It’s time for another Partner Update newscast. This week, Andrew’s feeling a bit hungry and tries unsuccessfully to eat an air sandwich. The concept of an air sandwich is explained in detail during a live Virtual Partner Velocity broadcast with speaker, strategist, and New How author Nilofer Merchant. While the air sandwich may be low in fat and calories, it’s also lacking in taste. In the business world, an air sandwich can mean a company lacks innovation. Grab a real sandwich and tune into this episode of Partner Update to learn how to get rid of air sandwiches.
This newcast’s highlights also include: WebEx and Jabber news from the Collaboration Summit, incentives for partners, SMARTnet service deals, CRN’s Top 100 stars of the IT industry, how to enter our new contest, ways Cisco is helping partners with marketing, a recap of our Twitter chat with Cisco’s VP of Global Partner Marketing, a new free social media ebook for partners, and more.
Keep reading for additional information on the news we covered, links, and time stamps so you can forward ahead to the items that interest you.
What do air sandwiches, cogs, and boxes have in common?
Well, if you attended yesterday’s Virtual Partner Velocity broadcast, you’ll recognize that these are things that companies should avoid using if they want to be successful.
Cisco Vice President of Global Partner Marketing Amanda Jobbins kicked off the broadcast featuring author and business strategist Nilofer Merchant who shared actionable tips on how to ignite performance, spark creativity (versus making “stuff”), and humanize the people within organizations.
Nilofer also shared several examples of how companies create silos within their organizations causing huge gaps and lack of collaboration throughout. Don’t worry, she shared tips on how to close the gaps and collaborate effectively, whether you’re a CEO or just starting your career. Finally, Nilofer spent the second half of the broadcast answering questions that were tweeted in from the audience.
Like what you heard and want to get a free copy of Nilofer’s book The New How? Keep reading… Read More »
Have you ever tried to eat an “air sandwich”? You can probably guess that it’s a sandwich with two slices of bread and nothing inside. Not too tasty.
In business, an air sandwich happens when strategy is decided by a few people at the top with no input from the rest of the company, leaving a gap or a bunch of air in the middle.
And if you look at the world’s most successful companies, they share a few common traits: creative thinking and problem solving, along with a collaborative work environment.
Happy Halloween! Whether you’re commemorating today by telling spooky ghost stories, visiting a haunted house, dressing up in costume, enjoying some colcannon, having a soul cake, or going door to door with the kids yelling “trick or treat!” for candy, have we got a real treat for you.
For this haunted Halloween Partner Update newscast, Andrew and I dress up in costume and cover the news (as always, in less than five minutes).
This week’s headlines include: new innovations across our data center and switching portfolio, Aironet 3600 Series Access Points, a recap of our recent Partner Velocity broadcast covering LinkedIn tips for B2B, details on the next Partner Velocity broadcast on igniting performance and innovation, our 21 favorite mobile apps, how to join our upcoming TweetChat with new VP of Partner Marketing Amanda Jobbins, and much more.
So watch this ghoulish Partner Update, if you dare.
Trick or treat? Keep reading for more details and links to all of the stories we covered, along with timestamps so you can easily find each item in the video.
