Last week I blogged about what a tremendous experience I had attending the NY Tech Summit in Verona, NY. Little did I realize how quickly that meeting would change how I viewed the industry.

Some time ago, I promised myself that I would try to develop a deeper understanding of the industry. I had begun to suspect that my travels to national shows had led me to a partially incorrect vision of the demands on data center operators. The New York Tech Summit was just one of several trips I made where not all the data center operators had management support for gaining LEED certification or attaining an ultralow PUE.

Yesterday, I spoke at an event organized by Telehouse at their new colo facility near the Chelsea Piers in New York City. My host, Fred Cannone, was kind enough to give me a quick tour of the still under construction facility. The first few tenants have begun to move in, and telcos are still bringing the needed connectivity to the facility. I also met some of Telehouse's clients and learned about the needs of banks that serve mid-size customers, local telcos, and companies that provide data services to SMBs. It was quite an eye opener. These companies don't have the resources of the large multinationals that meet at national tradeshows, but they do have more resources than some of the facilities that support the small colleges and health-care providers I met in Verona.

I'm looking forward to using these experiences to make our coverage of the mission-critical industry even more relevant to our readers. I'm also hoping to further my depth of understanding of the industry by acting as the chair of the membership committee of the newly founded Empire State chapter of the 7X24Exchange and serving on its board.

It's not that I don't have enough to do. I'm just hoping to improve the magazine by getting to know the industry better and to use my position as editor to contribute to the industry. 

Want to help, email me about joining the Empire State chapter.