The words "geek" or "nerd" are often thrown about with negative connotations, but not at Cisco! Here, we wear our geek badges with pride, and like to think that being geeky is cool.

Take, for example, Cisco's Consulting Services Team in San Jose, pictured above. They helped Cisco celebrate geekiness by taking a photo of all of their geek in one awesome photo. These are folks who work in Cisco's innovation labs, who spearhead initiatives to get new generations inspired in technology, who solve big problems and make big changes. If it takes being geeky to do that, they're all in!

Ben Varghese, a Cisco consultant (photo, bottom left) thinks being geeky is getting even cooler as you're reading this blog post.

"My favorite quote about geekiness is from Bill Gates: 'Be nice to geeks, you'll probably end up working for one.' As technology continues to change every aspect of life at an ever-increasing rate, this becomes more true every day."

Shraddha Chaplot, an engineer at Cisco (photo, top right) makes it her mission to show that women can be geeks and be cool. She tells everyone she's a geek, and wishes folks a happy "geekend" when Friday rolls around.

"So you don't like the word 'geek'?" she says. "Don't think it's cool, hmm? Well what if I told you that 'geek' is synonymous with wizard, superhero, and mathemagician (yes, I spelled that right). What if I told you that with these super geek powers you can create and build anything from a dream to reality? I get to do that everyday and so many of my friends do too. Being a geek is the coolest thing I've ever been."

How do you embrace your geek? Tell us in comments below.

Know a geek (maybe it's you!) that would be a great part of the Cisco Consulting Services team? Be sure to check out the open consulting roles here!

Are you, or do you know an engineer that embraces geek style? You can find open engineering roles here.