Networkers 2009 - The Barcelona Experience

7 months after my visit to Networkers in USA/Orlando, i visited Networkers in Europe/Barcelona this time. Different continent, different county, different city, different experience, same ranking model.

Category    Grade  Comments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hotels        A-   I stayed at a non-Cisco hotel, but it was very good
                   for its price. It was also only 15 mins walk 
                   from the CCIB. The only drawback was that wifi access
                   wasn't free.

Buses         B+   I don't think there were buses from hotels to CCIB,
                   but the buses from CCIB/hotels to the appreciation event
                   did help a lot during the transportation. They could be useful
                   for the CCIE party too.

Conference    C+   CCIB was good, but i expected something better (especially after
Center             my visit to Orlando).
                   The session rooms should have been more (so AC Barcelona 
                   wasn't needed; very small rooms there), techtorials & labs should
                   be made in normal rooms and not under "tents" (you could hear 
                   the other adjacent speakers) and WCs seemed not enough.
                   Also, in some rooms lighting seemed more than needed.
 
Training      B+   I tried to follow the usual 2 categories : 
                   MPLS/VPLS & Carrier/Broadband.
                   Besides a French speaker who was hard to understand,
                   all others were great. Techtorial (Ethernet OAM) was very well
                   presented, 4h lab (PfR) was very interesting (i met a c-nsp guru
                   there), 2h lab (Nexus) was entertaining (but short).
                   Since i made my reservation one week before, most of the
                   "interesting" sessions were full at that time, so i subscribed 
                   for other less interesting. But, as it proved out, many seats
                   were available during the actual "interesting" sessions.
                   Cisco must do something to verify seat availability (some hours
                   before the session?) and provide realtime information (while in
                   session?), because it's a shame to be forced to schedule wrong
                   sessions (since the right ones are booked in advance) and some
                   minutes before to wander around looking for free seats in the
                   right sessions.
                   Also, online scheduler should provide an option to add alternative
                   sessions too (regardless of their availability), so you can always
                   have a quick look at your desired schedule.
 
Meet the      -    I didn't attend one, since i found the needed cisco engineers right 
Engineer           after their sessions.
Sessions           

Food          B+   I didn't try breakfast (i had one at the hotel),
                   but lunch had good variety and quality. Fruits and vegetables
                   were great.
                 
Snacks        A-   Snacks were delicious, dessert was top!

On-Site Help  A    Helpful staff, there were everywhere, answered most of my 
                   questions. 

Cisco Store   -    I didn't have time for this (but i "got" some books from 
                   session speakers themselves and one by a friend).
    
Conference    D    A supermarket bag would have been better! 
Bags               I still wonder whose idea it was to give this hard-plastic made bags.
                   Is it the crisis that caught Cisco too? I was lucky enough to have
                   brought my own bag, otherwise i would have been bored picking up
                   my notes from the floor (as many others did). 

Registration  B+   Besides the usual session guides and an ethernet cable (!) by the
Pack               event's official cable partner, CCIEs got a nice CCIE label pin
                   (with the new logo) and a CCIE kind-of-wallet (i'm still trying
                   to figure out how to put euro banknotes in there; or does everyone
                   use credit cards nowadays?).
                   Also presentations should have been given in USB sticks
                   (not everyone has a CD/DVD player on his netbook).

Internet      A-   I had my EeePC and wireless was ok on every spot i tried.
Access             PowerStations was a very nice idea, but more should be provided.

World of      -    I didn't have time to check it thoroughly. Many Cisco booths, many
Solutions          interesting products.

Food at WoS   A    Excellent snacks (i found time for this, because i met some
                   friends there and got stuck :-P )

CCIE Lounge   A+   Excellent idea! Much quieter and less crowded than other areas.

Certification B+   Nice room, but a little bit cold (why do they always keep it in
Room               such a low temperature?).
                   The procedure before the exam was quick 'n' easy (although they
                   couldn't find my previous photo; is this how Cisco will fight
                   proxy test takers?) and it was a very good chance for me to
                   recertify my CCIE for free.

Chambers      A    As usual an excellent speech by John Chambers, 
Keynote            plus a very interesting EnergyWise demonstration.
                   This man knows how to capture attention.

CCIE Party    -    I was tired at that day, so i didn't attend it. Nevertheless,
                   i believe they should have made it nearer the CCIB,
                   or have buses for transportation.

Customer      B+   The party at HyperLife was quite a strange one. I would say it
Appreciation       proved better than expected, although i would have enjoyed
Event              more live acts. Snacks and food (from around the world) were
                   a nice and clever addition. Basketball acrobatics was the best show.

Green Agenda  A+   A great idea forming into action! I'm just wondering whether 
                   recycled badges will be used for future events :-P

Overall       B-   This was a very good networking event, but i think i'll stick to
                   the one in USA. Besides the longer travel times, if you manage to
                   book a flight and hotel early, their price difference should be
                   negligible. But generally, if you want to mess with the best class
                   of cisco engineers, don't miss the networkers events!

Btw, Cisco should have more strict policies regarding the usage of its engineers' usb sticks. I got a usb stick from a speaker in order to copy to my laptop an extra presentation and i found some -hidden- passport & id card scans into it! I guess someone should inform them to be more careful about where to store their personal stuff.

CCIE Label Pin

PS1 : During the event i met and had great time with Greg (etherealmind) & Jeremy (packetlife). Greg is the type of guy who has done almost everything in his career and he is not afraid to change his way of living in order to do more. Jeremy, on the other hand, is much younger (his photo can confuse you), but with a very bright future that he's looking forward to meet. Both were excellent companions during the event and i wish it would last longer (sorry guys for leaving early the last day, but i had a job to finish). See ya around.

PS2 : I also met Maria (a former colleague), who passed her CCIE SP written the last day, during the last hour (keep on rocking girl!). I hope the 100€ dinner recompensed her for the 1 hour of waiting ;)