00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.200
So we're going down that route.
00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:58.559
Um, is there any particular group you would like to see get more involved at this stage?
00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:05.839
No, this stage it's just everybody jump on, you know, let's get involved and then and then let's really push it.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:17.279
Because I think once we get one or two people in kind of the each different region demographics, we can then use them to push and grow it within their region or or whatever it might be.
00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:19.039
That's how that's how I see it working.
00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:23.519
So now at the moment it's you know, just just join, get involved, introduce yourself.
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:27.440
There's a post on there, you know, when you join, tell everyone who you are.
00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:43.519
And and again, let's just try and connect some people, join the dots a little bit, and then look again in probably say two to three months, and then let's see where we are then, and then maybe we can then start to look at splitting it off a little bit and targeting certain people.
00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:49.759
Yeah, so we definitely will catch up in a couple of months again on a podcast and see where you got to and how it's going.
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.319
Um, so yeah, at this point, I wish you good luck in uh Monaco.
00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:57.920
Um, enjoy putting your stickers up, not getting arrested.
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:00.240
Wish me luck.
00:32:00.480 --> 00:32:01.599
I'll put them on my suitcase.
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:04.400
You should put one on an airplane already, flying out.
00:32:05.119 --> 00:32:07.039
Don't worry, I've got I've got a few ideas.
00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:13.440
It's just what it's we as I said to somebody the other day, it's uh I have my ideas and then I have what I can get away with.
00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:15.119
They're normally two different things.
00:32:15.200 --> 00:32:20.079
So it's like it's like finding it's like finding uh Wally to find the Data Center Club sticker.
00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:21.119
Exactly.
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.039
Yeah, let's take a picture when you find one.
00:32:23.200 --> 00:32:36.799
And if and if anyone wants to join, obviously it's data center club on LinkedIn, it's a group, you know, just search Data Center Club or look at my profile, there's loads of posts on it, and just you know I put the link as well in the Spotify and um wherever you guys are listening from.
00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:37.359
I don't know it.
00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:40.480
I mean it's there's so many different platforms, but the link will be there.
00:32:40.640 --> 00:32:42.720
Put the link as well on the LinkedIn post.
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:50.960
But yeah, um, you guys try to join the movement, and um as you know that uh Andy and myself are very passionate about um making lots of noise.
00:32:51.039 --> 00:32:57.119
We're not always um maybe well, we're friendly guys, but we just say how it is.
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:00.480
Um, it's a very reflex wide and blunt approach.
00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:14.240
Again, like I said earlier, I I I like to think that you know, yourself included, that there's certain people in the sector that say what other people want to say, and sometimes some people don't appreciate it, I guess, but the majority do.
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:15.440
So that's the way I look at it.
00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.440
We're we're doing the we're doing the right thing.
00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:24.400
We're not uh we're not deliberately annoying anybody, but we're saying we're asking questions that need to be asked.
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:27.039
We poke the bear, let's put it like that.
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:28.640
We'll leave it there.
00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:29.920
Yeah, we leave it there.
00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:31.279
All right, thank you, Andy.
00:33:31.359 --> 00:33:35.279
It was an absolute pleasure having you on, and good luck with the data center club and for everyone.
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:42.880
Um, links will be in the bio and everything, so join and then um yeah, all best of luck, Andy, and uh don't get invited.
00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:45.839
Try not to and thanks for the support.
00:33:46.079 --> 00:33:47.200
No, it's just
