Why We Started The Panda Award Show

The idea

This idea’s been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. I’ve wanted to create something for the version of me who was just getting started in IT unsure of where the road might lead, full of questions, and searching for stories that sounded like my own. I’ve always been curious about the journeys people take in this industry. What were the detours? What did they learn the hard way? What advice do they wish they had sooner?

That curiosity is the heartbeat of The Panda Award Show, a new podcast I’m hosting with my friend Abhi Saini. Abhi and I go way back. We worked together on Information Technology Disaster Resource Center (ITDRC) deployments, and when we reconnected at MSPGeekCon—Abhi now an MSP owner, it just felt right. We knew we had to build something together.

The name

You're probably wondering about the name.

As we started tossing around ideas, we knew we wanted a mascot, and both of us liked the idea of a bear. But I had one bear in mind specifically.

Back when I was an intern at my first MSP, we had this tradition of passing around a stuffed panda bear each week. It would go to whoever best embodied the company’s values, including hard work, helpfulness, the kind of stuff you can’t always measure on paper. It was goofy, yeah, but it meant something. It was a symbol of appreciation, of recognition from your peers. That stuck with me.

So we decided to bring the panda back. On this show, we’ll be passing the panda to guests who represent the best of what this industry can be, people who’ve stayed curious, lifted others, and stayed true to their values through the ups and downs of tech careers.

The Panda Award Show is a casual podcast about real people in IT. We talk about the paths taken, the lessons learned, and the things you’d go back and tell your younger self if you could. No polished success stories, just the kind of honest conversations that remind you you’re not alone on the journey.

If you're in tech—or just figuring out what comes next—I hope you’ll listen. You might just find the story you needed to hear.

Where to find it:
Watch for our first episode to drop on July 1st:

https://pandaawardshow.com/