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Community Event

NetAid

A 1999 collaboration between the UNDP and Cisco that paired live concerts with one of the earliest large-scale internet broadcasts to elevate the fight against global poverty.

NetAid concert stage with performers and global outreach graphics

The story

About NetAid

NetAid blended stadium-scale concerts in New York, London, and Geneva with simultaneous digital events streamed to 40+ countries. Don supported Cisco’s networking teams as they engineered new infrastructure to carry the webcasts.

The program helped pioneer online donation models while shining a spotlight on grassroots poverty-relief organizations that could now reach a global audience.

At a glance

Highlights

  1. Raised tens of millions of dollars for anti-poverty NGOs and microfinance initiatives.

  2. Demonstrated the power of pairing entertainment with purpose-built digital campaigns.

  3. Pushed Cisco’s streaming and networking capabilities into new territory years before mainstream video platforms.