Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in technology that powers the Internet. For its IMPACT FY23 annual sales conference, the company invited its entire global sales team to attend in-person for the first time since 2019. While many of the company’s 20,000-plus VIP guests were ready to travel to Las Vegas and attend festivities featuring hundreds of speakers, worldwide sales training competitions, and live performances by renowned musical artists, company leaders knew they also needed to accommodate those who could only attend virtually.

To optimize Cisco IMPACT FY23 for three distinct groups – in-person, remote, and hybrid attendees – the company once again turned to its frequent collaborators at Sans Serif. A client-relationship driven independent creative agency uniting world class design expertise and sleep-well project management, Sans Serif’s executives have been instrumental in managing flagship event communications and experience design for Cisco for many years.

For IMPACT FY23, Cisco’s Brand team nailed-down the “unstoppable” theme and the distinct visual identity. Relying on its expertise as brand stewards and project managers, Sans Serif’s mission began with helping to develop visual identity guidelines for all creative partners and agencies. The resulting documentation ensured all messaging, as well as digital, motion, and print assets, adhered to Cisco’s standards.

Given the importance of creating a “must-see” experience for all attendees, Sans Serif also focused on building out thoughtful customer journeys as part of the user experiences (UX), as well as optimizing user interfaces (UI) for all attendee types. For its contributions, the key tools put to innovative use by Sans Serif included the award-winning design software Sketch, and visual collaboration platform InVision. Essentially, updated elements were collected using Adobe Experience Manager, which allows users to build agendas, watch live and on-demand sessions, connect with peers, take surveys, and much more. Interfacing with Cisco’s IMPACT team using InVision, Sans Serif helped finalize component and design requirements, relying on the platform’s powerful Design System Manager features.

“The visual and design systems underlying any major event are sure to be mission critical to attendee experiences, and in this case, the combined expertise of our Cisco clients and others involved was off-the-charts,” said Amanda Boshard, Sans Serif’s Creative Director. “As always, we had endless details to manage, and the results represent a new standard for Cisco’s IMPACT events.”

Additional talents involved for this year’s event include several key creative and development partners.

• Cisco’s internal brand team The Hatch designed the event’s identity and on-site branding
• Event and experiential agency TENCUE delivered overall creative and production for in-person and digital sessions
• Event and experiential marketing agency George P. Johnson managed attendee personas, as well as the overall event experience and The Hub, on-site
• Jaguar Design Studio created environmental graphics

“We extend our heartfelt thanks to our clients at Cisco, and everyone involved from each of our collaborative partners,” added Sans Serif’s Founder David Shultz. “Every year we collectively aim to raise the bar in creating unforgettable experiences for tens of thousands of people, hailing from all around the world. This is always an incredible challenge, and we are very proud to be part of this massive team effort.”

Sans Serif's project case study can be seen at https://sansserif.com. To learn more about Cisco, visit www.cisco.com.