channel) unwinds, and there you’d be surprised. It may seem like an enigma that the guy who jumps on stage with- out qualms and whose adventurous ca- reer is an open book is, in fact, so private about his home life. But in this way, Rob Rae is a true introvert. He’s also a chicken keeper — the one hobby he opens up about — and has nev- er lost a bird to predators in five years of doing it, a feat any farmer would love to boast about. But in many ways, Rob’s home is the channel itself. “I love what I do, and I love this industry. And I’m very opti- mistic about the future of our space. I feel like we’ve grown up together after experiencing growth that nobody was forecasting.” Rob wants the best for everyone, just as siblings want the best for each other even as they compete. “It really is like a family. When you see people leave, they often come back. If you ask them why, they’ll say that they missed the close ties and the family aspect of our space.” “I’m very optimistic about the future of that space,” Rob says. “There’s still so much room for this family to grow.”
the pandemic — and they did so in a safe manner. That’s huge.” But the game-changer is TMT’s Big Red Virtu- al Software, which allows for secure, channel-focused events of all sizes. “There hasn’t really been anything like this platform before,” Rob tells us. “It enabled us to do things with our MSP Technology Day that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, even though it’s stuff that channel vendors expect from in-person events.” And that’s something else he wants us all to remember: In-person is coming back, probably sooner than we think. For that, his playbook strategy is to hit it hard with a dedicated events team. “They aren’t salespeople or marketing directors who usually sit in an office behind a computer. Their job is events, and they keep what they hunt. We get rid of the chairs and tables and engage with everyone.” And the sponsorship spots and other back-end planning make sure their brand appears often and in different places. It’s been a winning formula for Rob and Datto, and others are catching on. The Keeper of the Channel (and His Chickens) You might ask how a man with this much passion for his work (and the
teeth on virtual events last year, which will benefit them in the year to come. But in order to really take advantage of virtual events, a vendor is going to have to be a strong strategist — something Rob already excels at. The Trade Show Tactician Rob will tell you that he “only got on stage when [his] boss decided he wasn’t gonna deal with one more heckler, ever,” but there is nothing accidental about the way he works an event or trade show. “I’d always watched what worked for others and what didn’t,” he says. “Why was that vendor everywhere this weekend? How did this strategy succeed or fail? Over time, I developed a trade show playbook.” Central to that playbook is taking events seriously. The fact that he always gets Datto (and every other company he’s been with) to invest in Robin Robins’ top sponsorship spots is actually a back-end strategy: “Robin runs national events. That investment maximizes exposure and guarantees we don’t go home from any show with anything left in the bag.” It’s an investment that pays dividends every year, Rob says, but never more than in the past 12 months. “First, TMT is the only company that managed to throw serious in-person events during
Rob Rae, presenting on the main stage at the 2018 IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp in Nashville
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