Cisco is a great company – they have many wonderful products and services plus the company seems to treat its employees like family. It also knows that customers are what keeps it in business because without paying customers you do not have a revenue stream. Plus, Cisco realizes that customers sometimes know a thing or two about products and technologies. This is one of the reasons that the Cisco Champion program is so awesome. It is a way for Cisco to recognize individuals that do not work for Cisco but still share a passion for technical products and technologies.
A lot of Cisco Champions have written about why they decided to join the pgroam. My story may be a little different. I feel that it started in 2015 at CiscoLive in San Diego. This was the first year I went to CiscoLive by myself. Because I had been on Twitter for about a year at that time, I was already familiar with the CiscoLive social media team. This led me to the tweetup on Sunday. Almost immediately, I met quite a few interesting people that I ended up hanging out with that week. The following year, I followed the same course of action in Las Vegas. But that year one of the Cisco staff thought I was in the Cisco Champion program for a brief second – this was the first I had ever heard of the program so I looked into it. Of course, when I read that it was for technical evangelists (and I knew some of the people in the program were a lot more technical than I) I immediately assumed that I was not Champion material. Trying to compare myself to some Champions that are Cisco Press authors is kind of daunting.
At CiscoLive in 2017, one person in particular (Kim Austin @ciscokima) “harassed” me all week about being in the program. She learned some things about me through my time at CiscoLive. She knew I had a good understanding of the technology and that I enjoyed learning new concepts. Plus, that was the year I was asked to speak at the New to CiscoLive session hosted by Cisco for first timers. So, after I got back from CiscoLive and I saw the posts about joining the program, I decided to give it a shot. What was the worst thing that could happen? I would get rejected but I would still go on with my life.
Well, I did get in and let me tell you that I am so glad that I did. Over this past year, I have gotten some pre-briefings on future products, interacted with some of Cisco’s technical and managerial staff, and met some really wonderful people from across the globe (at least virtually). Cisco hosts some private chat rooms (through Cisco Webex Teams, of course) where we discuss interesting topics and get some technical insight from other smart people. Of course, it is not always technical stuff we discuss. Among other topics, I have discussed and seen pictures of kids, pets, and food – who knew that some of these incredibly technical people had many other talents? Plus, the snark is strong with many of them.
So, if you are even somewhat knowledgeable about technology, take a look at the program. A good post about the program can be found at https://community.cisco.com/t5/cisco-champions-public-documents/cisco-champion-program-faq-updated-october-2018/ta-p/3732770. Take a look at eligibility requirements – it does not state that you are an “expert at technology” but rather describes that you are a technical evangelist. Really, it is about wanting to inform others about what you know technically – wanting to teach. I got into writing this blog to help others. Sometimes my topics come from having to do too much research. I can put my experiences down here for others to review. That is being a Champion – wanting to better others when it comes to technology.
I am proud to call myself a Cisco Champion.