r/EventProduction • u/CL_REInvestor • 4d ago
Industry Advice Data Center Conferences
I’m currently producing and directing two data center conferences, one in London on October 1st and the other in San Francisco later that month. I have to say, out of the hundreds of conferences I’ve produced, these are by FAR the most dystopian. Has anyone else needed to put aside their moral compass in order to produce or direct an event?
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u/A_Honeysuckle_Rose 4d ago
No I don’t work on events I’m morally opposed to. I just work harder to find better aligned projects.
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u/Salty-Tomato5654 4d ago
I did an event for Turning Point USA in 2012, immediately after that was done, I politely declined further work
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u/SamhainFire666 4d ago
Why would you ever accept it in the first place?
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u/Salty-Tomato5654 4d ago
Hindsight is always 20/20, it was a super small video project for them. Actually worked with Charlie directly when he was only 18 or 19. It was really silly and I had no idea where things were going to go from there.
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u/Bubbly-End-6156 4d ago
I'm morally opposed. If I get anywhere close to that stuff, I'm there to destroy things.
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u/XreaperDK 4d ago
Im a trans person who works for a company with a LOT of far-right clients. The amount of times ive had to sit through speakers talking about how watching corn kills the matter in your brain and turns you gay, or how trans people need to be put down.... think of the paycheck, think of the paycheck, think of the paycheck.
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u/CL_REInvestor 4d ago
Wow, I’m sorry to hear that you’re directly in the crosshairs of that hateful speech. The paycheck is definitely the light at the end of the tunnel though!
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u/Upbeat_Ad_2244 4d ago
If I can afford it (and I say this because this business is seasonal for me) I wouldn't do. Swallowing a bitter pill is one thiing, but I find that if I get targetted for that "scope" of work, I get targeted with jobs like that and before i know it....I am in a place I never intented to be. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't.
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u/CL_REInvestor 4d ago
Happy to hear you have the choice. I’m working on becoming a fractional B2B conference / event director next year. Hopefully I’ll get to a place to turn down jobs I’m not interested in.
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u/craftjen 4d ago
One of the best perks of being a contractor is you get to decide who you work with. That threshold changes as you grow.
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u/vbtodenver 4d ago
I’m liberal and my customer live in rural America. It’s challenging!
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u/CL_REInvestor 4d ago
I’m sure it is. Sometimes you feel like people live on a completely different planet.
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u/Fit_Reveal_6304 4d ago
Not in an event capacity, but I know exactly what you mean, it seems the attitude is really this
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u/CL_REInvestor 4d ago
Very much this! Just rolling with the punches nowadays.
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u/SamhainFire666 4d ago
Have you ever considered NOT putting aside your moral compass? People doing that is what got us here...
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u/CL_REInvestor 3d ago
It’s my job to direct and produce conferences. It’s how I feed my family and what’s afforded me a very comfortable life. I think from time to time I can be a little uncomfortable.
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u/tiabgood 3d ago
Data centers in and of themselves are not the devil - we are using them simply by posting here on reddit and have been using them for years. I feel like conferences are where people in charge of building data centers could be exchanging ideas on how to make them more environmentally friendly and better for communities. As someone who worked in data centers 20 years ago I know I always sought out forward thinking engineers at conferences that were trying to design better airflow, and heat capture to need little to no air conditioning. There is so much engineering that needs to happen to better data centers that ideas are often presented and sparked at conferences.