On May 4, we are planning to talk with Brian Dickinson, our friend and Cisco engineer, from Mt Everest’s Base Camp at 17,500’. You can register for that free WebEx event here. In the meantime, we are following his journey there and back. Late last week, he arrived in Katmandu. All photos are courtesy of Brian Dickinson.

On March 24th, we met Brian Dickinson via WebEx before he left for his Mt Everest climb. In that session, we learned about Brian, his Navy background, his passion for extreme sports Read More »

Tags: Brian Dickinson, Cisco, Extreme, Mt Everest, sports, WebEX

Guest Post from Bonnie Ho, Collaboration Product Marketing Manager at Cisco:

28. That is how many days I’ve worked in complete silence…not saying a single word.  As a product marketing manager here at Cisco, my days are typically filled with back-to-back meetings and talking regularly for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. I know you’re probably wondering two things: Why did I do this? Or more importantly, how was I able to do this?

I was recently diagnosed with vocal cord nodules, which is a mass of tissue that grows on the vocal cords due to strenuous voice practices. Those who use their voice constantly are susceptible to getting this, including teachers, singers, politicians and apparently Cisco product marketing managers.

My doctor recommended 4 weeks of complete voice rest to allow the nodules to shrink away and fully recover. Being the social person I am, and knowing how my job requires me to talk constantly, how was I ever going to survive in the workplace without talking for 28 days?

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Tags: Cisco, collaboration, Voice, WebEX

“Let’s dance!”

As a young executive working for the German media company Bertelsmann, I was part of a team that was asked to make some substantial organizational and technical changes in our New York City office. In mid-December we brought all the employees together for a big holiday party and end-of-the-project celebration. I was attending the party with a manager who had just come over from our German headquarters. Although we had a wonderful band and a large dance floor, no one was dancing.

The party was not going well.

Suddenly my German colleague stood up, reached out his hand to me and said firmly “Debra, dance with me!” I was a bit self-conscious (being the sole couple dancing) but soon people got up and joined us and the party took off. As the song ended my colleague and dance partner gave me some advice I have never forgotten.

He said, “Debra, when you lead, you must lead in all things!”

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Tags: Cisco, collaboration, WebEX

Google’s Android operating system is one of the hottest names in mobility right now. According to a Feb 9 Gartner report, “In the [worldwide] smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android grew 888.8 percent in 2010 and moved to the No. 2 position.” No other mobile OS grew anywhere near as fast as Android.

So it makes perfect sense that Cisco should be a part of the growing Android ecosystem. We are pleased to announce Cisco WebEx Meetings for Android and Cisco Mobile for Android.

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Tags: Android, Cisco, collaboration, WebEX