Legacy: Something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. — Merriam-Webster
Cisco Live 2024 is in the books. I could recap all the announcements but that would take forever. You can find an AI that can summarize them for you much faster. That’s because AI was the largest aspect of what was discussed. Love it or hate it, AI has taken over the IT industry for the time being. More importantly it has also focused companies on the need to integrate AI functions into their product lines to avoid being left behind by upstarts.
That’s what you see in the headlines. Something I noticed while I was there was how the march of time has affected us all. After eighteen years I finally realized the sessions today have less in common with the ones I was attending back in 2010 than ever before. Development and advanced features configuration have replaced the tuning of routing protocols and CallManager deployment tips. It’s a game for younger engineers that have less to unlearn from the legacy technologies I’ve spent my career working on.
Leaving a Legacy
But legacy is a word with more than one definition. It’s easy to think of legacy as old technology or technical debt. But it can also be something you leave to the next generation, as the definition at the top of this post says. What we leave behind for those we teach and lead is as important as any system out there. Because those lessons persist long after the technology has fallen away.
For the first time that I could remember, my friends were bringing their kids to the show. Not to enjoy a vacation or to hang out by the pool. They were coming because it was time for them to step forward and lean and make connections in the industry. Folks like Jody Lemoine, Rita Younger, Martin Duggan, and Brandon Carroll shared the passion and excitement of Cisco Live with their older children as a way to help them grow.
We’re not done with our careers yet but we are at the point where it’s time to show those behind us the path. It is no longer a race to consume knowledge as quickly as possible and put it into use. It’s about helping people by leveraging our legacy to teach them and help them along the way. Our group welcomed the kids with open arms. We talked to them, shared our perspectives, and made them feel welcome. We showed them the same courtesy that was shown to use years before.
Inspiring Others
The legacy of Cisco Live is more than just teaching the next generation. It’s seeing the way that the conference has transformed. I will admit that my activity on social media is a pale comparison of what it used to be. The face of Cisco Live is now influencers like Lexie Cooper and Alexis Bertholf that have embraced new platforms and found their voice to share content with others in a way is comfortable for them to consume it. The number of people that want to read a long blog post is waning. Concepts are communicated in short bursts. That’s where the next generation excels.
Seeing people running across the show floor to meet new creators like Kevin Nanns reminded me of a time when I was doing the same thing. I wanted to know everyone that I could to learn as much as possible. Now I get to see others doing the same and smile. New face are meeting their heroes and building their communities. The process continues no matter the platform. People find their voice and share with others. Whether it’s a podcast or TikTok or a casual conversation over lunch. It’s about making those connections and keeping them going.
Tom’s Take
That’s where I started. That’s why I do it. To meet new people and help them build a community. I have my community of wonderful Cisco Live people. I have Tech Field Day. I have The Corner, which is my most lasting Cisco Live legacy. I’m excited to see so many people passing their legacy along to the next generation. I love seeing new faces in the creator space popping up to share their stories and their journeys. Cisco Live will be in San Diego in 2025 and I can’t wait to see who shows up and what legacy they’ll leave.
