A couple of years ago I created a series of Cisco WebEx Teams study spaces for like-minded individuals to come together and collaborate while trying to earn their new, shiny certifications. These groups have largely been successful and continue to operate today; far exceeding my expectations. I’ve seen many people grow and become CCIEs, it’s been amazing. However, after talking to those that have utilised some of these groups as well as some people who haven’t, it became evident that more could be done to create an even bigger, better and more inclusive community.

I found that, while WebEx teams is a great collaboration tool, it wasn’t going to allow me to continue my mission of fostering a great Cisco certification community and so I decided to start building a new community on Discord called the ‘Cisco Study Community’ or CSC for short. Now, for those that don’t like change and maybe don’t use Discord, don’t worry as I won’t be disbanding the Webex Teams study groups however, I do recommend that you check out the new Discord community for the reasons stated below.

Below are some improvements that I believe the Discord Cisco Study Community will bring to anybody pursuing Cisco certifications:

• Create new relationships with likeminded individuals that are more akin to Discord
• The ability to share certification journeys with the whole community, regardless of which Cisco certification one may be working towards
• The ability to jump into instant chats to discuss certification-related topics
• Hangout with others in voice chat or within a community channel playing a game or two while taking a break from certification training
• Get advice from CCIE-certified individuals and subject matter experts
• Share labs and other useful training material in dedicated channels
• Stay up to date with Cisco news with the use of bots
• Connecting with those who use Discord already but not WebEx Teams

The CSC aims to bring together all certification tracks under one community but within different channels. I’ve put a lot of work into setting the new community up and over the next few weeks and days, I will be doing my best to refine the community to make it an enjoyable space for everybody. So, regardless of whether you’re already certified, it would be great to see you in the community helping others realise their potential and crush their certification goals. Similarly, if you’re new to Cisco certifications or would like to join a community of like-minded individuals from around the world, then take a look at this community.

Bonus: If you’re a CCIE already, you’ll have an opportunity to verify that and earn the prestigious status by getting a special role allocated within the community.

I’m also going to be selecting worthy moderators once the community starts to grow so please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to help grow this awesome new community.

You can join the CSC community by clicking the following link.

Don’t forget to tell a friend who can tell a friend 😉 – I look forward to seeing you there.

Join the CSC Discord: https://discord.gg/au9a8DnsQh