EP12 – Community Talk: Creating Content, Becoming a Thought Leader, and Building Relationships – with Chanaka Ekanayake



In this 12th episode of the TECHunplugged Podcast recorded live at NetApp Insight 2018 in Las Vegas, podcast co-host Max Mortillaro (@darkkavenger) bumps into fellow Tech Field Day delegate and IT community member Chanaka Ekanayake (Chan), Technology Practice Manager (Data Center and AWS) at Insight UK and ambushes him to discuss about IT community involvement, content creation and building relationships in the community. Excuse us for the background music / noise, this was recorded at The Delano in Las Vegas in a public space since we couldn’t find at the time a quieter place.

Show schedule:

  • 00:00 Intros & presentation
  • 01:15 How Chan started to get involved in the community
  • 02:15 From technical blogging to thought leadership content
  • 03:35 Decrypting vendor messaging and having a customer-centric approach
  • 04:45 Thought leadership content vs most visited articles – does it aligns with expectations?
  • 06:40 How does that content creation articulates with business activities
  • 07:55 What are Chan tips for people who are hesitating to make the jump into content creation
  • 09:18 There’s no failure in sharing information – be opinionated, don’t be afraid to criticize, but back it with facts
  • 11:45 Having a balanced view, taking a step back and looking at business outcomes beyond technology coolness
  • 13:49 Chan’s role at Insight UK (Nothing to do with NetApp Insight)
  • 14:20 Expectations from NetApp Insight 2018
  • 16:10 Building relationships, especially with community members – how to engage with peers at very large events
  • 17:20 On random encounters and friendships
  • 18:08 Where’s Chan headed at until the end of 2018
  • 18:54 Closing the discussion & Thanks