Partnership in Action: Creating Connection Through Community Impact With Cisco
By Craig Vario
In May, Cisco ThousandEyes hosted its third annual Partner Connection – an event dedicated to sharing ideas, creating connections, and engaging with our channel partners. This year, in the spirit of collaboration, ThousandEyes partnered with Cisco’s Partnering for Purpose team to incorporate a meaningful giveback element into the agenda.
Seeking the most impactful way to collaborate with our channel partners, we engaged the expertise of a third-party social impact event supplier, Give to Get. They helped to identify potential local onsite and offsite giveback opportunities, ranging from tackling youth hunger and homelessness to supporting the environment and STEM outreach amongst young boys and girls. All activities were designed to directly benefit the St. Petersburg community, where the Partner Connection event was taking place.
The ThousandEyes team ultimately chose the option that addressed youth hunger, and we scheduled a 75-minute Partnering for Purpose session with a meal-packing giveback activity as the last session on day one of our two-day summit agenda. The giveback activity supported the Feed our Future program of the United Food Bank of Plant City (UFBPC), a partner of Meals on Wheels for Kids. Feed our Future ensures that children have year-round access to nutritious meals, crucially during school breaks when access to free or reduced-cost meals provided by the National School Lunch Program is limited.
During the giveback session, Cisco ThousandEyes attendees, alongside channel partners attendees packed 400 snack packs, totaling approximately 1,000 pounds of food. This hands-on activity not only fostered partner collaboration but also made a tangible difference in the lives of local children.
Reflecting on the event, ThousandEyes Global Director, Partner Strategy and Solutions Engineering Tanner Bechtel noted, “I watched jackets come off, sleeves get rolled up, and people use the brilliance they give to their organizations be turned into an awe-inspiring collaborative event for the betterment of people who really needed a hand up. This part—sharing of our time, our work—with humility and kindness—these are the things that matter.”
As the Global ThousandEyes Sales Leader, it was incredible to see how much our partners appreciated this experience. Since the inception of Partner Connection, my team and I have always sought ways to give back to the communities that we visit. This activity provided an opportunity to make a meaningful impact as a team and share the goodness with our partners.
The success of Partner Connection and its giveback element highlights the power of partnership in amplifying positive impact. By integrating a giveback activity into our event, we hope that Cisco ThousandEyes sets a powerful example for others to follow.
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