Pulling Out All The [Human] Network Stops in Router Launch

On the Business Communicators on Second Life Blog, contributor Linda Zimmer writes, " Cisco walked the walk yesterday by putting the brand squarely into the virtual spaces its next-generation router will power.

"Cisco went all out launching the ASR 1000, a new router technology that combines the new Cisco "Quantum Flow Processor" with a secure, scalable, compact, router.  In essence, this is the network router that was built to power the Internet of Web 2.0+, virtual reality and our emerging visual, instant and media-rich applications (read high bandwidth applications)… 

…"Here they have a new technology link in the chain that keeps us all connected, and Cisco actually launched it using all the very "stuff" that is driving the need for this technology – visual, rich, social, sharable media.

Yes, there was the big event in Second Life sporting everything SL has to offer: a music festival, streaming video, streaming audio, a cool "Quantum Shift experience" build, a launch announcement/presentation in SL, including the unveiling tour of the virtual Quantum Shift information space, and in-world "social press" interviews with Cisco executives.

And then there were the:

• Flash-based micro web site with sound effects and video vignettes of network "uber users"
• Video clips of uber users posted to YouTube
• Creation of the tag "uberusers"
• Flickr pool
• EdgeQuest Flash game
• Facebook Support Group for Uber Users Internet Addicts (546 members), with embedded videos, photos, EdgeQuest game link, discussion board invitation to submit Top Signs You are an Internet Addict
• Online video broadcast launch events with Q&A in 19 languages (I believe there were three)
• Three "follow the sun" Telepresence sessions for international customers
• A web widget (although I have not been able to view it in my browser)
• A social media press release
• Customer videos in the Cisco newsroom
• Podcast in the Cisco newsroom

"So, the Quantum Shift collaborative 'narrative' begins. From a 'virtual marketing' perspective, the narrative is a key "best principles" element.  Cisco planted the seeds and integrated the methods for a collaborative narrative to emerge – not around the product, but around an idea.

"Clearly Cisco is marketing a product – how successful the product will be is a function of many market factors.  But the "idea" transcends the ASR 1000 – and that is where Cisco has it all right – understanding the importance of narrative for its customers, and for its success of its product marketing.

"The ASR 1000  "idea" is: we’re all happier when our networks work better…

…"Cisco is clearly committed to the value of direct connections for itself and for network users at all levels.  Cisco fosters community and deep listening relationships with their customers – and their customer's customers. Webster suggested it is the consumer who is leading the charge forcing new technologies and behaviors into the enterprise rather than the other way around. While this presents new challenges for the enterprise, it also means the influence of the customer goes well beyond 'the conversation' and reaches deep into the enterprise.  Cisco embraces that influence strategically.

"Renaud believes 'talking to customers has been priceless' for Cisco in finding new markets for the company.

"Second Life alone has proved to be a learning ground for innovation for the company, according to Renaud, but it is only one channel Cisco uses to build its various communities. Webster says that SL is simply another way to engage its customers and ‘if it is important to our customers, it is important to Cisco.'

"Cisco will be participating as the narrative plays out in the connected marketplace. They are using the human network to empower the human network, so that we each can use it in our own personal ways. Yes.  We're all happier when our networks work better."

Web 2.0 Should Overcome Language Barriers

Writer Jose-Luis, in his blog LA 69.G writes, " 'Welcome to the human network', the Cisco corporation's tagline, should not come as a surprise in these times where the Web continues expanding and finding more applications. From a technical point of view, it is a slogan that makes sense coming from a networking and communications technology company. But, what do they mean with 'human'? Do they only mean 'English speaking humans'? Why the language barriers are impediments for a real human network?

"As a non-native English speaker, who has lived in English speaking countries, I know that watching their TV gives me an idea of what is their present culture and everyday life. Of course, I also know that this vision is biased by the filters that the broadcasters, the media and the governments apply to it. That's why the Web has come as a valuable space where individuals are writing, singing and speaking their thoughts.

"I find the development of Web 2.0 fantastic but I also have noticed an important piece missing in the development of this human network: THE OVERCOMING OF THE LANGUAGE BARRIERS. My observation is based on my belief that you only can understand your neighbor if you understand their background. And it's many times their language what shapes that complex thing which makes them be what they are and how they see you. For this network to be really human, it needs to provide a way to overcome cultural and language limitations, of course, without annulling them."

Getting Collaboration Right

In his blog IT Strategy, a blog that explores "harnessing information technology to create and sustain competitive advantage for businesses," author Raj Sheelvant writes, “While other traditional companies are unsure on how to deploy and use collaboration, interactive technologies (aka Web 2.0), Cisco is internally deploying interactive Web forums like wikis and blogs; IM; interactive 'teamspaces' and videoconferencing and telepresence -- a life-size, high-def, multiple-screen system for face-to-face meetings among users in multiple locations. By 'eating its own dog food', Cisco is branding itself as a game changer again.

"I believe Cisco is more in tune with collaboration opportunity the global networking 'cloud' has created. It will only accelerate the productivity in coming years because of the network effect.

"The race is on for the companies to get 'collaboration' right which in turn will enable them to build complex talent-based competitive advantages that competitors won't be able to duplicate easily. Kudos to Chambers for seeing this opportunity and positioning his company to take advantage of huge collaboration infrastructure investment by all companies in near future...Cisco's collaboration strategy is bombastic yet realistic and it will reap huge benefit because of its belief in the future of 'human network'."

Bringing People Together on Valentine's Day

Blogger John Earnhardt, contributing to The Platform, the official blog of Cisco, shared his advice for connecting on Valentine’s Day. He writes, “There is a vocal part of the populace who says that technology disconnects people from other people. They say that being head-down in a computer is no way to connect with other humans. To this, I say, "Hogwash." I'll speak personally here, but I know that there are others who are in the same boat. I have never been MORE connected to family, friends and colleagues. Through e-mail...and other collaborative and 'connecting' technologies, I know what a heck a lot more of my peeps are doing now than ever before. So, on this Valentine's Day, I say, connect with your universe through technology...I met my wife online some four years ago and couldn't be happier. Happy Valentine's Day, Bella!!"

At the Heart of the Human Network

GaLi is a 16-year-old living in Kosova, who enrolled in a networking course in early October through Cisco's Networking Academy. In his LifeIsWord Blog, he writes, “This course provides a hands-on introduction to Networking and the Internet using tools and hardware commonly found in the Home and Small business environment.

"In today's world we are all connected. People with ideas can communicate instantly with others to make those ideas a reality. Everyone has a chance to connect, to share and make a difference. As participants in this human network, we are more powerful than any on us could be apart. The human network has changed the way we live, learn, work and play. Therefore, sharing, collaborating, and discovering new ways to work together are at the heart of human network. Computers play and increasingly important and nearly an indespensable role in everyday life."

A New-Found Passion for Work

On his blog, Mes Pensées, Brent Austin of Cisco writes, “I'm not sure what it is, but I have this new found passion for work. Currently, I'm sitting outside of Michael's Gelato on University in Palo Alto. I've watched the Cisco videos a couple of times, and it really has driven me to want to achieve wondrous things within Cisco. How better to show to the world that Cisco is THE company, than to drive innovation in our own enterprise and showcase it to other companies. That's the goal. I'll keep you posted."

The Next Bold New Idea

David H. Deans, contributing to the AlwaysOn Blog, writes, “In a sea of multi-play product launch sameness, how can a forward-looking broadband service provider (BSP) deliver something truly unique and remarkable for their customers? That's the question that I considered as I prepared my entry for the Cisco Connected Life Contest.

"...I prefer to avoid the obvious topics, and use my deep-domain knowledge to propose something off the beaten track -- so to speak. That's exactly why I decided to tackle the issue of service delivery platforms (SDP), and more specifically enhancing the consumer experience in a distinctive way.

"I believe that multi-play service offerings are typically conceived from an inside-out perspective -- the typical BSP marketer often starts from the point of view of revenue generation, instead of customer needs or wants. No wonder then, that BSP offerings look so much alike, or are similar to their newfound competitors in the pay-TV sector.

"I have previously commented on the Cisco 'Human Network' campaign, which to this day I commend for its apparent vision and timely introduction. I suggested a greater degree of public engagement, and they have clearly responded with the very outgoing Connected Life Contest.

My entry submission is entitled, appropriately I believe, the "Digital Lifescapes" concept.

I don't know the total number of submissions that Cisco has received. Regardless, I applaud them for soliciting bold new ideas -- from their broad constituency base. Encouraging the addition of complementary video content was actually a bold move, since it's still quite rare within the world of B2B public relations.

"…It is said that the simplest ideas to implement are often the most valuable. If the notion of delivering an adaptive all-in-one personalized single channel isn't profound, then perhaps it will be offered by a forward-looking BSP very soon. Always the optimist, I remain hopeful."

The Human Network Generation

Nick Hopkins, on his MBA Blog, on BusinessWeek writes about his Cisco experience. "Seems like just yesterday I walked into Cisco ignorant of the whole technology world. Now I leave realizing the true power of Web 2.0 and how social networks are going to change the world we live in, and how marketing is going to completely change as well, so we had better get on board. With things like Tivo allowing people to skip TV commercials and striping them of some of their importance and blogs bringing new meaning to word or mouth advertising the whole marketing world is changing before our eyes.

"The business world is changing. Social networks are going to shape the future and the way marketing is going to go forth from now on. I am scared all my experience in marketing research will become irrelevant soon with all the networks available now. As long as an older generation still exists that refuses to adopt technology and computer, I guess direct mail and other older marketing tools we have grown to rely on will still have a purpose, but who knows for how long. The times are a changing, welcome to the human network."

Following the Network Rules?

Ray Podder, on his GrowBlog, writes "The human network is more than a brand position for Cisco. It's real. We experience it everyday. It should be obvious because "The nature of information is biological". [Peter] Drucker said it, and so have numerous others who see the obvious connection. Irving recently posted this thoughtful piece on the nature of networks and changes emerging in the IT industry.

"That's a vision some of us can see and work towards, and we try with our respective thoughts and innovations. Unfortunately however, the myopic focus on next quarter's earnings is still the prevalent mantra in the business world. Industry-changing innovations that honor the network dynamic often don't make it (I know that all too well 1st hand)"

Virtual Blog for Cisco?

On his blog, Viralavatar writes, “Crisis or not,"Second Life"goes on... and also the agencies and the brands that are in! The last one is Cisco, that has created a virtual blog.

"If the claim of Cisco is 'welcome to the human network,' well, maybe in the next future it will be "welcome to the (virtual) human network.' "

The Changing Concept of Community

Andrew Pitchford, in his blog is "Trying to Make the Web a Safer place." He writes, "A lot of people feel that the global push for technology has isolated individuals. The fear is that we have become disconnected elements rather than a cohesive community…"

"Now Grandma emails the grand-kids and senior citizens are blogging their life stories or chatting with old school friends they found on social networking sites. The concept of community is changing. We don't gossip over the back fence, we do it over fibre optic lines. We don't hear the latest news from the Market fish monger's wife, its delivered via RSS. We can't rely on the town busy body, that's Wikipedia's job.

"So, as we change and reconnect the question shouldn't be 'How did we disconnect' but 'Why aren't we more connected'? "

Human Network: Walking the Walk

T.C. Doyle's blog "Emerging Times" explores emerging market economies and the impact technology has on them. Doyle writes, "More indication that people are embracing, 'The Human Network,' the slogan that Cisco adopted as part of a complete new corporate identity and branding campaign. Since then, people both inside and outside the company have wondered whether the idea would be understood or embraced, and, moreover, whether the world would see Cisco as a company that connects people and not just things.

"The fact is, Cisco, and others, already play significant roles advancing the Human Network, especially in far flung places such as emerging markets. For example, Cisco's team of experts are helping nations including Azerbaijan, Dominican Republic and Ethiopia map out a national ICT strategy and agenda. Cisco helps with everything from health care to e-government to education. And that's separate from the training it provides to thousands upon thousands of students in its more than 2,000 Networking Academies in the emerging markets theater that spans 130 nations. Courses taken in these facilities are helping men and women qualify for jobs that, in some cases, pay as high as ones requiring university degrees."

The Changing Media Landscape

In the News@cisco blog, public relations manager John Earnhardt writes, "Back in May, Walter E. Hussman, Jr., the publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, bemoaned the business model of giving away content for free. His op-ed (in the you-have-to-pay-to-read Wall Street Journal, of course) was entitled "How to Sink a Newspaper" and his lead paragraph states, "One has to wonder how many of the newspaper industry's current problems are self-inflicted. Take free news. News has become ubiquitous, free, and as a result, a commodity. Anytime you are trying to sell something that becomes a commodity, you have lost much of the value in providing that product or service."

Newsgathering is expensive and you don't have to poll any newsroom in the world to know that what is being asked of journalists is changing. They have to blog, they have to appear on camera, they have to do podcasts, they have to take their own pictures for their stories. They are becoming multimedia engineers as well as journalists. Some of this was recently discussed at Cisco's New Media Summit.

"In a word, the media landscape is changing. The ability of the Internet (and blogs) to personalize the information you want to get is making it tough for an analog business (newspapers and magazines, see: Business 2.0) to attract the ad dollars when the eyeballs are increasingly turning digital.

"[People] now contribute content for free to the network...or human network, if you prefer. You may have heard of Yahoo and Reuters efforts here and more seem to be catching on. To be sure, professional journalism needs to continue and flourish and we, as a society, should support it with our pocketbooks because an independent press is vital to our checks and balances system as well as our speaking-truth-to-power system (see; Dowd, Maureen).

"The answer to how news continues and flourishes in the future hasn't yet been figured out, but as Mr. Hussman points out in his commentary, 'The newspaper industry wonders why it is losing young readers. Those readers might be young, but many of them are smart, not to mention computer-savvy. Why would they buy a newspaper when they can get the same information online for free?' "

Evolution of Product Marketing

LaSandra Brill, in her blog, writes about "how many products evolve and end up very different from the original idea or conception." She writes, "All of these products have changed for the better. So what happened? What redefined the original purpose of these products? We did! Not 'we' as marketers but 'we' as people and users of these products.

"The rules of the game have changed. Traditionally this process is redefined with a select group of beta customers. Feedback is gathered and the product is refined and sometimes redefined entirely.

"By taking the initiative to bring our customers into the development process we can get to the unexpected sooner. Cisco's human network campaign sums it up nicely, "Welcome to a place where an idea is created by one, tweaked by many and shared with the world. Where collaborative applications are rewriting the rules of business."

The Future of Social Networking

Blogger and information systems scholar Aaron Curtis writes, "What if each person in the world had an addressed electronic device with wireless connectivity that served as a router on the Internet?

"Individual social networks would function as address lookup tables to route messages from one individual to another. Such a network would be more redundant than the backbone & hub modeled Internet we currently rely on, but it would also be more capable of self-healing. In such a day, I think Cisco would finally have a legitimate reason to rename the Internet into the Human Network.

"...I believe that social networks will evolve along the same path the telephone networks did–from a collection of closed networks of subscribers to a specific provider to an interconnected network based on standard protocols. Instant messaging applications are gradually moving in that direction."

Human Network Should Differentiate Cisco

In his Marketing Musings blog, Steve Poppe writes, "Cisco's advertising campaign is very well produced. In fact, the production is so good it hides the fact that the idea is weak. The implied strategy of Cisco's 'human network' effort is to showcase all the good that happens over the internet and take credit for it. As the Internet infrastructure market leader, Cisco has decided to put a human face on the Internet and reap its benefit. It’s their way of showing Cisco is not a 'cold technology' company and that applications drive technology.

"The problem with glorifying humans, their actions, ideas, and deeds in your advertising is that you don’t differentiate the product. You celebrate it but don’t differentiate it. Certainly this builds awareness, familiarity, and a degree of loyalty, but the real kernels of differentiation that bind consumers to you are lost."

Cisco, We've Been There All Along

Maureen Rogers, writing for the, Opinionated Marketers blog shares her ideas about the human network as well as her own human network story.

She writes, “Well, nobody knows better than a blogger that the Internet lets you make connections in a new and exciting way. "But welcome to the human network?

"Come now, Cisco. Hasn't there been a human network all along? I mean, go ahead and take credit for helping with the connect-up part of things. And I guess I can't blame you for trying to put a human face on hubs, routers, and load balancers. But we were all part of the human network well before Cisco sold its first piece of wire."

She continues, "Okay, maybe I'm not all that great, but the human network did make me possible. I don't want to bust Cisco that much for their campaign. It's hardly the most egregious case of marketing hypes I've ever seen...But welcome to the human network? Thanks, but we've been there all along."

I Am Connected, Therefore I Am

Cisco's Alan Cohen, contributing to the Cisco Mobility Blog writes about mobilizing the human network. "If Descartes lived today and wrote about Mobility and the Human network, he might say: 'I am there, connected, even when I move, therefore I am.'"

"Generationally, I think we are currently seeing a movement where folks under 25 are particularly adept in bringing their digital experience into full-body contact with their day-to-day personal lives, wherever and whenever we go. The growing access to pervasive high-speed wireless networks simply becomes a steroid in this emerging interaction.

"If this idea makes you uncomfortable, remember the words of the great Beat writer Jack Kerouac on changes in society: 'All of life is a foreign country.'"

Re-Imagine Cisco: The Human Network Voice

In his blog, Digital Lifescapes, David Deans shares insights about the Human Network voice. He writes, "The site's introduction says "When we're all connected, great things happen. Join us and see how life on the network is changing life as we know it." However, most of the content on the site is highly polished storytelling which applies the predictable voice of professionally edited marketing communications.

"I believe that it's ironic, because this campaign strategy is really a legacy marketing approach that’s used to describe a unique and unconventional phenomenon — ordinary people using communications and digital media composition tools without the intervention of professional journalists, videographers or PR spin-doctors...

"I believe that Cisco's message would come across as being so much more authentic if they made the story submission process less formal, and more inviting. They would attract more unsolicited interest, like this commentary, if they demonstrated a greater degree of public engagement...

"The real human network isn't filtered. It isn't edited. There is no predictable spin. That's how the essence of authentic realism comes shining through. Therefore, I challenge Cisco to not only re-imagine their business model, which they have clearly done, but to now also re-imagine the human voice that they apply throughout their content within this microsite."

Influencing the Global Economy

Katie Ledger, in her blog, "The Positive Human Network" shares how communication is changing the face of the economy. “Forrester Research concluded in a 2006 report that increasing person to person communication is impacting the global economy. It is said that your power is in the people you know, not the product you sell. It is changing society as people depend less on cultural intermediaries - media, businesses, and other mass cultural groups.
"So what will you do with your Human Network this week?"

High-Definition Networking

Cornell Info 204 blog contributor Dasturias had some thoughts on TelePresence. He writes, "Cisco has recently started... facilitating the building of human networks. One of their newest technologies is Teleprescence. Cisco claims that 60% of all communication is body language which is lost in regular video conferencing.

"This causes many of the upper managers in global companies to spend a good portion of their time catching their next flight instead of doing work at the company. This puts them in a spot of less power in the social network of the company, when they should have more power. In addition if the manager is responsible for groups in India and England, and the US, and splits his time flying between the different groups, he now has less power in all three social networks.

"This new tool allows him to spend more time with the different groups, and have more follow up meetings with clients all over the world..."

Human Consumers: Arena that Matters Most

Ron E., a contributor to the BrandCurve blog calls the Human Network campaign "A bit of a dramatic title for some long overdue news."

He writes: "Cisco is a great technology company delivering some brilliant products and services to companies out there. However for the past couple of years it seems they forgot that even behind big companies, humans are the ones running the show, making the decisions, and calling the big shots. Perhaps that's what they've realized now and are turning around to be a more human and down-to-earth brand that can service and excel with anyone out in the world."

Social Networks Will Define Media Consumption

Erica Ogg, a writer for CNET attended this year's Digital Living Connections Conference where Cisco's media solutions expert Dan Scheinman spoke about how "digital media is disrupting the tech and entertainment industries." Ogg writes: "Usually that means talking about networking standards and media servers, but Scheinman's recommendations, instead, were a bit more pop culture than geek culture.

"Though it may sound like an activity relegated to high school and college kids, social networking is going to be the avenue for marketers and media companies to reach consumers and enterprise customers alike, Scheinman said. The technology and entertainment industries are both being forced to change the way they do business because of what have mostly been consumer-oriented technologies."

Global Trends in User-Generated Content

Telecoms in Latvia blogger Juris Kaža, in Riga, Latvia, interviews Cisco Baltics manager Piotr Pluta at Cisco Expo 2007 in Riga. about the Human Network strategy, and the future of mobility and social networking.

Anticipating Hurdles

David H. Deans, on his Digital Lifescapes blog, attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and shares his insights about Cisco in the consumer electronics market.

He writes, "Cisco must address two key hurdles in order to implement the Human Network vision demonstrated at this year's CES in Las Vegas: resistance to open technology standards from service providers and maintenance of its lucrative returns in the face of wafer-thin margins and plummeting prices in the consumer electronics market.

"However, if the Cisco plan succeeds the field would be open for a wave of newcomers to exploit the potential of open digital IP platforms to support successive waves of device innovation, transforming today's competitive environment."

A Digital Networked Society

In his blog Meadows-Klue on Media, Danny Meadows-Klue shares his insights on digital social networking. He writes, “The era of digital social networking is still only in its infancy. In spite of the frenzy of activity in the European media industry over the last two years, we're only at the start of the next wave in change of communication models. Another case of 'you ain't seen nothing yet!' The idea of 'user generated content' is still novel because it's so unfamiliar to so many.

"Fast-forward five years and we'll neither be interested, nor aware of it any more - not because it's a transient fad, but because it will have become so pervasive that we'll see it as simply how we contact people and how we communicate. For almost ten years I've been talking about the digital networked society, and what this DNS will really mean in terms of change: it's hard to even comprehend how different our world will be."

Inspiring Concepts

A contributor to A Media Circ.us blog, who attended a lecture, "Driving Interactive Marketing," with speaker Julie Roehm, shares concepts from the event. "Below is the abstract about what her talk was about, as well as a video she played that I had never seen before. Here are some concepts from the video that I particularly loved:

• A New Way of Getting Things Done
• The Human Network
• Body Language is Business Language
• People Subscribe to People (not magazines)
• Drag and Drop People Wherever They Want To Go
• We are more powerful together than we ever could be apart"

Best in Class, from Interactive Media

The Interactive Media Council has awarded the Cisco Human Network with Best in Class honors in its Interactive Media Awards competition, in the categories of Data Networking and Web Design/Development. The competition is open to individuals and organizations involved in designing, developing, managing, supporting and promoting websites. Nominations are accepted from around the world from Web design firms, advertising agencies, and corporate marketing departments, as well as individual Web designers and graphic artists.

"A Living Brand"

On the InteractiveMarketingTrends Blog, Giles Rhys Jones writes that Cisco has taken user-generated communications "to the next level, with a constantly evolving definition of their brand."

"The campaign involved multiple channels to communicate their positioning...Initially they asked key luminaries to define the Human Network, [and] these were posted on their site, and consumers were asked to rate each one. The best were used as the [starting] point for a wikipedia entry...A living brand."

Subscribing to People, Not Magazines

On his e-learning blog, "elearnspace: learning, networks, knowledge, technology, community", George Siemens starts a discussion about blogs, and the concept of "subscribing to people, not magazines." He writes, "When I subscribe to someone's blog, I'm really subscribing to them. The content they write about today will be obsolete soon...but as long as they keep writing and reflecting, I learn from them."

Human Storytelling

A contributor to the blog on iContract, an India-based marketing agency, considers a few products of social networking. The contributor writes, "The Human Network takes advantage of the current trend of social networking, with sites like MySpace, Orkut, Friendster. A visit to the new Cisco website reveals some wonderful examples of the human storytelling. Try out the global art collaborative, The Broth. Or Knacktion that lets people show off their skills and sell their talent."

Technology Can Have a Dramatic Effect

Steve Clayton, Geek in Disguise, writes about his visit to the Human Network site, and what he thought of the story about blogging philanthropy.

"Despite being a marketing site with product stuff mixed in there, they do a great job of telling stories of how technology changes lives. We could learn a lot from the simplicity of this site," he writes. "Cisco's site is dedicated to showing how this technology can have a dramatic positive impact on lives. The stories are moving and inspiring."

Thoughts on the Online Collaborative World

On her blogspot, Ah..Ha! [Thinking Inside the Blog], Nimmy recounts what she believes could have been the precursors and trend-setters of the collaborative online world, and possible implications. In addition, she writes, "Ages ago, people spoke about the world coming together. People spoke about the global village. The internet certainly has what it takes to create a global village and it is doing so in many ways. People are finding each other, helping each other, sharing with each other, working together….all through the internet. The Human Network and many other such initiatives are undoubtedly some things that will influence the future of the world."

"The Rules of the Game Are Changing…"

On the InfoSpaces site, blogging while attending the Italian Cisco Expo 2007, Emanuele Quintarelli shared his insights on the Human Network.

"Blogs are a socially connected network of opinions, relationships and conversations. Blogs are instruments to develop partnerships, brands and contacts. The blogosphere is a composition of different dimensions represented by the variety of topics discussed by the community," Quintarelli writes.

“The bottom line is that we are all part of the net, like human components of a global, ubiquitous, and instantaneous platform. The rules of the game are changing and very quickly.”

Words in Human Network Advertising

John Breslin, on his blog, Cloudlands, shares some differences in Cisco’s advertising. He writes, "The optimistic statement 'where anything is possible' has been replaced by the slightly more realistic 'where possibilities are endless.' "

There Are Only Participants

Touchstone’s contributor Chris discusses the “social web.” He writes, "The Human Network means that there is no more audience. There are no more users. There are only participants. Participants in a human scale network … They create their own original information, entertainment and art. They remix their own version of mainstream pop culture – copyrighted or not. They post their thoughts, publish their fears and fact check every announcement. They share with their friends and discover the quirky and interesting, making it an instant blockbuster – at least for 15 minutes."

Wikipedia: Human Network Defined

In the Wikipedia the online encyclopedia “everyone can edit,” the Human Network is defined as: "the social structure composed of individuals, friends, collaborators or other organizations connected through technology using a variety of devices - personal computers, mobile phones, gaming consoles and PDAs."

Classroom Collaborators

Helge Scherlund, on his eLearning News Blog, posts an article by reporter John K. Waters, who examines wireless networking in schools, and how the technology is increasing collaboration among students.

Websites Show Human Network in Action

Jeff Burkett, on his Media Landscaping blog, talks about the sites you can link to from the Human Network site. He writes, “I didn't quite get the concept at first glance, but after walking through the sites I have a strong grasp on what they are trying to convey...and it feels good.”

Human Network: Not Just Jargon

BL Ochman thought the “Human Network” was all jargon and clueless content until he toured the site and was led on what he calls a “wonder-filled tour of some truly extraordinary projects ...” He also claims the site misses a crucial element: a blog.

Considering the Effects of the Network on Education

Jeff VanDrimmelen, on his EduTechie.com blog, after catching a few Human Network commercials, shares some astute insight with fellow bloggers on how the network has transformed education and the possible need for educational reform.

He writes, “Education is about information, education is about collaboration, education is about communication, and there is nothing that makes it easier, current, relevant and prevalent than the internet. As educators, we should embrace this change and use it to learn, grow and teach better.”

Capturing “Warm, Happy Moments”

On his blog, Questioning Reality, host David comments on the Human Network. He writes, “Cisco pretty much nailed it, as far as I'm concerned, with their portrayal of the benefits and highlights - those warm, happy moments - that this new ‘interactive, web 2.0 culture’ can bring about.”

Author-Driven Content: Is It “Total Marketing”?

The author of ChasNote, a blog that highlights “metrics, successes, and flaming disasters in digital marketing,” writes that the Human Network further illustrates the impact of “author-driven” marketing.

Bringing Web 2.0 to Life

A contributor to the ThreeMinds blog at marketing agency Organic, says the Human Network helps brings to life everything we associate with Web 2.0. Organic blogger Virginia M. Alber-Glanstaetten writes, “Cisco is no longer a physical network to be taken for granted, but the powerful facilitator of human contact and connections.”

She also toured the Human Network site. “People are invited upload and share how the 'Human Network' helped them achieve something that once had seemed impossible. I found this a clever way to engage people in Cisco's concept of the Human Network.”