During the 2009 Oscar Awards, Kentucky Derby and Emmy Awards, celebrities who peeked into their gift bags found samples from Kroma Makeup, owned by renowned makeup artist Lee Tillett.  Headquartered in Maitland, Florida, we develop and manufacture all-natural, botanical makeup products, distributing them through apothecaries, dermatologist offices, plastic surgeons, and spas throughout the United States. Customers can also purchase Kroma products through our online store and from our retail store in Orlando, FL.

Our company is able to remain competitive with multi-billion dollar juggernauts due to the fact the we are light on our feet and that we pay more than the usual attention to customer service.  So that means that any technology that we deploy must be unobtrusive, simple to operate, and enhance our image.  Also, our President Lee Tillett demands that it JUST WORK!  No excuses, no problems.  Thank goodness we partnered with Cisco!  Not only has UC been simple to operate and rock solid, it has even enhanced our competitive edge.  We now can take two laptops anywhere; whether we are at a celebrity gifting lounge or a KROMA launch party and work just as if we were connected with our home office.  The Cisco IP Communicator has been invaluable!  By adding WEBEX to the mix, we have been able to even save money on celebrity gifting by offering virtual sessions whereby Lee consults with celebrities on anything from new looks, custom powdered foundations, or even eyebrow shaping.  As a matter of fact, we have just added virtual sessions to our services card so that clients can get assistance from anywhere. 

Ascolta Virtual, Fusion, and Simulclass are examples of how we utilize collaborative technologies such as Cisco’s WebEx and TelePresence to provide an effective training solution to clients enrolled in our Cisco classes.  These collaborative technologies allow us to transform the traditional instructor led classroom environment into an online virtual classroom with the added convenience of attending from wherever you choose eliminating the need to travel.

Although we have been teaching courses in a virtual environment for over 10-years, delivery technologies like WebEx and TelePresence have vastly improved to provide the student with a much more robust learning environment.  By introducing TelePresence as part of our solution, we find that it enhances the human experience eliminating the “detached” feeling often encountered from other distance learning offerings.  And, as technologies advance so do our instructor’s facilitation skills.   We continue to refine and perfect our teaching methods to incorporate all the tools and resources provided via these technologies to fully maximize the learning process.

By Maurizio Taffone, Business Development Manager, Cisco

There is no doubt that collaboration technologies - from social networking to unified communications and video technologies – offer substantial business benefit and competitive advantage. These range from reduced travel and increased productivity to the ability to create sophisticated virtual enterprises that span continents.

At the same time, however, and as businesses adapt to take full advantage of these tools, security threats are evolving. Staying ahead is vital to ensure that business innovation and development is not jeopardized. With the proliferation of mobile devices and the growing options for work locations, no area can now afford to fall outside of the organization’s security policy. The key is to address all of this without detracting from the business’s agility.

Jeanne Beliveau Dunn, general manager, Learning@Cisco and Himanshu Desai, director, advanced services for Cisco, discuss evolving job roles that map to a new age of video and collaboration.

Watch this video to see how Proctor and Gamble is becoming the world’s most collaborative company and how they’re fostering innovation using Cisco collaboration technologies.

For years, technologists have described the tradeoff between high quality, sophisticated products and those that are available to a very broad audience with the “rich vs. reach continuum.” Central to this concept, of course, is the fact that a product could only offer a rich experience to a very select group of users (often, ultimately, due to cost considerations).

I am a recovering (semi-competitive) mid and long-distance runner. At an advanced age (in my late 20s), I finished my last serious competitive race at 5:20 a.m., skidding a finish line on the FDR expressway in New York, having run the inaugural leg of America’s Ekiden. As part of the Washington, D.C. delegation, we ran the relay race through Manhattan at the wee hours – it was primetime television in Japan – and I finished dead last in my segment when I passed the sash to my anxious teammate. Like all runners, I competed against myself. And I lost. I should have known I was out-classed when I stood behind Steve Scott at the starting line. At that time, Scott was the American record holder in the mile, 5K, and several other feats of running prowess.