I am at GigaOm Structure and I find if it is really hard to listen, learn, network and blog at the same time. I can time shift the blogging to later, so I am going to focus on listening to the presentations, networking like crazy, and learning as much as I can.
Here is a sample of what is covered at GigaOm Structure.
Infrastructure nerds, it’s time to meet the accountants. At this year’s Structure conference this Wednesday and Thursday we’re focusing on the economics of cloud computing, not just for vendors, but for practitioners.
Want to understand how Facebook connects its servers? Hear from VMware’s CEO how the virtualization giant plans to build its next big business? Discover why Snapchat builds on Google App Engine as opposed to Amazon Web Services? Or maybe you want to understand if Microsoft can compete in the cloud.
At this year's 7x24 Exchange, Ken Brill was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Kenneth G. Brill is the Founder of the Uptime Institute and the Site Uptime Network.
Below are pictures from the ceremony.
The award is presented by Robert J. Cassiliano, President and CEO of Business Information Services and Chairman & CEO of 7x24 Exchange International. “7x24 Exchange International is honored to recognize Ken for his lifetime of accomplishments,” said Bob Cassiliano “It is a uniquely special individual that influences an industry with their leadership; Ken Brill is such a person with his significant and demonstrable contribution to the Mission Critical Industry. Ken has been a friend, a mentor and an industry colleague and for that, I am forever grateful.”
Accepting the award on Mr. Brill’s behalf will be longtime colleague, W. Pitt Turner IV. “I am honored to be able to accept this award on behalf of my friend and leading data center pioneer, Ken Brill,” said Pitt Turner. “Ken’s leadership in the data center space over the last thirty years has led to increased efficiency and operational excellence within the industry.”
Others that will pay tribute to Mr. Brill include David Schirmacher President of 7X24 Exchange International and Senior Vice President of Operations at Digital Realty, and Dennis Cronin, COO of Steel ORCA and one of the founders 7X24 Exchange International.
Photos by Convention Photography courtesy of Professional Images Photography Joe Rodriguez 2013.
I don't know about you, but it can hard to focus on a day long industry event. You start out ready, then your phone rings, txt msgs, and e-mail distracts you. Some of the presentations are good. Some have room for improvement. Sometimes you just get bored and your mind drifts.
Let me walk through an example of what I choose as a strategy for Google's How Green is the Internet? event. Here is the full agenda.
First I got there early. The event started at 9a. I got there at 8:45a - to allow for Mtn View traffic, get a close parking spot (you were told to park 1/2 mile away and bus you in, I parked 300 ft away on the street), maximize time to socialize, and chat with the event staff.
Out of the full list of speakers. There were three I really wanted to listen to. Urs Hoelzle's 10 min intro. Jonathan Koomey's 20 min infrastructure of the Internet. And, Eric Schmidt's 15 minute new digital age. Al Gore and the rest were lower priority. Active listening can be tiring. I was looking for patterns that connected what Urs, Jon, and Eric were saying. I figured what Al Gore would be saying would be his own agenda that really wasn't connected to the other three. Also, in my opinion Urs, Jon, and Eric were some of the smartest guys in the room with a breadth of testing ideas and concepts.
Here is Eric's talk.
And, Jon's talk
Urs introduction isn't posted. Urs did spend an hour with the media to answer questions and that session was not recorded.
The other three people I focused on where the Google event organizer, the executive sponsor, and media contact. These three were making sure the event worked. Chatting with them gives perspective on how to interpret the presentations and their opinion on the event and presentations.
When I was at 7x24 Exchange I was daily chatting the executive board of 7x24, the event staff, and even the photographer. I do the same at Open Compute Summit and DatacenterDynamics.
This comes back to my journey through 10 data center conferences post. The four conferences I mention above are all the ones where I feel like I use this strategy, and I get the most out of.
Google pushed up the videos for "How Green is Internet?" yesterday.
Driving the industry forward
Through industry collaboration, we aim to create a more sustainable technology sector and build products and services that benefit the environment. For example, we hosted events in 2009 and 2011 where we discussed with industry peers how we can improve on data center efficiency. In June 2013, we hosted the “How green is the Internet?” summit.
The videos allow you to see the presentations. The slides will be up soon as well.
The news covered the event with the following posts I pointed to. So what is next? Some perspective and analysis.
I got a chance to sit in a media briefing with Urs Hoelzle that supported the media posts. Sitting next to Urs we chatted before anyone else came in and had a good time following up on some discussions.
There were bunch of side conversations I had with wholesales data center operators, data center users, technology companies, various support staff many who are friends I hadn't seen for a while and some I saw only 24 hrs ago at 7x24 Exchange in Boca. Jonathan Koomey and I discussed a paper that I will interview him for. Gary Cook will also be interviewed for the same paper and luckily I was able to get the three of us to chat about the ideas. I thought Gary and Jonathan knew each other which they did, but they hadn't actually met in person.
The RAW data is there - videos and presentations. Media reports were made as well. The vast majority of people will base their opinion of the event on what the media writes. One excellent insight is George Orwell's comment on writing that I posted. Knowing someone's motives allows you to understand their perspective
I give all this background information because I do not think one can assess a writer's motives without knowing something of his early development.
I didn't get a chance to get the early development background of the media, but sitting in a conf room for an hour watching the questions asked, how they reacted gives a perspective to read their writing. Can you imagine if when you read a media post you were able to watch the video of the interview side-by-side to watch the interview and read their writing. When I was at the IBM Impact conference I got a more extended view of the media process.
Some of the things I've figured out I have written down to post, but after reading them, the ideas are esotreric or controversial which means it is for a much narrower audience.
One of the best things about attending Google's Energy Summit is I have now a deeper understanding of how things work. The process that people can't see in the challenge of communicating green initiatives. Just because something is invisible doesn't mean it is not important.
Yet, sometimes things need to be invisible in order to allow people to understand and not get distracted. Here is a classic saying for Typography.
Good typography is invisible. According to Gerard Unger: ” It is almost impossible to look and read at the same time: they are different actions ” Therefore, graphic designers, make your typography invisible so the words and messages can communicate as intended.
Bad Typography is Everywhere / Good Typography is Invisible
I attended as media/press the 3rd Google Energy Summit. I had been to the 1st, and was briefed on the presentations for the 2nd. The third didn't focus on data centers as much and more asking questions and presenting data on the environmental impact of data centers and internet technologies. Urs Hoelzle has been the executive sponsor for each one of these events. Al Gore and Eric Schmidt for the first time presented their perspectives.
On purpose I choose not to write, tweet, during the summit. There were a bunch of photographers and videographers there so I know the images and video are going to come.
It's a lot of hard work to record the content, let alone listen to what people are saying.
Here are the list of news articles on the Google event that Google news shows.
How green is the Internet? Al Gore, Eric Schmidt and other experts packed a room at Google headquarters Thursday to explore the Internet's environmental impacts. With a crowd of about 100 people, it was the third event Google has hosted on this topic since ...
But all of this research is so new, and these issues are so complex, that answering that question — is the internet green or not? — is a very difficult one. After the day long Google event called How green is the internet? I have a lot more questions than answers ...
Server and data center under-utilization is one of the primary sources of waste and inefficiency in computing, argued Hoelzle, who served as the master of ceremonies at the “How Green is the Internet?” symposium that took place at Google headquarters in ...
Google is hosting a summit on its corporate campus on Thursday exploring the question: How green is the Internet? The main speakers include former Vice President Al Gore, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Urs Hölzle, the Mountain View Internet giant's ...
That was the bottom line in a wide-ranging discussion Thursday at “How Green is the Internet,” a conference convened by Google to brainstorm ways to reduce the impact of Internet technology on the emission of green house gases. Data centers got their ...
At yesterday's “How Green is the Internet?” conference, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt shared anecdotes about the benefits of Internet services in the emerging world, citing his experiences in travels to Pakistan, southern Sudan and China. (Photo: Rich Miller).
Speaking at Google's "How Green Is the Internet? Summit" at the company's Mountain View headquarters on Thursday, Gore reiterated his belief that global warming is real, and that its effects are already upon us. Gore's presentation at the gathering, which is ...
The digital revolution and the explosion of data are powerful tools that can help solve the climate crisis, said Vice President Al Gore at Google's 'How Green is the Internet?' on Thursday. In Gore's talk he applauded the leadership roles that tech companies like ...
