UPDATE! The random number generator has chosen our three winners! But first, a poem:   In a limerick contest so bright, Eighteen joined, each with delight. Yet three took the prize, To everyone's surprise, Their verses danced just right!   (all credit for that limerick to ChatGPT :-))   And the winners (drawn at random) are.... @pjg , @kudasay , and @UKDanJones! Congrats! Stay tuned for an email from us about how to collect your prize.   ---------------------- In honor of National Limerick Day on May 12th, we’re challenging you to a little poetry slam – all in good fun, of course! A limerick is a type of poem that is often humorous, silly, or even bawdy containing three long and two short lines with a rhyming scheme of AABBA. May 12th was chosen as the day to honor this very specific type of prose because it is the birthday of Edward Lear, the man who popularized the limerick in 1846 with his “Book of Nonsense.”   I know poetry can be a challenge though, so to make this a little more accessible, you don’t have to adhere strictly to the limerick format. Simply give your best shot at a short rhyme about Meraki, and remember to have a little fun with it!    If you’re in need of a little inspiration to get you started, we’ve got just the thing! Take a look through some of our favorites from last year’s contest:   An admin was happy and proud. She praised her new network aloud: "Meraki is slick, deployment is quick and you manage it all from the cloud!"  – @Aberg    There once was an I.T. Admin Who's network was really has-been He asked his new lackey who said "Get Meraki" and now his whole network is gin! –@RobBrown    How to enter    Comment below and with your rhyme before 10:00am EST on Friday, May 17th. Remember, you don’t have to write five lines that follow the AABBA rhyming scheme. Any rhyme or type of poem will work. Everyone who responds to this post with their rhyme will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win one of three Cisco Meraki pin sets:     How to win   Once submissions close at 9:59am EST on May 17th, we will select three at random to win a prize. Good luck!   TERMS & CONDITIONS Submission period: Monday, May 13th, 2023 at 11am EST through Friday, May 17th, 2023 at 9:59am EST One entry per community member Official terms, conditions, and eligibility information ... View more

  UPDATE: Thank you all for the fantastic contributions to this contest! We have drawn three names from the hat to win our magnet puzzles.... @CloudStrife , @Ensposito, and @Chatchai. Congratulations! Stay tuned for an email with info about how to collect your prize.   --------------- Every year on April 22nd, the world celebrates Earth Day! It is a day dedicated to promoting environmental consciousness born out of a growing concern for pollution in the 1960s. First celebrated in 1970 in the United States, Earth Day eventually went global in 1990. Today, it is celebrated by more than 1 billion people across more than 190 countries worldwide.     In the spirit of raising awareness around the importance of sustainability, we want to hear how YOU are making an impact this Earth Day – and every day! How is your organization using Meraki (or other technology) to reduce your carbon footprint?   This could be by powering off all non-essential switch ports during non-work time; upgrading equipment to newer, more energy efficient versions; or using monitoring solutions to turn off lights and equipment when not in use. These are just a few of the ideas you shared with us last Earth Day. If you need additional inspiration, you can check out the Unboxed episode about sustainability!  The key is to describe, via any desired mediums (text, video, images, interpretive dance, etc.), how your org uses technology to help reduce your carbon footprint. All comments will be entered to win one of three Cisco Meraki Product Magnet puzzles:     How to Win   In a comment on this post, submit your earth-conscious company initiatives that are based in technology before 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, April 26th (04/26/2024). We’ll then draw three at random to win a Meraki product puzzle! Your entries will be public and visible throughout the contest.   Terms & conditions Limit one entry per community member. Submission period: Monday, April 22nd, 2024 at 11am EDT through Friday, April 26th, 2024 at 10:59am EDT Prize will be a selection of Meraki swag with value not exceeding USD 50.00 Official terms, conditions, and eligibility information ... View more

UPDATE:  We pulled three names out of the hat! Congratulations to @ekramer, @JesseMyhre, and @ThomasC - you've won our unique wooden puzzle swag! Stay tuned for an email with instructions on how to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey; your feedback is extremely helpful!  -----------------   We want to hear from you! Everyone who responds to the survey below will be entered into a drawing to win one of three Cisco Meraki 3-in-1 Wooden Puzzles. (You’ll also help us on the Community team to keep improving things around here!)   The survey closes on Friday, April 19th at 11am Eastern. Please submit your feedback today!   Take me to the survey! (Survey now closed; link removed) *Terms, conditions, & eligibility ... View more

  Thank you to everyone who entered the contest!   The winners, courtesy of Google's random number generator,  are: @BlakeRichardson  @van604  @degarris   Congratulations!! 🎉 🎊 😀   We'll follow up with each of you via email to confirm your mailing address.   ------- Today marks the first day of Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it’s time to bring back one of our most visually satisfying contests! Now is the perfect time to refresh and renew your space with a little cleaning project. We know you’ve got a mess of cables or old equipment lurking somewhere in the corners of your closet 😉 Now’s the time to tackle ‘em!   The rules are simple: take a photo of your spring cleaning project and share it with us for a chance to win swag. We’d love to see before and after photos, but simply an after photo that you’re particularly proud of or an anxiety-inducing, yet aspirational before photo will do!   For a little inspiration, below are a few of the community’s favorites from last year’s contest:   This on-brand soap and lotion @MerryAki shared is just the thing to cleanse and moisturize your old equipment!      This before and after @Simeon shared 😍. What an improvement!   Before After   How to enter   Submit your photo(s) in a comment on this blog post before 10 a.m. EDT on Thursday, March 28th . We'll then pick three entries at random to win a Cisco Meraki Laptop Kit that includes a laptop case for a 16" laptop, a hardcover notebook, and 3 Meraki branded pens.      The fine print:   Drawing will be held on Thursday, March 28th at 10am EDT One entry per community member Full terms, conditions, and eligibility information ... View more

  Happy Valentine’s Day!💘💌   ---- UPDATE! ------   We 💕 loved 💕 these entries so much, we decided to award a pair of socks to each person who nominated a thread or person, and to each nominee!   Congrats to @KRobert, nominated by @ekramer!   Congrats to @RaphaelL, nominated by @PhilipDAth and @DarrenOC!   Congrats to @DuttPatel, nominated by @CloudStrife!   Congrats to @nerdocrat, nominated by @BlakeRichardson!   Stay tuned for an email with instructions on how to collect your prize!    --------------------------   Here in the Meraki Community, our affection for our members runs deep. Throughout the year, you generously share your time, knowledge, and expertise to help others, making you someone truly exceptional in our eyes 😍.   We're well aware that recognition can sometimes be a rare gem. You've also emphasized that praise carries more weight when it comes from your peers.   This Valentine's season, we invite you to spread the love and appreciation for your fellow members. In celebration of this occasion, please share which community posts you've found particularly helpful, amusing, or downright outstanding in the comments below. By doing so, you'll have the chance to win a pair of Cisco Meraki gnome socks for yourself and the community member who authored the post. 💞🧦   How to enter  Comment below and include a link to the topic or reply of your choice before 10:00am EST on Tuesday, February 20th. Each post you link to is one entry into a drawing to win the prize. Participants are limited to a maximum of 10 entries.   To link to a specific reply within a thread, select “Permalink” from the︙(Options) menu next to the reply's timestamp. This will refresh the page. Then copy the URL from your browser's address window and paste it into your comment.   How to win   Once submissions close at 9:59am EST on February 20th, we will select three at random to win a pair of socks. Good luck!   TERMS & CONDITIONS Limit ten entries per community member. Submission period: Wednesday, February 14th, 2024 at 10am EST through Tuesday, February 20th, 2024 at 9:59am EST Prize will be a selection of Meraki swag with value not exceeding USD 50.00 Official terms, conditions, and eligibility information ... View more

  UPDATE: we crunched the numbers and have our winners! Based on the scores earned as of March 4th, the top three winners rank as follows: 🥇1st Place: @Nathaniel_Hang (folding as Nathaniel_Hang) with 1,205,401,254 credits earned 🥈2nd Place: @NavyXC (folding as navyxc) with 792,390,960 credits earned 🥉3rd Place: @riles0nic  (folding as rileyp) with 580,823,490 credits earned   In addition, we randomly selected three winners from the entrants to receive a pair of Meraki Community socks: @mrsedam1, @ShaunH, and @SteveDunmall!   ----------     In honor of World Cancer Day on February 4th, we’re once again asking you to come together and donate your computing power to help researchers find a cure! World Cancer Day is an international day to raise awareness and encourage the prevention, detection, and treatment of this devastating disease that continues to be the second-leading cause of death worldwide. Luckily, advancements are being made all the time, and you can help!    We’re thrilled to bring back one of your favorites – the Community Folding@home Challenge. When we last ran this challenge in August, you amazed us by helping the Cisco Meraki team rank at around 265 out of 255k teams worldwide and an impressive 102 for the month of September. Let’s see if we can do even better this time around!    If you aren’t familiar, Folding@home takes your unused computer power and puts it to a good cause – helping researchers find potential cures for diseases! Here’s how it works: The software allows you to donate CPU/GPU cycles from your own computers/servers to run portions of these simulations for researchers and speed up results. This crowdsourced processing power cuts simulation time down from days or weeks to just a couple hours, allowing researchers to move quickly in finding a cure.   Over the next 30 days, the three community members who achieve the highest ranks among fellow members by donating their processing power towards Cisco Meraki team 243108 will be awarded fabulous Meraki prizes.    Check out our first, second, and third place prizes:   First Place - Cisco Meraki North Face Apex Duffel     Second Place - Cisco Meraki Kopi Mug     Third Place - Cisco Meraki Nike Dri Fit Cap     In addition, everyone who joins the Cisco Meraki team and earns at least 200 "Credits" towards fighting cancer will be entered into a random drawing for one of three stylish pairs of Meraki Community socks:       How to enter   If you have access to gaming computers, servers and/or even just a home PC, get started by following THIS link. Once you’ve set up your account and selected “Cancer" as your cause, share your username in a comment on this blog post before 11 a.m. ET on Monday, March 4th. Only points credited to Cisco Meraki team 243108 will be counted. To join the team, simply enter “243108” into the client setup when you install the client.    On March 4th, we will announce the top three ranking community members, as determined by Folding@Home’s scoring. We'll also announce the 3 randomly selected winners from the rest of the Folding@home Cisco Meraki team. That means even if you aren't able to contribute at a high enough level to compete for the top ranks, you'll still have a chance to win sweet swag!    You must post your username here to be eligible. Note that your comment on this blog post containing your username will be public and visible throughout the contest. If you already have credits to your username on the Cisco Meraki team, we will only be counting the credits you earn between now and March 6th.   The fine print: The winners will be announced on Monday, March 4th at 11am ET One entry per community member Full terms, conditions, and eligibility information   For more information regarding Folding@home, please see useful links below:   Folding@Home FAQ Creating a User and Joining Team 243108 More about "folding" ... View more