The Midwest And Beyond: Cloud Evolution, Network Optimization & Infrastructure

Phill has more than 25 years of experience identifying new opportunities for further growth of leading data center infrastructure, network architecture, and cloud solutions in the U.S. and abroad. As Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned, Phill is responsible for the management of revenue generation and profitability objectives, as well as championing key innovation, technology, and sustainability strategies aimed at maximizing new business development. Prior to joining Aligned, Phill served as Chief Innovation Officer at EdgeConneX, where he was instrumental in driving strategies focused on creating the next generation of network edge-based data centers for the digital content ecosystem. Throughout his career, Phill has also served in numerous senior executive-level positions at Virtacore, Alcatel-Lucent, Savvis (now CenturyLink Technology Solutions), and MCI (now Verizon Digital Media Services). He currently holds eight active technology patents and serves on the Board of Directors for Netrality Data Centers as well as the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) Advisory Board.

Mr. McClarty is an accomplished senior executive with extensive experience in information technology and computer networking. He has a proven track record in relationship building, vendor management, network operations, and colocation and data center administration, along with project methodology and processes, both on strategic and tactical levels. He has been instrumental in transforming startup organizations into highly successful and profitable corporations while maintaining high client satisfaction levels. His strong management and leadership skills are complemented by his ability to motivate and engage all levels of an organization to maximize productivity and drive positive results. He is an excellent communicator who puts a special emphasis on building solid vendor, client, and employee relationships. Mr. McClarty holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, and an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management. He also holds a BS in information technology and a BS in electronics engineering technology, both from DeVry Institute of Technology.

Avner Papouchado has been the guiding force behind ServerFarm since its inception. Known for his intense business acumen, Papouchado has a proven track record of successful real estate investments. He has served as Red Sea Group’s North American CEO since 1993 and is an active member of the executive management team responsible for the company’s worldwide investment strategy. A certified pilot, Papouchado received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the New School for Social Research in New York.

Fascinated by the “why” behind the growth of emerging industries, Lloyd started with numbers, research, and analytics. He spent years in East Coast markets as an analyst, identifying commonalities where development activity was emerging. Moving to the opposite coast, Lloyd began curating content on commercial and biotech tenant trends in the PNW. Lloyd’s persistence in dissecting how people shape environments continues to drive his interest in the CRE sector. As our new Market Development Manager, Lloyd finds solutions and opportunities to deliver environments that foster better connections, collaboration, research, and innovation for commercial and biotech organizations.

Adam Knobloch has been involved in the commercial real estate event and media space since 2010, having held roles in sales, account management, production and coordination. He joined Bisnow Media as the Global Director of Data Centers after having led event sales and strategy efforts in the CRE space for nearly a decade. Since 2012, he has found a significant passion for the data center and technology sectors, while building an international network of active followers across numerous asset classes in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland. In his current role, Adam oversees Bisnow Media's event and sponsored media strategy for the data center sector, having expanded its Datacenter Investment Conference & Expo (DICE) Series event offerings to more than 15 markets, with an international presence in the UK and Canada. He previously held a board member role on the Telecom Exchange (TEX) Advisory Board, collaborating on content, speaker recommendations and event strategy. Additionally, he has made a point of promoting local and national organizations with a focus on STEM education and advancing the next generation into the technology sector through support, collaboration and ambassadorship. Notable organizations include the Nomad Futurist Academy, Infrastructure Masons, H5 Data Centers' STEM Fest and local chapters of both 7X24 Exchange and AFCOM. In his personal life, Adam is a musician, having toured the east coast as the drummer of The Gantry. He was a frequent member of the NYC folk/indie rock music scene and is currently the drummer for A.M. County. Adam holds a Bachelor's Degree of Business Administration from American University's Kogod School of Business, with a focus on Marketing and Public Relations.