PTC 2023: HEADING TO HAWAII
By Del Connolly
11 Jan 2023
3 min read
Today, Matt Thomas and I head out to Hawaii.
Everybody that I have spoken to, who knows I am heading out jokingly comments as to how much fun that will be.
Being honest, Matt and I will make the most of our downtime there and we have a few social meetings and beers already booked. But work is the primary reason we are heading out there and we have worked hard to arrange and fit in meetings with a lot of people whilst we are at PTC23.
As usual with these things when attending for the first time, it’s important to have some free time to explore and to drop in on chats and networking opportunities. But so far, with 12 meetings booked in across three days, that feels about right!
It’s so important for us to invest in these things. As you would expect, a trip to Hawaii isn’t cheap. We will always buy tickets to the event rather than hang about outside. We will always stay in good accommodation (but not lavish) and we always try and do things properly.
In addition, it's also a pretty proud moment for me to head out with Matt. Somebody who has been part of the Harper Harrison USA journey from day one. Somebody who has grown into a highly respected professional in the industry and somebody who will add a lot of value to the people we meet there.
What will be the highlights of the trip for us?
The highlights of the trip outside of the meetings will be some of the discussions we will be attending. High on my agenda will be the Monday morning seminar on Global Infrastructure Investment with Panellists Peter Hopper; Managing Director of Digital Bridge, Kristin O’Connor Leung; Managing Director of GIC Real Estate, Ariana Batori; Senior Investment Officer at International Finance Corporation USA and Waldemar Szlezak; Partner at KKR.
A further highlight is Wednesday’s panel discussing “Steps to minimize overall Data Center energy use and increase the sustainability of edge Data Centers at scale”. Panellists include Chris Thorpe; CEO of Leading Edge Data Centers, Dean Nelson; CEO of Cato, and Debika Bhattacharya; Chief Product Officer at Verizon.
In between, there will be a number of networking opportunities and I am told a game of darts with a very good client of ours.
Also, as an extra treat, we will be heading to the Sony Open – the PGA tour event hosted just 15 minutes from our hotel. For two golf fans, that will be a great way to start the trip before getting down to the hard work and long days.
