An Amazing Week at Cisco Live US

Whew! What a week. Cisco Live 2019 was one of the most intense, active event overall, especially for the Cisco Developer community, Cisco DevNet.
So a lot happened and was announced at the event. From Chuck Robbins MainStage mention of the DevNet certifications, to Network Automation, to AI/ML at Cisco.

Apart from the keynotes and announcements made at the corporate/press level, let’s take a closer look at some of the cool things that happened in the trenches.

One of the main highlights of the DevNet Zone was the Cisco certifications area. At the DevNet Zone, the certifications area was buzzing the whole while. At first the curiosity of what exactly “DevNet Learning” was all about and once the announcements were made on Monday morning, the buzz around certifications continued. Every hour the Learning at Cisco and DevNet team members were conducting information sessions and Q/A around the new certifications track to ensure that all attendees were able to get responses to their concerns or questions around the certifications update, including the DevNet tracks.

DevNet’s Ryan Rose talks about the new DevNet certifications
in the DevNet Zone at Cisco Live US 2019.

Right next to the certifications space was the highly interactive demo area focusing on building applications and automating the network. 14 demos in total were included in the space, showcasing the latest around augmented reality, machine learning, collaboration, Meraki, and network automation. Excitement sparked around the space as various group demos were shared with the audience, including a game around surfing demos which the audience eagerly completed in return for a visit to the candy wall.

The Start Now theater was overflowing at all times as beginning coding 1001 and 1002 sessions took place. With a raffle to excite attendees attending these sessions and special giveaways to boost excitement, we noticed a lot of excitement with attendees eager to get started. Several attendees flowed into the Meet the Developer space, another new effort at the DevNet Zone. Here the attendees were able to obtain info about DevNet, about ways to get started beyond the Start Now theater or even obtain more in-depth info around projects they might already be working on. The schedule was completely filled with various walk-in consultations as well. Another new buzz was the design thinking space with workshops and in-person sessions. The area was swamped all the time as attendees explored how DevNet can help them in the Design Thinking space, and especially in network automation.

Various Cisco group takeovers of the DevNet Zone also created buzz. The theater filled up as attendees were eager to learn more around topics like Cloud, ACI, Meraki, IoT, and Cisco DNA Center. Each takeover included giveaways, snacks and a special activation around Devvie’s backpack challenge where the groups had special prizes in a backpack for the audience to guess the weight! Attendees eagerly entered the raffle for a chance to win the prizes within each backpack. At the end of each takeover, the winners were announced with their guesses closest to the actual weight of the backpack. Tons of excitement filled up the air as the prizes were given out daily. the CUBE team was on site covering various segments in a live coverage of the event.

DevNet SVP/CTO, Susie Wee, joins Jeff Scheaffer, VP Product management and Strategy, to kick-off the Cisco DNA Center takeover in the DevNet Zone.

The tablet teaser challenge at the Sandbox space was also eye catching and exciting for all the attendees as crowds gathered there each day, attempting the challenge and trying to win lego sets as prizes!

Along with all activity at the DevNet Zone, DevNet was also seen in various other spaces around the entire CLUS event. One space of course was the World of Solutions at the Learning at Cisco booth. Another was the Shogun Partner booth with a special raffle giveaway as well as the Cisco Podcast domain with the Cisco Champions group. DevNet Developer Advocates were invited to the Podcast domain to record podcasts with the influencers on various topics including UCS, Meraki, and network automation. Stay tuned as these podcasts are released.

The influencer related work did not just stop there! Tech Field Day 2019 was also happening at CLUS this year and DevNet did not miss the spot there either. Sachin Learning Workbench was the topic discussed at the Tech Field Day session this time round with Ashutosh Malegaonkar, Principal engineer with Cisco DevNet, discussing the latest efforts, innovations and use cases that DevNet is involved in around AI and ML.

To extend the arm further, the DevNet team and Champions were also invited to the whisper suites to meet and greet with the future wireless innovations team led by Matt McPherson, CTO wireless, to explore the various efforts happening around the partnership with Samsung, Intel, and Boingo. The champions were then able to meet with Susie Wee, SVP/CTO of Cisco DevNet, to share views and experiences that would eventually shape the efforts planned within DevNet.

Wow! Thats quiet a spread don’t you think? This was by far the biggest spread for DevNet. From the Main Stage keynote on Day 1 to all the efforts around the venue, DevNet was found everywhere! You can follow post event updates as we continue to gather the updates and post the slides of your favorite sessions (or one’s you missed) as well as video interviews and more.

Thanks for visiting us in the DevNet Zone!