Cisco Celebrates 25 Years of Giving Back With a Guinness World Record Attempt for World's Largest Art Lesson

Young Singaporean Artist Peter Draw to Teach Class Held Simultaneously in Multiple Cities

| Source: Cisco Cisco

SINGAPORE--(Marketwire - October 7, 2010) - Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today celebrated 25 years of corporate social responsibility by attempting a Guinness World Record for the world's largest art lesson across the most number of cities. Held in conjunction with Children's Day in Singapore, cities from Asia Pacific, Greater China, Japan and the U.S. participated in an art class conducted by young Singaporean artist Peter Draw.

Highlights:

  • Cisco partnered with Peter Draw, who taught an art class, titled 'The Sweetest Gift' to children and beneficiaries across 12 countries and 34 locations.
  • In conjunction with Children's Day in Singapore, 20 schools joined the event from remote locations by watching the broadcast over Cisco TV.
  • Technologies such as Cisco TelePresence™, Cisco TV and Cisco WebEx™ were used to connect offices and communities as more than 1,893 people took part in this world record attempt.
  • Cisco also raised more than USD 13,569 in donations towards supporting charity organizations and beneficiaries in the following locations: Sydney, Adelaide, Hong Kong, Bangalore, Jakarta, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Manila, San Jose, Taipei and Bangkok.
  • Some of the children's drawings from the art class will be made into greeting cards for the festive season ahead, with proceeds from the sales going to the charities.
  • Other organizations supporting this initiative include: 77th Street, a leading streetwear fashion retailer in Asia.
  • Volunteering is a huge part of Cisco's culture, and the numbers speak for themselves: Since 2001, Cisco employees have logged more than 1 million (1,128,970) volunteer hours -- a number that continues to increase year over year.
  • In this, Cisco's 25th year, the company is committed not only to raising money for charities across the region, but also to engaging with the organizations by giving children the opportunity to be a part of a larger community, be creative with art, and participate in a world record attempt.
  • Results of the world record attempt will be known within two weeks.

The artist:

  • Since he was 16, Peter Draw has dedicated the whole of his adult life to making the saddest children happy through drawing. In the last three years Peter Draw has rewritten the Guinness World Records for drawing the world's largest caricature (his was of Jackie Chan) as well as a second world record of drawing nearly 1,000 people nonstop, without food, over 24 hours in order to raise funds to build a home for a family with four children in Batam, Indonesia.
  • Supported by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ASEAN governments, Draw has toured across 10 cities in Southeast Asia, meeting 10,000 children, and has published a book, "What Makes Me Happy: A Collection of ASEAN Children's Drawings".

Supporting quotes:

  • Edzard Overbeek, president of Asia Pacific and Japan, Cisco
    "Connecting and collaborating with others is a key element of Cisco culture, and our technologies make the world a smaller place and enhance life experiences. I'm heartened by the commitment shown by my teams in all the offices and am even more excited by the opportunities we had to show these children how technology is changing the way we live, work, play and learn. Together, we are the future."

  • Peter Draw, artist
    "This is not just the world's largest art lesson. This is also a dream come true for me: A dream to teach art to children all over the world, no matter who they are, or where they come from. A dream made possible by everyone who shared the same vision with me for children, especially the wonderful people from Cisco."

Multimedia:

Supporting Resources:

Tags / Keywords:
Cisco, Guinness World Record, Cisco TelePresence, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Cisco WebEx, Peter Draw, Edzard Overbeek, Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, San Jose, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand.

About Cisco Systems
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, this year celebrates 25 years of technology innovation, operational excellence and corporate social responsibility. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco products are supplied in Singapore by Cisco Systems International, BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cisco Systems, Inc.

Cisco, the Cisco logo, Cisco Systems, Cisco TelePresence and Cisco WebEx are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Contact Information:

Cisco Press Contact:
Supriya Addanki
Cisco
(65) 6317-7145
suaddank@cisco.com

Cisco Celebrates 25 years of giving back and Children's Day in Singapore Children from 12 countries and 34 locations including Bangkok, Thailand, participated in the Guinness World Record attempt.

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corporate social responsibility Cisco Guinness World Record Cisco TelePresence CSR Cisco WebEx