This will be my 4th Cisco Live and 2nd in sunny Las Vegas. Here are some things I’ve learned the not so easy way.

1. Cisco Live registration had a soft opening again this year, with people being able to register as early as February 27th (and by people, I mean I did) while official registration didn’t open until May 9th. This has been a pattern now for the last couple of years and if you missed the soft opening (or didn’t know that they even do soft openings), that’s your first lesson. Be aware and ready to register without a lot of notice. Why that’s important, is my second lesson learned.
2. With registration being open, so are hotel bookings, and the convenient hotels can fill up quickly. Last year I stayed at Mandalay Bay and since the conference is in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, it was incredibly easy to get to my early classes, go back to my room when I wanted without taking too much time away from my day, and get to and back from the customer appreciation event. If you can snag a close hotel, it will make your quality of life during the conference so much better.
3. Speaking of quality of life, everyone will tell you to bring comfortable shoes, because you will be doing a lot of walking around the convention center. Walking to breakfast, classes, lunch, merch store, world of solutions, social media lounge, etc. However, if you’re going to want to see Las Vegas while you’re there, it’s going to take the walking to the next level. Having been to Cisco Live Orlando and Cisco Live San Diego, nothing can prepare you for just how compact yet spread out the Las Vegas strip really is.
4. If you do plan to see the strip, if you can, just go out at night. The lights are amazing, the people are…interesting, and if you’re anything like me, you’re really there to geek out on everything networking during the day. It’s hot, dry, and loses a bit of its glamor in the day light. This year I’m going to skip the chapped lips and sun burned bald spot part of Cisco Live.
5. Get a twitter. I know, something something Elon Musk. But platform and politics aside, so many people use twitter at Cisco Live to tweet updates and things happening that following the #ciscolive hashtag is really beneficial. You might even make a friend or two, and really when it comes down to it, social networking and collaboration is really one of the most important things to get out of Cisco Live.
6. Talk to people! You never know who you’re sitting next to at lunch, or while waiting for the next class to start. It could be someone who works with a product line you’re thinking of deploying like what happened to me. We are all nerds here and peers. It’s time to grow your network, and not the kind we are used to.
7. The celebration they have the night before the last day, on Wednesday is the thing to not miss. It runs pretty late, 7:30pm until 11:00pm and has free drinks and food all night. There is usually really good entertainment in the form of a band playing. Last year was Dave Matthews and he killed it. However, try to not schedule an early morning Thursday session if you can. You will be feeling the aftereffects.
8. Don’t fill your schedule to the brim with classes. Take some much-needed time to explore the world of solutions, devnet, and social media lounge. You’re going to want to get the most bang for your buck by getting as many classes as possible, but you’ll be doing yourself a disservice by not getting the full conference experience.
9. You can get CE credits (continuing education credits) for attending Cisco Live and seminars! These include Technical Breakouts (BRK), DevNet Workshops (DEVWKS), Instructor-led Labs (LTR), and Technical Seminars (TEC). The number of credits you receive vary based on the session type and level. Visit the CE program website for details.
10. Take your free certification exam. Even if you’ve never studied a day in your life for the exam, take it. It will give you a glimpse of the test questions, how the exam is laid out, and might even build some confidence for the next time you take it.
11. Last but not least, the C word. Covid. Last year I came home from the conference with Covid and so did a lot of my social connections that I made. Cisco is asking everyone be fully vaccinated and suggesting wearing a face mask, but none of it is required. My take? I’m fully vaccinated but probably won’t wear a mask even though I got it last year. It’s a personal decision that everyone has to go with, but just use your best judgment and know that there is a chance you come home with a not so great parting gift.

That’s my big non-technical take aways from Cisco Live Las Vegas. Be sure to keep an eye on when sessions can be scheduled. A great place to monitor and start doing that is…ahem…twitter. I’ll be announcing when they open as soon as I know. Give me a follow and I’ll see you all in Las Vegas!