Partner Summit 2008

We are excited to share many new initiatives at Partner Summit 2008 to enhance your overall experience and help the environment. Here is what we have planned:

Cisco Partner Summit 2008 is taking extra measures to minimize our impact on the environment, particularly in the areas of reducing consumption, being good to the environment, recycling and reducing emissions. Some of these measures include:

Reduce Consumption

• Using InFocus during all meetings rather than printing handouts
• Publishing downloadable conference guide on the Internet
• Reducing or eliminating give-aways
• Using biodegradable containers for crew meals
• Reminding vendors/staff in staffing offices to put systems to sleep when not in use
• Setting Internet station systems to sleep when not in use (laptops use 90% less electricity when asleep)
• Reducing A/C and lights during load-in and when unnecessary (Hawaii Convention Center has a sophisticated computer system in place to monitor and control)
• Printing double-sided wherever possible
• Providing option for partners to decline the printed program guide
• Providing water upon request only (where applicable)
• Using china rather than disposable paper products for partner meals
• Providing marketing collateral as downloads
• Providing water stations and compostable/biodegradeable cups instead of water bottles

Good for the Environment

• Offering vegetarian meal selections (vegetables consume less land base and energy to produce)
• Using bamboo/corn husk/sugar cane or other or biodegradable service ware (staff meals)

Recycling

• Donating florals post-event to a hospital, hospice center or retirement community
• Donating any floral, fabric, and miscellaneous re-usable decor items remaining after the April 10 Global Event to Sheraton's non-profit and civic partners such as the school programs
• Donating scenery (from events and program) to local schools whenever possible
• Reusing or recycling sets
• Reusing carpet from crate lining during move-in/out on smaller stages until no longer useful (donate to schools and public organizations)
• Using low VOC paint for scenery
• Recycling foam to be repurposed as carpet pad for scenery
• Recycling all marketing communication materials (extra program of events, program guides, signage, badge holders)
• Using soy or vegetable-based inks and recycled, chlorine-free paper
• Using recycled papers for program of events and program guide
• Donating unused food to local shelters (via Hawaii Convention Center)
• Recycling all trash at Hawaii Convention Center
• Donating any remaining quality food from the April 10 Global Event to Starwood's non-profit partner Aloha Harvest for delivery to local social service organizations

Reducing Emissions

• Composting unusable leftover food portions or shipping to a local farm as pig feed
• Providing multi-passenger coaches rather than individual taxis (one coach with 7 passengers is more fuel efficient than one car with 1 passenger)
• Providing organic, locally-grown sustainable foods where possible

Additionally, you can do your part to “go green” by supporting these initiatives whenever possible and by participating in the green programs offered by the Honolulu hotels.

In response to Partner requests to have presentations available immediately following sessions, this year presentations will be available daily beginning Wednesday, April 9th. While on-site presentations will be accessible at any Internet station laptop within the Hawaii Convention Center. A simple USB flash drive is required. Presentations will also be accessible by visiting: www.cisco.com/go/partnersummit

One of the top priorities for business leaders and Cisco employees who attend Partner Summit is networking; networking with Cisco executives and networking with each other. Networking is one of the most powerful ways to cultivate professional relationships, explore business possibilities, and share information.

Responding to your feedback and requests, Partner Summit 2008 introduces Partner Network, a new tool to facilitate networking for you. This opt-in, on-line networking tool is designed specifically to help you learn about fellow partner attendees, Cisco executives and employees, and schedule meetings with them before and during Partner Summit. We have provided dedicated networking time in the agenda throughout the event, and have created a networking lounge in the Hawaii Convention Center to help you conduct these meetings.

We urge you to personalize your Partner Summit experience by taking advantage of the fact that many of your colleagues and Cisco contacts are gathered in the same place. Join Partner Network, build your profile, and add even more business value to your Partner Summit experience by scheduling meetings that you couldn't easily schedule anywhere else.

Opt-in now!

Once again, Cisco will be blogging live from the Partner Summit 2008 on The Platform, Cisco's official blog.

You'll see T.C. Doyle, VARBusiness' former senior executive editor, having candid conversations with partners and executives and doing some onsite investigative journalism. We're even going to give our partners and our executives a chance to work the cameras. For those that aren't able to attend the Partner Summit, our video blogs should give you an insider's view of what's happening behind-the-scenes at the event. Visit The Platform in the coming months for opinions and insights from Cisco and previews of the Partner Summit 2008.

To better serve our partner community, we will be extending Partner Summit to our non-attending partners through the Cisco Partner Space virtual environment. The environment will support streaming video of the general sessions, a virtual Technology and Solution Forums (accessible resource to attending partners), forums/blogs, and collaboration features. Check back for more information on how this exciting new opportunity can provide a Summit experience for all partners.

We have expanded our Technology and Programs Breakouts to include three new sessions. These breakouts will focus on our Partners' business priorities and are designed to provide industry best practices and Cisco tools:

BL-101: “Partner Talent Acquisition Program: Helping You Win with Talent”

Thursday, April 10, 11:00 AM; HCC, Level 3, 313 C

Session Duration: 50 minutes

Cisco is committed to helping our channel partners in attracting, developing, and retaining the right talent. We recognize that having the right talent differentiates you and that retaining your talent is critical to maintaining growth and profitability. It is our intent to help our partners build high-performance teams. Join us to learn about industry trends, leading recruitment strategies, and important fundamentals to building and retaining high-performance teams.

This session includes a first-time solution introduction featuring the latest dynamic, innovative, and collaborative technology around talent attraction. Besides attracting talent, we will also show how this same dynamic technology can help you better market yourself in order to attract the right talent. Together we can build high-performance teams, resulting in mutual growth and profitability.

BL-102: “CIO Strategies for the Next-Generation Customer Experience”

Thursday, April 10, 9:00 AM; HCC, Level 3, 313 C

Session Duration: 50 minutes

Cisco IT has the vision to enable every move we make at Cisco with IT. In order to address the increasing rate of change in the business environment and the opportunities inherent in new technologies, we must transform the way we bring together business and technology architectures. Our success will be measured by our ability to deliver productivity, an improved experience, and growth to Cisco, our partners, and our customers.

In this session, learn how Cisco will bring this vision to reality and gain insights about accelerating IT transformations with your customers.

Primary areas we will be exploring:

• Positioning IT as a value center to the business
• Architecture: using the network as the platform data center
• Harnessing the power of the human network through collaboration technologies

BL-103: “Marketing Your Business in a Web 2.0 World”

Thursday, April 10, 10:00 AM; HCC, Level 4, Ballroom A

Session Duration: 1 hour and 50 minutes

Join Cisco's top visionaries on new media such as social networking, blogs, and collaborative spaces. An industry expert will conduct an interactive session about how to use new media technologies to market your business in the Web 2.0 world. In this 1 hour and 50 minute format, we will combine a keynote presentation with live interactive demonstrations to show how you can promote demand, improve your company and personal brand, and build customer intimacy.