Cisco Live Celebration (CAE) Hats over the years.

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There is a tradition at Cisco Live (formerly Networkers) to have a unique, event-related hat at the Customer Appreciation Event, as of 2023 now called Cisco Live Celebration! I wanted to share the information that I was able to research on these hats as well as the pictures of the hats over the years. It is my intention to make this an ongoing post that will be updated every year when a new hat is distributed at the event. Some of the photos on this page are some of my own, some from Bryan Baize, others from Don Slice, and yet some came from Cisco Live directly. If you have any additional information you would like to share, please feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment at the end of this post. I can only make this post better and more comprehensive with your help.

If you are looking for the history of the bags, another item that is unique to each event, Tom over at NetworkingNerd has a few years covered. Maybe this will inspire him to find out the rest!

2024 – San Diego, CA – June 2-8

It looks like we are heading back to beautiful San Diego, CA for Cisco Live in 2025.

2024 – Las Vega, NV – June 2-8

Well, 3rd – err 4th time is the charm? It looks like we are heading back to Las Vegas, NV again! Alas I will be m missing it again this year, fingers crossed for 2025.

The band for this year is none other than Sir Elton John at Allegiant Stadium.

The hat was based off a classic Sir Elton John hat and was available in Blue, White, and Green.

Pics will be up soon!

2023 – Las Vega, NV – 6/4-8

Once again Cisco Live is back in Las Vegas, NV at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. This was the first year since 2005 that I have missed going in person, withdrawal is real!

The bands for this year are Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani and it is being held at Allegiant Stadium.

That hat is….a baseball cap that has an illuminated brim. I am pretty sure that the colours included Blue, Green, and Orange.

2022 – Las Vega, NV – 6/12-16

We are back in live and in-person in Las Vegas, NV at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center!

Our bands this year are Dave Matthews Band and Brittany Howard at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV. And the hats is….

2021 – On-line Only – 3/30- 3/31

This event was online only and no physical hat was given.

2020- Las Vegas, NV – 5/31 – 6/4

For 2020 we are heading back to Las Vegas, NV! Just remember – what happens in Vegas gets posted to social media! – The in-person event was canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic, no hat was given.

2019 – San Diego, CA – 6/9 – 13

Happy 30th Birthday Cisco Live! Once again we are heading back to San Diego, CA for Cisco Live. Cisco has some great bands lined up for Cisco Live (Weezer and FooFighters). So to celebrate Cisco has broken out the Birthday Cake Hat with some BIG 3-0 candles on it!

2018 – Orlando, FL – 6/10 – 14

For 2018 we are heading back to the land of heat and humidity, Orlando, FL. It will be 5 years since we have been back – last time we all wore Minions on our heads! This year it is an Imagine Intuitive hat in a Seussical style with flashing lights. Really cool!

2017 – Las Vegas, NV – 6/25-29

For 2017 we are back in Las Vegas, NV again. The CAE will be at T-Mobile arena again and we have the popular Bruno Mars as our headliner! Our hat this year was a Fedora style hat with flashing lights and assorted Super Hero logos. Photo courtesy of Jay Franklin (@jay25f on Twitter)

2016 – Las Vegas, NV

For 2016 we are back in Las Vegas, NV! The CAE this year was held at the brand new T-Mobile Arena. The opening act was Elle King with the main act being Maroon 5.

There were two hats this year, one blue and one white.

2015 – San Diego, CA

The 2015 CAE was held at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres. Our entertainment for the event was Aerosmith and they ROCKED the house! We got some nice hats this year, but they do have a resemblance to the Cisco Live 2005 hats. These hats came in both White and Black. Below is an image of the white one.

2014 – San Francisco, CA

The 2014 CAE was held at AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. And in celebration of Cisco Live’s 25 Birthday, our hat was very well suited! Our entertainment for the event was Imagine Dragons and Lenny Kravitz.

2013 – Orlando, FL

For 2013 the CAE was held at Universal Studios, Fl theme park – and the hat was fitting for a tribe on Minions! Our hats this year were from the movie Despicable Me, a Minion! Our band that year was the legendary Journey!

2012 – San Diego, CA

2012 brought us to San Diego, CA for the event. The CAE was held at PETCO Park, home of the San Diego Padres. In true form, our hat this year was a light-up Baseball cap. I remember seeing Red and Blue hats if someone has a picture of the red hat – please share it with me and I will post it! The band that year, Wheezer!

2011 – Las Vegas, NV

In 2011 the CAE was held at the M Resort in Las Vegas, NV. The hats where amazing, they light up and blinked – looking over the crowd wearing those hats was a great site to see! The band that year, Ok Go and Train.

Courtesy of Cisco Live

2010 – Las Vegas, NV

2010 saw us in Las Vegas, NV again. And in true Vegas form, everybody at the CAE was an Elvis impersonator! Whether we had black, yellow, or blue hair – we all looked like Elvis! This year the CAE was at the MGM Grand Arena and the band was Smash Mouth!

2009 – San Francisco, CA

Whip it good – the 20th Anniversary of Cisco Live Networkers! The hat for this year was a great match to one of the bands that we rocked the 80’s to – Devo! We actually had many bands from the 80s at Treasure Island – some of the other bands included The Bangles, Tone Loc, Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls, and Howard Jones.

2008 – Orlando, FL

Ah, Orlando, FL! Just like 2012, the 2008 CAE saw us over at Universal Studios, FL Theme Park. It is a great place for the CAE – lots of room and just a great time! What was different in 2008, Cisco also had the Hard Rock Cafe for the concerts. This year they had Blue Man Group and Bare Naked Ladies.

2007 – Anaheim, CA

Oh, my, Anaheim, CA memories! The hat this year was a Flaming Top Hat that went well with our CAE event. I will be honest, the CAE was out in the middle of no-where and was quite a bus ride (like 45 minutes!), but it was for good reasons. The band for 2007 is dubbed “The loudest band in the world” – KISS!

2006 – Las Vegas, NV

As you can tell, Las Vegas is a great place for an out of this world Cisco Live event – plenty of room and variety. For 2006, the CAE was over at the UNLV stadium (if I recall correctly). The band for that year, well I do not remember one as they had a great Battle Bot arena instead! That was just cool to watch robots smash each other up!

2005 – Las Vegas, NV

Ah, 2005 – my first Cisco Live event. The CAE this year was held over at the Palms resort and was a great time! I do not recall who the band was, but if you know – please let me know and I will add it.

2004 – New Orleans, LA

For 2004, Cisco Live was held in New Orleans, LA. Where do you put a bunch of party crazy people in New Orleans? The Superdome! The band for 2004, was actually a Cisco Employee band, kinda neat!

2003 – Orlando, FL and Los Angeles, CA

CAE in Orlando was Islands of Adventure Jun 26 (thanks, Joe Haggerty)

2002 – San Diego, CA and Orlando, FL

CAE – Balboa Park and Los Lobos
CAE – Orlando was Universal Studios Jul 10. (Thanks to Joe Haggerty)