Sitting at the airport now at 6am after last night’s CCIE party, with 2 hours sleep, I’m tempted to ask myself, was it worth it…? Absolutely! For those of you that were lucky enough to attend the party, I’m sure you would agree. It’s good to see that once again Cisco is giving something back to the CCIE community - those customers/partners/employees who have always been, and will always be, Cisco’s biggest advocates out there in the market. You know who you are - you think BGP and OSPF are fun, and wake up from a nightmare screaming where the broadcast keyword was left off of a frame-relay map statement

What was the best part of the night you ask? Some may say meeting old friends, making new friends, (drunken) NASCAR simulation driving, or getting the official CCIE beer mug (awesome). Personally I would have to say the best part of the night was when Scott Morris, upon entering, was told at the door that his name wasn’t on the list. After frantically shuffling through the papers at check-in, Scott proclaimed, “I have *4* CCIEs! I should be on *all* the lists!” Needless to say everything worked out, but it was one of those great “you had to be there” moments. A special thanks goes out to the event team that did an excellent job organizing everything, and especially for accomodating those CCIEs (*cough cough*) who didn’t get the invitation email, but were still allowed to attend.

For those of you that Brian and I did get the pleasure of meeting this week and at the CCIE party, thank you as always for your support. If you took pictures at the event last night please email them to me and I’ll post them here on the blog for posterity. For those of you that we missed… San Francisco 2009 is right around the corner!

Keep checking the blog in the next few days for more detailed write-ups on the sessions we attended, including the upcoming CCDE, and for a *very special announcement* that will be posted (hopefully) later today.