10 Wild And Wacky Scenes From Cisco Live 2017

Cisco Live 2017 In Las Vegas

Bruno Mars, Tim Cook and Bryan Cranston (pictured) all played a part in Cisco Live 2017 last week at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, where approximately 28,000 Cisco customers, partners and personnel gathered to get the latest news on all things Cisco.

Although the event highlighted several key announcements, including Cisco's Network Intuitive platform and new Internet of Things solutions, attendees will likely remember some of the more fun and wacky moments that occurred during the four-day event, like Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins laughing on stage with 'Breaking Bad' star Bryan Cranston.

CRN takes a last look at this month's popular Cisco Live 2017 event that should bring back some fond memories.

"For A Small Investment …"

Actor Bryan Cranston delivered the celebrity keynote during the final day at Cisco Live on stage with Robbins where the two shared more than a few laughs.

"They did just stay for you by the way," said Robbins, referring to the audience inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"What was the percentage of the people who wanted to hear you talk again?" asked Cranston. Robbins responded by saying, "Zero … It actually might have been negative."

Cranston also joked with the audience about his purpose for attending the event, pretending he was going to pitch an investment opportunity. "I'm going to introduce to you an opportunity in multi-level marketing that's going to blow your mind. For a small investment ..." said Cranston, which was followed by laughter.

Cranston spoke about his childhood, acting and what it took to win roles like Walter White in the hit television series 'Breaking Bad.' He also fielded questions from Cisco Live attendees.

Those Swords Everyone Had

What would a Cisco Live event be without getting to take home a glowing plastic Scrutinizer sword from Kennebunk, Maine-based Plixer? Countless people could be seen walking around the Mandalay Bay Resort sporting Plixer's sword which could be obtained from listening to their brief seminar about the network monitoring and cybersecurity specialist.

Scrutinizer is Plixer's incident response system that provides forensic insight into users and applications that raise suspicion or cause congestion problems. Plixer executives Bob Noel and James Lawrence are pictured above holding the Scrutinizer swords.

Tim Cook Surprises Audience

Apple CEO Tim Cook surprised the 28,000 in attendance at Cisco Live by his appearance on stage with Cisco CEO Robbins during his keynote. The two CEO's talked about a stronger partnership around security, which had partners cheering. Cook also used the stage to take a jab at rival mobile OS Android.

Kinetic Energy For Nepal

In a heavy foot traffic area inside the venue, Cisco installed kinetic tiles that generated energy every time someone stepped on them. Cisco's goal was to get 1 million steps on the tiles during the conference with the energy created being donated to schools in Nepal.

Bruno Mars And Fedora Hats

One of the hottest musicians in the world, Bruno Mars, held a private concert at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for all Cisco Live attendees. People were given fedora hats as gifts during the free concert.

Kicking It Off Right

Right before Robbins took the stage to officially kick-off Cisco Live on June 26, several attendees participated in a lip sync contest that riled up the audience inside Mandalay Bay Events Center. It's sometimes difficult to get people pumped up for an event at 10 a.m. on a Monday, but these lip sync stars' rendition of Journey's hit song 'Don't Stop Believin'' was one to remember.

Long Lines At Starbucks

Even with an abundance of free coffee stations set up for Cisco Live attendees just a short walk away, the line at the Starbucks inside Mandalay Bay was consistently long and filled with people sporting Cisco Live badges. No matter how packed the schedule was for the day, you could consistently see dozens of Cisco Live attendees waiting in line at Starbucks.

Virtual Reality And Cisco Spark

Inside the Innovation Center was a variety of Cisco hands-on use cases such as solutions for smart cities and transportation. One of the more popular exhibits was leveraging virtual reality with Cisco Spark Board, where a person could ride a stationary bike on a virtual road with a 360-degree view. Cisco Live attendees got to try on the VR headset and take a virtual ride while using Spark Board features to track progress.

Another use case leveraged Spark Board and VR to make medical teams more efficient and move faster when solving critical patient issues.

DevNet Zone

One of the most popular places at any given time during the four-day event was Cisco's DevNet Zone where developers received hands-on programming skills from Cisco engineers and executives. Hundreds of people sat in front of computers to learn about coding and API-focused workshops. Attached to DevNet Zone was Cisco's Learnings Labs where attendees listened and asked questions during sessions such as 'Introduction to Python Network Programming' and 'Analytics with Meraki CMX Location API.'

House Of Brews

The House of Brews area inside the Innovation Center was a popular place during the day, severing different types of coffee and teas where people could sit back and relax. The hangout became even more popular in the evening when the "brews" changed from coffee to beer.