SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) stopped calling it an "analyst day" a couple of years ago -- now its annual press-and-analyst gathering, which ended Wednesday, is known as C-Scape.
It sounds like a romantic vacation getaway, but it's about being in auditoriums or meeting rooms for two days, sometimes peeking out the windows at San Jose's "Christmas in the Park" fair going on across the street.
Still, Cisco pulls out all the stops. Most of the top executives attend, and reporters even get to talk to some of them. The demo this year involved live TelePresence -- with live glitches. (See Cisco Fumbles Kickoff and Cisco Fumble II.) And the coffee's actually good.
Cisco Webcasts the whole thing, but we've got a slide set to give you an idea of the atmosphere.
Photos courtesy of Kimberly White/Getty Images.
— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading
Center Stage
TelePresence was unavoidable at the event. Live From London
Erik Huggers of the BBC tells Cisco CEO John Chambers about
the gazillions of petabytes flying around the network.The Cheap Seats
The TelePresence effect was lost on some sections of the audience.
Every one of these people is reading email, by the way.Cisco Drinking Game
Jim Grubb, who's actually called the Chief Demo Officer,
has to do a shot every time Chambers mentions TelePresence.The Man Himself
"Luke, come collaborate with me on the Dark Side."Lunch Break
Cisco SVP Tony Bates talks during a press luncheon.
Notice how rapt the members of the press are. Magnificent Seven
Cisco's new development posse. Left to right: Don Proctor, Ned Hooper, Pankaj Patal, Tony Bates,
Marthin DeBeer, Ian Pennell (in place of Kathy Hill), Jayshree Ullal, and their boss, Cisco's Chief Development Officer, Charles Giancarlo.Talking Shop
Marthin De Beer's karaoke moment.Same to You!
Jayshree Ullal gets the last word (among these photos, anyway).