Cisco Gets Barenaked (And Other Scenes From Cisco Live 2008)

Cisco Systems held its annual Cisco Live technology conference From June 22 - 26, which drew roughly 11,000 attendees to Orlando, Fla. At the show, Cisco shared its technology vision, introduced new products and tools, and provided education and training for customers and partners. It also showed its customers a little love with a big party at Universal Studios Florida, which was headlined by alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies.

Cisco's doing its part to tackle the IT talent shortage with a series of initiatives aimed at bringing new workers into the networking fold. At the event, the company added three new optional technology concentrations to its Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) career certification: CCNA Security, CCNA Voice and CCNA Wireless, and also launched Cisco Learning Network, a new online forum that aims to foster collaboration between networking professionals. Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, general manager of Learning@Cisco, positioned the effort as a social learning site that uses Web 2.0 technologies so that IT workers can get access to experts and the community at large to develop their careers.

Cisco honored elite networking professionals by flashing the names of its CCIEs (Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts) on screen while attendees waited for Chairman and CEO John Chambers to start his keynote address.

Chairman and CEO John Chambers hit on several key Cisco initiatives during his keynote address, including its push to go green and the role its TelePresence videoconferencing technology is playing in that effort. Cisco is set to double its sales calls while halving sales travel, based on its broad implementation of video, collaboration and Web 2.0 tools, Chambers said. He also promised to deliver TelePresence to the home market within the next 12 months.

Chambers walked through the crowd, telling attendees that IT departments need to stop acting like cost centers. "You're no longer a cost center, so you need to stop acting that way. You need to say, 'Here's how we can enable our business leaders' and government leaders' visions in a way that no other department can,' " Chambers said.

Chambers and Cisco Chief Demonstration Officer Jim Grubb (right) also showed off WebEx Connect, new technology coming later this year that enables customers to create collaborative spaces online. Users can see other personnel working on a given project team, log chat sessions between individuals so other team members can view them, create video blogs and search a corporate directory of user-created profile pages to find employees that have needed expertise. From those pages, users can initiate video calls with each other and share digital information.

Cisco's top collaboration experts hit the stage to talk about how IT professionals need to prepare for the coming onslaught of collaboration technologies. "There are people in your organization now using wikis and blogs, whether you know it or not. You have to find them and empower them," said Doug Dennerline (center), senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's collaboration software group. Also pictured are Marthin De Beer (left), senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's emerging technologies group and Barry O'Sullivan, senior vice president of Cisco's voice technology group.

Conference attendees got to try their hands at Rock Band, the video game that lets players belt out their favorite tunes on simulated instruments.

Some attendees took advantage of colorful beanbag chairs to lounge around and rest their feet.

Cisco showed off its Open Platform for Safety and Security, an architecture for using IT and networking technologies for public safety. Here, an SUV is tricked out with wireless networking and communications gear.

Chairman and CEO John Chambers hosted a virtual Q&A session in Cisco's Second Life pavilion. His avatar bears a striking resemblance, except for the lack of a tie.

Users pack into a virtual auditorium in Second Life to hear John Chambers field live questions from the audience. Attendees were invited to type in their questions, which were then read out loud so that Chambers could answer them via audioconference.

Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior made her first big public splash since joining the vendor in March, a few months after Cisco disclosed that Warrior was leaving Motorola to come on board. During her keynote address, Warrior predicted that technologies such as collaboration, mobility and pervasive broadband access will drive the next wave of global technology innovation.

Warrior said collaboration technologies are changing the ways new ideas come to life. "In the future, we will think of innovation as a culture, not a function," Warrior said, speaking during her keynote address. "It will no longer be one person's job to innovate. Innovation will continue to be more and more a persistent global conversation."

CTO Padmasree Warrior also offered technology demonstrations that show how Cisco is using collaboration tools to boost channel sales. The company is in the midst of a drive to bring on 300,000 new small business customers. Here, Warrior and Cisco Chief Demonstration Officer Jim Grubb spotlight new functionality on Cisco's Web site that connects small business customers to its channel partners. The demonstration showed how the vendor can communicate with visitors to Cisco's SMB solutions Web site via live chat and direct them to a local reseller. That reseller can then use WebEx technology to share information with users on the products and services available from that channel partner.

Cisco offered conference attendees a chance to prove their networking prowess in head-to-head challenges. Here, IT pros are tasked with configuring a set of IP video surveillance cameras in less than four minutes.

Several conference attendees took a break from the show floor to avail themselves of massage services. The "Show Special" included a 30-minute massage, including optional foot rub, for $40.

Cisco bused conference attendees over to Universal Studios Orlando for a big customer appreciation event, including tons of food, rides on the theme park's attractions and performances by comedy/performance troupe Blue Man Group and rock band Barenaked Ladies.

Cisco brought in Evolution, a Journey tribute band, to warm up the crowd before Barenaked Ladies hit the stage at Hard Rock Cafe. Lots of audience members did a double take, as Evolution lead singer Hugo closely resembles former Journey front man Steve Perry. Evolution belted out lots of Journey classics, including "Any Way You Want It" and "Don't Stop Believing."

Cisco Live attendees packed into the theater at Universal's Hard Rock Cafe, eagerly awaiting a concert by Barenaked Ladies.

Barenaked Ladies hit the stage (dressed, of course) and delivered their trademark mix of humor, improvisation and alternative rock. Band co-founder and lead singer Steven Page also sported his personal trademark: dark-rimmed glasses.

Co-founder and singer/guitarist Ed Robertson shows off his skills. He also delivered the breakneck vocals in one of the bands biggest hits, "One Week" to open the show.

Keyboardist/guitarist Kevin Hearn (center) won over fans by donning one of the black hats Cisco had given out everyone at the party. The night also marked a milestone in Hearn's personal life: the 10-year anniversary of his triumph over cancer.

Band members picked up on several of the themes of Cisco's conference. Here, Ed Robertson brings up an audience member to strum his guitar while he plays the chords in his own version of collaboration. This is much cooler than using wikis.

Barenaked Ladies bandmates Steven Page (right) and Kevin Hearn jam together on stage during the concert, which featured fan favorites such as "The Old Apartment," "Pinch Me" and "Brian Wilson."

Front man Steven Page plays to the crowd. Many fans lucky enough to be near the stage got to touch Page as he reached into the audience several times for handshakes and high-fives.

The band ended the night with their popular wishful thinking anthem "If I had $1000000," which included a long riff on how problems of limited bandwidth could all be solved if Cisco Systems would just team up with Crisco Sytems to provide a little lubrication.

Barenaked Ladies strike a pose, and then proceed to hold it for about a minute (left to right): Kevin Hearn, Steven Page, Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan and Tyler Stewart