5 Surprises from Cisco Live US 2023
5 years ago the biggest problem I faced working on Cisco Live was sitting at HQ, troubleshooting the live feed of Robb's interviews on the Canadian homepage with Darren and Chris. As a localization web strategist, I was not invited to any events. And that was fine with me.
Fast-forward to 2023, and my entire life has been swallowed up by the logistical behemoth that is Cisco Live Las Vegas. 600 sq ft of booth space, 2500 sq ft of town-square space, after-party details, and even a little vacuum-sealed meeting pod needed to be fully designed and managed. We were an Emerald Sponsor, and I was determined to make the biggest splash possible.
This wasn't my first Cisco Live event, but it was the most surprising; here are my Top 5 Surprises:
The booth concept worked almost too well
If you visited the World of Solutions area this year, you couldn't miss it. Our 'campsite' was the only booth that wasn't the standard corporate color/font/style scheme. When I designed the 'Take it Easy' experience, I knew our audience of network professionals, battle-weary from high-stress situations, crave moments of peace and tranquility in nature; so that's what I aimed to deliver. I was confident that visitors would like it, but I didn't expect the constant throngs of enthusiastic people, and the unending stream of adulation. I still feel awkward about it!
Booth 4904 | Forward Networks
2. People still listen to our podcast
Some people learned to bake bread during Covid, some people made podcasts. Brandon Heller, Derick Winkworth, Lisa Garvey, Aditya Chakraborty, and I were in the latter category. But that was years ago; we haven't released a new episode in years. I assumed that no one still listens, they've moved on, right? Nope! Not only did booth visitors bring up Seeking Truth in Networking unprompted all week long, but one guy was wearing our t-shirt! I stand corrected: good content has a longer shelf life than I expected.
Thank you to our listeners
3. Actual gaming in the gaming Town Square
If you've been to a few technology conferences, you're probably familiar with these little break areas (at Cisco Live, they're called Town Squares). They serve as impromptu picnic spots, oh-no-I-need-to-send-that-file business centers, and just plain places to sit down for a little bit. To design the space (already slated to be gaming themed), I expanded the aesthetic of our own Forward Quest browser game to the entire space. We haven't officially released V3, but visitors got a sneak peek of new characters that will be featured in our fall Forward Quest game release.
But here's the shocker: people actually played games in the gaming area, during all four days of the conference-- pool, cornhole, shuffleboard and most amazingly they actually played Forward Quest (and won real prizes too).
Gaming Town Square, it's not just for checking your email
4. Matt earned a black belt?!
Speaking of games, let's talk about our dark horse of network security, Forward Networks' very own Matt Honea. Sure, he's my own personal go-to expert on all things related to network security, and yes he served the Department of State for many years in cybersecurity, but still, I was floored that he waltzed in and won the CiscoCTF 🏁 Security Black Belt like n.b.d. He's so kind and so chill, and at the same time, so wickedly Security-smart, I guess he is kinda like a ninja after all. ;)
We're all safer with Matt Honea around.
5. I made new friends
I've worked in tech most of my career, and it's not an easy industry for a non-engineer like me to make friends. So I keep my social expectations appropriately low for in-person events like these-- after all, I am a stranger in a strange land amongst the network architects and IT directors. But this time was different! I had the pleasure of discussing kilts with Peter Jones, understanding gator habitats with Joseph Woollard, and getting a mini-tour by Hank Preston of the entire Cisco DevNet Zone. Now I have to end this section before I get too emotional!
He's not only a famous Cisco personality, Hank's also a friend to the forest
Overall, it was a banner week for Forward Networks. Thank you to the entire team that helped build it and kept the demonstrations flowing.
Special thank you to:
My patient and flexible fabricators/builders at Pinnacle
Julie Craig who helped the Town Square come to life
Joe Tyler who consulted on Quest characters and demo'd like a mo'fo'
The kindest person ever, David Toth, who also helped find my lost phone (because of course he did)
My silent creative partner in all of this, who keeps all the cats herded, we could not have pulled this off without you, Natalie Cheung
Aditya Chakraborty-- we virtually squeezed each other's hands with anxiety over our 50ft video loop of Cables of Our Lives, Silence of the LAN, and CCIE vs. The Network.
And of course, Lisa Garvey and Dawn Slusher who broadly busted their humps for this entire endeavor.