After a scorching week in the desert, Cisco Live 2024 is in the books. However, this one was different from the other two I have attended. My personal life was flipped upside down when my wife was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia in March. If you want to read about that day, I blogged about my experience When Life Throws You A Curveball. Due to our new life, I missed most of the shows I planned to attend this year so I was excited to get back out there since this is my first conference back since Cisco Live Amsterdam.
I was a part of the demo theater we had set up in our booth. If this is the first time you hear the term demo theater, check out the picture of me giving a demo in the theater below.
I was afraid I might be a tad preoccupied, and my brain would wander. Now, no one could fault me for being preoccupied. However, being this preoccupied and my harshest critic put me a little on edge.
I love attending these conferences and discussing the technology I am passionate about. While most people dislike booth duty, this is where I thrive. However, the main reason is reconnecting with both old and new friends. This particular event had surprises that caught me off guard.
Let’s take a look at what my experience at Cisco Live 2024 was.
The hype video
Two weeks ago, I was asked to buy a sequined jacket for a project no one told me about. On Saturday, I was told to wear it to the booth first thing Monday morning and be ready to do something extraordinary.
The jacket’s purpose was to create a hype video for the booth. This is the first time I have been in front of a camera like this in a long time. I was nervous. I walked through Mandalay Bay, into the expo floor, and toward our booth. We hoped for people to stop and interact with us. There were a few side eyes and people walking the other way, but what would you expect in Vegas? We did receive good interaction from two people who ended up in the fantastic video. If either of you happens to read this, thank you for being so awesome! If you want to check out the video, it’s posted here:
This booth deserved all the hype it could get because it was just that amazing! Here are a few extra pictures and a walkaround video
Walkaround video of the booth
The fanboy moment
When I give my demos, I look around and pick people to stop and look at briefly. I dam not looking to see if I know them, more a technique I use to stay calm while presenting. I say this because I need to stay focused and ensure I deliver on what I need to deliver for that specific presentation, obviously, right? After my second presentation, I thank everyone for coming and walking over to our pinball machine, Digital Twin Destiny. Someone is playing it, and they seem to be doing a killer job. He is also wearing a CBT Nuggets shirt, iykyk.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone who looks familiar, and low and behold, it’s the man, the myth, the legend himself, Keith Barker. I introduced myself to him, trying to hold in my excitement. Keith is a legend in the networking world and has helped me learn many things over my career. What came next was just about as exciting as when my kids were born
He asked if I was the one who had just finished giving the presentation in our demo theater. Yes, I said. What happened next is forever burned into the frontal cortex of my brain, he proceeded to complement me on the presentation that I just gave and that just about made my career. I asked for a selfie, which he graciously did, and he even agreed to do a quick YouTube short for us! Keith, you are the man! Thanks for the kind words, you don’t know what that meant for me in that moment.
If you have never heard of Keith before, check out his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KeithBarker
Catching up with old and new friends
I wish someone would have explained to me about Cisco Live when I was in the enterprise world that it is not just about going and seeing presentations and learning about new technologies. Cisco Live is more than that. It is a place to get to know people and develop friendships that will last the test of time. Yesterday was the first time I stopped and had a full-blown in-person conversation with Matt Saunders from Cisco Learning Network. We have always talked over DMs, Twitter/X and LinkedIn all the time but never actually in person and I have known him for longer than I want to admit to.
Walking around the show floor, people stopped me and asked if I was that guy from Network Field Day who got the phone call from their angry boss. Delegates from that same field day and the security one I was a part of also stopped and said hi. Do you think the networking world is big? Take it from me, who has run into people I never thought I would see again: this world is, in fact, small. It is important never to burn a bridge, trust me, because you never know if you will see that person again.
While you can learn about some cool technology at Cisco Live, whether that be from Cisco themselves or by walking around the World of Solutions, it’s about the friendships you can make. I can truly see what this is meant to do: foster relationships and grow your network, both professional and personal.
Meeting a MythBuster
It is not every day that in the booth next to you is someone you watched doing cool things on TV, trying to bust myths. As we were standing in the front of the booth, a co-worker turned to me and said, “Hey, did you watch Mythbusters, and is that Kari Byron?” Presumably asking two questions in one statement to save time to process what I said. Sure enough, it was her. I can only assume that the booth next to us hired her to stand in the booth and take some pictures.
We both gathered the courage to ask her for a picture, hoping she would say yes. She did, and I think the only reason why, and this is the story I am going with, is she was in love with my jacket, constantly rubbing it to flip the sequins from silver to black. She is such an awesome person; I only wish I could have had my daughter at the show with me to show her how badass she is.
OK, let’s put a bow on this and close it out
This would be Cisco Live number 3, two in the US and one in Amsterdam. The ones this year have been the best by far, but this one hits home more for many different reasons. Everything that has happened over the past year with my personal life and not knowing if I was even going to make this show weighed heavy on my mind. They say that things do happen for a reason. I was at a point where I needed to be around like-minded people. It was important to clear my head from the stuff going on at home. This was not a normal Cisco Live for me. This conference is what I needed to get back in the right frame of mind.
Did you attend Cisco Live this year? What were your thoughts? I am looking forward to hearing everyone’s responses either in the comments below. Or you can find me on my socials, which you can find on my linktr.ee. I hope everyone made it home safely! I look forward to seeing you all next year at Cisco Live or at the next conference we are all at!