Monday, June 28, 2010

Cisco Live! 2010

Here is a shot from the window of my hotel room in the Mandalay Bay Resort. If you are an airport junkie, you couldn't ask for more. I remember when this was all vacant lots and way past the end of the Strip. When I was a student pilot, I landed at McCarran International Airport in a Cessna 172. It was a long walk along Tropicana Drive until I was able to get something to eat. Now, it is a very busy eight lane road with lots of hotels and casinos. This particular cross country flight sort of stands out in my memory since I got a load of water in the gas from the fuel truck. Must of drained out almost a gallon. Pretty scary as a student pilot since I wasn't sure it was all drained...

The Cisco Live! conference is, as usual, a wonderful training opportunity. The signal to noise (content to marketing) ratio is very high and the only real negative being the location. Last year, it was held in San Francisco and I enjoyed that venue much more. Here, it is over 100°F outside, smoking is permitted everywhere, and it is very loud. Many people, not all, seem either rude or drunk when you venture out from the casino but, in spite of all that, it is a great conference. Many folks are looking forward to the customer appreciation event to be held Wednesday evening. Someone named Smashmouth or something like that....

(Here is some motorcycle related content) This afternoon, I talked with a vendor who mentioned that his BMW GSA is sitting in the garage all packed waiting to head for Alaska as soon as he gets back to Colorado after this conference. He is also planning to stop at the BMWMOA rally in Redmond, OR, on the way north. Another vendor was raffling off a Honda dirt bike.

4 comments:

  1. For several years I have wished my employer would allow me to attend Cisco Live but alas no love.

    Smashmouth would be worth hearing. BMW and Honda is as close to a motorcycle is as close as you could get? :)

    -Peace

    ReplyDelete
  2. The same vendor raffling off the Honda this year, raffled off a Road King last year. They blamed it on the economy.

    IMHO, CiscoLive! is worth it but then again I used to teach CCNP classes for our Cisco Academy at the university as well so I may be biased.

    Thank you for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been to Cisco Live didn't really love it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Richard:

    I don't think LV is my kind of place. I don't gamble, I don't drink, but I do EAT. We landed there because of the cheaper flights, and rented a car because most all rental companies give unmlimited miles as gamblers don't drive anywhere. we then headed to Route 66 and the Grand Canyon. We had a most excellent buffet at the Orleans, only on Tuesday nights "seafood" night.

    I can't remember the name, but we stayed at that old hotel which used to be on the Mandolay location, many years ago.

    glad to see you are having fun at the convention

    bob
    Wet Coast Scootin

    ReplyDelete