I am writing this late, so many details of the week escape me, but I knew I wanted to write something.
I attended Cisco Live US 2018 in Orlando this year. I had so much anticipation leading up to it from the moment it got approved at work. I had first learned of Cisco Live while attending the Cisco Network Academy at my local college. It seemed like a dream that I would never have.
Alas, it came and went. I stayed at a hotel that was about a 15 minute walk from the conference, which was nice. I got ripped off by an Uber driver for the first time while I was there too, luckily I got refunded.
I took my CCNP Switch exam for the first time on Sunday before the conference. I unfortunately got a 706 and needed a 790 to pass. I am sure I could have studied more to pass, and plan on retaking it soon.
After that point, the conference itself felt like a whirlwind. The conference was SO BIG. The sessions were great and I learned a lot. The World of Solutions was also quite impressive. Throughout the entire week I felt like I barely scratched the surface of what CLUS had to offer, and that feeling came early and remained tangible.
I met some great people and got to go to some great parties. I got to see Ludacris at a nearby House of Blues. I got to go to a Top Golf for the first time. I got to go to a Main Event for the first time (the VR zombie game was insanely awesome). I got to go to Universal Studios for the first time, which was a great time, especially seeing CAKE.
Honestly, the thing that was most disappointing was the fact that coffee and snacks were at scheduled times. I WAS EXPECTING READILY AVAILABLE COFFEE ALL DAY. The staff literally set up the coffee stations about 30 minutes before the scheduled “coffee time” and then covered it up with a sheet and stood there until the scheduled time. That was unfortunate because it seemed like every time I wanted some coffee, I either couldn’t find any, or they told me they couldn’t serve it yet.
Ultimately, I am not sure if I plan on trying to go every year, but rather maybe every two or three years.