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WOW! That is what I have to say about what Social Media has become at Cisco Live US.  A few years ago –  back in good ole 2011 –  we started our “tweet up” at a paltry table in Las Vegas and nicknamed it “Tom’s Corner.”  Why Tom’s Corner –  because Tom (@networkingnerd) was always there it seemed like! It quickly became the place where all of us on Social Media would meet-up after sessions, between sessions, or just wanted to chill out.

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That little spot grew in 2012 to a nice little corner in San Diego, CA Cisco Live.  We had a few couches and some power strips, they did have drinks for us on occasions, but it was just a little corner that we had.  It was an official “tweet up” area, but not so much in the center of the attention. Actually, we where in a far off corner of the event, but that was actually nice as it allowed us to be social and just hang out.

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That year the turn-out was not bad either, here is our group-photo from that year.

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Now for Cisco Live US 2013 –  and WOW did Cisco out do themselves!  Cisco went all out to embrace the Social Media group. Cisco had a nice desk for their staff to work from as well as a video wall with statistics behind the desk. This video wall contained the top Tweets, leader board for contests, and other social media related information.  Below is a picture of the Social Media Hub from Cisco Live 2013. The social media attendees had a really nice area with couches, chairs, and charges.  It was right in the middle of everything –  and that just helped to let people know about this part of the event.    As you can see from the image below, it was quite an impressive setup!

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Do you know what else was impressive for Cisco Live 2013? #CLUS started to trend on Twitter!  So much so in fact that Cisco had to work out a special arrangement with Twitter!  Now THAT is impressive!!!

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And the social media turn-out, just AMAZING!  This picture right here shows you what this event can be about –  networking and friends.

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So what can we expect for 2014?  I am sure what we experienced last year and much more!  Cisco has seen that Social Media is a big part of the event –  we have brought Networking back to Networkers Cisco Live 🙂  This year we should have tables in the lunch area marked with balloons or some other way to easily identity them (they tried card on the table last year, but I don’t think we ever found them), there may be another photo scavenger hunt, and who knows what else we can expect!  I do know this –  the Social Media Hub will be in Moscone South!

Few other quick things – Cisco Live is running a few contests RIGHT NOW that you can participate in.  They have a Blogger Contest for $50 Amazon Gift cards; a Facebook contest for a FREE 4- hour lab or technical session; a Twitter contest for a backstage pass by following @CiscoLive on twitter and tweeting a certain Tweet.  You can see all the contest information here: Cisco Live Social Media Sweepstakes

Here is a Presentation that was done for Cisco Live 2013 Social Media that compares 2013 to 2012. To see the page that this was posted on, you can click here –  Raising the Bar at Cisco Live 2013

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