How getting Involved benefits you and the entire Cisco Networking Community

I want to take a minute to talk about the importance of “getting involved” in the Cisco Networking community. No, this isn’t a “public service announcement” (okay, well maybe it is).

I will list ways that you can get involved in just a minute but first, let me give you some benefits of “getting involved”:

• you learn more and more
• you further your career both by learning more and by meeting others
• you help others
• eventually, the favor of helping other can be returned and you will get help

And those are just a few of the benefits. Sound good? So let’s find out what you can do to get involved!

1. Join an online community dedicated to Cisco Networking. Here are a list of them:

• Techtarget IT Knowledge Exchange - help fellow techies!
• Petri Cisco Routers & Switches How-to Forums
• HappyRouter.com Cisco Forums
• Cisco NetPro Forums

2. Join a local Cisco users group

In my home town, Dallas, TX, USA, we have the very popular DFW Cisco Users’ Group. However, there are many more of theses user groups around the world. In fact, there are about 7 million results for “cisco users group” on google.com

3. Volunteer to help others with Cisco networking issues. This is a great way to gain tons of experience, learn for free, and help someone else.

• Co-workers
• Friends
• Church
• Online

4. Start your own Blog

It doesn’t take much to start a blog these days. If you are interested, I recommend starting your own blog and tell us what is going on in your “Cisco world” and what configurations are you working on today! You can start your own blog, for free, on Blogger! No experience required.

In summary, I again, encourage you to get involved in your Cisco Networking Community! If you see a post you like, post a comment! If you see one that you don’t - again, post a comment again! There are always unanswers questions in the communities above - take a few minuets and take a “stab” at it.

All the best to you,
David Davis, CCIE, VCP, CISSP

Personal Website: HappyRouter.com - home of Cisco how-to articles & videos
David Recommends:
HappyRouter Cisco VMware Workstation & Server Video Training Series
HappyRouter Cisco CCNA & CCNP Video Training Series