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Cisco Live 2018 is just around the corner in in June from the 10th – 14th in Orlando, FL.  Hard to believe it has been just about a year since the last “Geek Summer Camp” of Las Vegas, NV.  There is still time to register for the discounted price – if you are reading this and have not registered, might want to do that as the 1st discount expires on March 7th.
Once again we are back at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fl.  This is a HUGE convention center location, so be prepared for lots of walking between sessions.  This is a welcome change from Las Vegas, NV – while I do love when the event is in Las Vegas due to the nightlife and restaurants, being a little closer to my home on the East Coast is welcomed.

Leading up to the event there are always a few cool contests that Cisco Live runs, and this year is no different.   These are the current contests that I am aware of, you may find more at the Contest site.

  1. Registration Sweepstakes
    – Participants publicly indicate they registered on Facebook for a chance to win a photo opp with the Guest Keynote speaker.- Participants indicate they registered on Twitter for a chance to win a photo opp with the CAE performer. Multiple entry posts allowed
  2. Facebook Caption Contest
    – Starting in April, there will be five weeks of opportunities to add captions to the weekly photo for a chance to win prizes.
  3. Blogger Contest
    – Share your views, opinions, best practices, scoops and everything else with the blogosphere and world.


It seems we are sticking with tradition this year for the CAE as we are at Universal Studios Florida.  As expected, the CAE is on Wednesday, June 13th from 7:30p-11:30p.  The night will include food, drinks, rides and a festival of music (to be announced).  It makes me think back to the 20th Anniversary Networkers event – we had a blast that year with bands.  Fingers crossed ( and I will share more on that when I have more to share.)
One thing that has been added this year for the CAE, is that starting at 6PM your band will also allow you access to Universal’s Island of Adventures theme park.  This access is non-exclusive, so you will need to mingle with the regular folk.  When you think of it, it is not a bad way to spend the time before the CAE actually starts – get in some rides and fun before the rides and fun begins! One note here, the shuttles will start at 7PM, so if you want to go earlier you will need to cab/uber/lyft/etc to get there.
 

In keeping with Cisco Live’s give-back every year, this year for the social responsibility portion of the event we will have a chance to build a pi-top.  Never heard of it, well neither had I until today.  A pi-top is a build-it-yourself laptop powered by a Raspberry Pi!  There will be 500 pi-tops available for assembly during the week and each of these units will be notated to NetAcad schools in Flordia.
 

Oh, My Word – the Guest Closing Keynote speakers this year are OUT OF THIS WORLD!  First up, we have Dr. Michio Kaku who is a Theoretical physicist and futurist. He is someone that most of us have seen on TV at one time or another, I am looking forward to his talk.  I am sure that his recent book, The Future of Humanity, will be mentioned as well as discussed during his talk. We also have Amy Webb who is a quantitative futurist with strategic foresight.  Her recent book, The Signals are Talking, will be worth a read before her keynote.  Whatever all that means, I think it just means that this will be one of the most educational and forward-looking closing keynotes we have ever had!
 
See you in a few months!