A dream come true, career highlight, Disney Land for Network Engineers was my initial reaction as we entered the RAI on the Monday evening to register for Cisco Live, after briefly seeing The Hub and checking out the map of the site I was overwhelmed with the excitement at the thought of a week packed full of Networking with likeminded people and some of the deepest technical dives into the latest and greatest technologies. Full of hope that my questions would be answered, and my grey areas coloured in, I was ready for the long days ahead of me. Two years in the planning and with COVID on the back burner, myself and the Starfish team (Apart from Kyle, welcome baby Myles) finally made it. Cisco Live 2023 at the RAI in Amsterdam!
Now you know my initial reaction; I’m writing this to share my honest experience of my first Cisco Live, share the things I would do again, the things I wouldn’t, the tips and tricks we found out about along the way as well as an overview on the sessions I attended, the free exam I failed and some of the knowledge I gained. If you’re planning your first trip for 2024 then maybe this will help you make the best of your first Cisco Live experience, or maybe you’ll decide not to bother.
Although this was my first trip to Cisco Live, In a previous role before Starfish Virtual Labs I worked in the Netherlands and it’s a place that is close to my heart, I’ve been to Amsterdam a few times before and already expected to have a few near misses with bicycles, a lot of walking in cold February weather, I know the difference between Coffee Shops and Cafes, I’ve experienced hit and miss Debit Mastercard payments and I know that Albert Heijn is an awesome supermarket. I’ll start out with a quick one on our journey, hotel, and travel before going #ALL IN on the Cisco Live part.
Quote of the week: “We’re Vendor Agnostic we’re not ALL IN.”
The Journey
We left London St Pancras on a direct Eurostar to Amsterdam Central Station around 11:00, for anyone that’s used Eurostar before you’ll know the Wi-Fi is awful, don’t expect to be online for a few hours. We arrived after a 20-minute delay at around 16:30.
It was a 20-minute walk to the hotel from Central Station, so we got a taxi. Although we probably should have walked. The one-way system around Amsterdam meant this was a lengthy drive and a €40 Euro taxi. However, the taxi guy was a good laugh, he was big into Destiny’s Child “Bills Bills Bills”.
The Hotel
We stayed at The Royal Amsterdam Hotel, it was clean, comfortable and had everything we needed, I couldn’t comment on the food or bar as we opted not to eat or drink here. The area we stayed in was Rembrandtplein which during the weekends is all about a party, during the week it was mellow but had ramped up by Thursday night. This was the best of both worlds, close enough to walk 40 minutes to the RAI with the option of Tram or Metro with plenty of places to eat and go out during the evenings. We opted for Taxis on our return trips back to Rembrandtplein after our days had ended, this worked well and was a short journey to drop our bags before heading out for evening meals.
The Rai
The venue was huge and comprised of multiple session rooms, lab areas, The world of Solutions where the sponsors sit, The Hub which had Cisco Secure, DevNet, Sustainabeelity, Capture the Flag and Tech Sessions among others. There was a lot of free food and drink available throughout the days as well as areas to relax and catch up on any work. The portions of food were always small which meant you could walk and eat which was great for maximising time around The Hub and The World of Solutions, although this did mean I ended up having 3 lunches most days, plus cokes, muffins, and coffees.
Monday
Monday, we arrived in good time at the hotel but had some delays checking in and then again at Starbucks and finding a taxi, so we were close to the 19:00 registration cut off for Monday night by the time we arrived at the RAI. We made it just in time, we needed our QR code from the Cisco Events app and our government issued ID, we all used our passports, it’s a requirement to have your Cisco Pass and your government issued ID when entering the event at any point during the week. The staff also informed us that if we lose our Cisco Pass its 50 Euros for a new one, although we did find out if you forget your pass, you can pay 50 Euros for a new one and then return the pass the next day and get your 50 Euros back.
Once we had our badges, we collected our free Cisco Live bag and Cisco Live water bottle, these were available for Full Conference attendees. Cisco have driven the sustainability piece heavily this year which meant no free pens and merchandise (I’m told this is different to previous events).
The free bag looked great but by the time I had made it back to the hotel the elastic had come apart and one of the zips had broken. The water bottle is cool, and I can see it getting some good use.
