As 2011 comes to a close and 2012 begins, we continue our commitment to partners: to your profitability, to building the best partner programs, and ensuring that Cisco remains at the forefront of technical innovation.

What happened this year? Glad you asked! Watch this one-minute video recap of 2011.

Keep reading for event highlights, news links, replays of broadcasts, and notable quotes from this year. Plus, share your holiday traditions with us!
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Tags: architectures, Cisco, cisco live, cloud, edison peres, john chambers, keith goodwin, marketing, partner, rob lloyd, social media, velocity, virtualization, William Shatner

Last week, we held a TweetChat with Cisco’s new Global Partner Marketing VP Amanda Jobbins.

During the hour-long Twitter session, we covered a lot of ground--Amanda’s Partner Marketing priorities, new campaigns for partners, what she heard on her listening tour with partners, and ways that Cisco is helping partners use social media.

We also learned some interesting factoids about Amanda and how she’s adjusting to life in the United States after living in the U.K.

If you missed the chat, we’ve got a recap of what was discussed, including Amanda’s answers to some great audience questions. This is the first of many discussions Amanda plans to have with partners and wants to continue the dialog to ensure that marketing programs reflect what partners need. You can send along questions and comments to her directly @amandajobbins.

We started the chat off with a few interview questions for Amanda to warm up, then answered audience questions:

Q1: What are your key priorities for Cisco Partner Marketing?

@amandajobbins: I have 5 goals: brand/value, online/social communities, marketing enablement, demand marketing, & ecosystem.

Two additional driving principles: communications & partner insight.

Q2: Cloud is the word on everyone’s lips…how are you helping partners market cloud? Read More »

Tags: amanda jobbins, campaign, cloud, marketing, partner velocity, services, social media, twitter, velocity, VP

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 »

Tags: air sandwich, new how, nilofer merchant, social media, velocity, virtual partner velocity, vps

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.

These are the keys to a company’s success, according to Nilofer Merchant, speaker, Harvard Business Review columnist, business strategist, and author of the book The New How: Building Business Solutions Through Collaborative Strategy.

Nilofer is the next Virtual Partner Velocity speaker on the topic of “Igniting Performance” and in her hour-long session, she will:

• provide actionable ways to leverage the best ideas within your company
• show you how to create a clear vision
• offer tips for collaborating effectively
• provide tactics for co-creating success
• and how you can ensure the entire company is invested in an idea

In short, how to put some meat (or for vegetarians, perhaps some cheese or peanut butter) into that dry air sandwich.

Want to participate in the broadcast? Find out how to sign up. Read More »

Tags: air sandwich, new how, nilofer merchant, social media, velocity, virtual partner velocity, vps

On Tuesday October 18, we held a live TweetChat with best-selling author and presentation guru Nancy Duarte, CEO of Duarte Design. (She created the presentation you see in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth.)

During the hour-long chat, Nancy shared a truckload of sage presentation advice, tips on how to spread ideas, tell stories, and ensure the next time you present, your audience will be truly riveted. Thanks to everyone who participated in the chat and congrats to Cisco partner @CapNetSols who won a signed copy of Nancy’s book Resonate.

If you’d like to watch Nancy’s Virtual Partner Velocity video covering this topic and how to truly resonate with audiences, the replay is here. (And be sure to take the survey after you watch Nancy’s video to get your copy of her most recent book “Resonate” and for your chance to win an iPad 2.)

And now, for a full summary of the TweetChat. (You can also visit our TweetChat room to view the transcript.)

To help facilitate discussion, the @PartnerVelocity Twitter handle asked Nancy 10 prepared questions. There were plenty of great audience questions as well, so for easier reading, those are posted after the Q&A along with Nancy’s Golden Nuggets and tips.

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Tags: Cisco, nancy duarte, partner, presentation, tweetchat, twitter, velocity, virtual