Thursday, November 14, 2013

Dreamforce Sessions you HAVE to go to.



Allright, after reading so many posts about who to meet at Dreamforce, and the best tech sessions and so forth... Here is my list of Dreamforce '13 Sessions that you MUST attend (if you can get a seat). Now, this list is not all-inclusive, as there's only so much time in a day to get to sessions. So if there's a session that you think SHOULD be on here.. please comment and add a link!



The below links go directly to the agenda builder in the Dreamforce org. If you haven't booked your seat at Dreamforce yet... do so NOW. And then pray that you can get a hotel room withing 100 miles of San Francisco. Then... chastise yourself for being a procrastinator, and block of the time for next year's Dreamforce so you never make the same mistake again!!! Oh, and use the MVP Dreamforce Referral Code $100 off D13MVPREF


MONDAY
This one is hosted by Melanie Quandt & Geraldine Gray. (Yet another one of my personal friends)
The job market is tough, but you are tougher. The key is knowing what you bring to the table and what the fair value is for your contribution. Join us in the Success Community Zone for an informal talk on how to hone your brand, know your worth, and negotiate for the salary, raise, or situation you deserve.

Often, as a woman, it's hard to effectively communicate with authority and presence without being perceived negatively. How can we take a seat at the table with other developers and make sure our ideas are heard? Join us in the Women in Technology Salon for an informal talk on how to get your message across positively, with confidence and persuasion.

 Join Salesforce's MVPs as they share stories of their success, brainstorm cool ways to use technology, and even bring the (friendly) heat to salesforce.com product managers in the dreaded dunk tank of doom -- actually more of a chair.
Join User Group Leaders with nearly 25 years of combined experience running Salesforce.com user groups, many of whom are also Salesforce MVPs, as they debunk the myth that user groups are nothing more than social groups. They will answer questions such as: What is a user group, what kinds are there, and who runs them? Where can I find them and how do I join one? And most importantly, What's in it for me? Find your local user group at https://success.salesforce.com/usergroups ... And keep the Dreamforce excitement going all year long! Community-Led Session

Salesforce Fundamentals: Strategy for Campaign and Lead Management
Led by Maria Belli, Bryan Boroughf, Deepa Patel & Shell Black (ALL SUPER MVP’s!!!)  Join us as we provide you with an understanding of how Campaigns and Leads are managed in Salesforce and how you can see real ROI with your marketing efforts. Community-Led Session

TUESDAY
Code the cloud! In this hands-on workshop you’ll take a tour of the cloud-based and desktop development tools at your disposal. Along the way you’ll learn how to query with SOQL and SOSL, create stored procedures and database triggers, and write unit tests.

My MVP "Sister" Launa Saunders, Rhonda Ross and Elizabeth Shephard are hosting this one. It promises to be worth your time in spades! Have you heard about Analytic Snapshots, but been intimidated about setting your first one up? Or, are you simply unsure of how you can use them? Join us as we show you how setting up a snapshot can be as simple as performing three easy steps. Several use cases that virtually every organization can take advantage of will be discussed, such as tracking user logins over time, measuring Chatter adoption, reporting on changes to key fields, and more! Step-by-step instructions for setting up your own snapshots will be available so you can put what you learn into practice immediately. Community-Led Session

Hello... Blondie and Green Day... Nuff Said right?



WEDNESDAY
Hosted by some of my friends, @DarthGary, @SteveMoForce, @MichaelForce et al. A full hour of Salesforce.com comedy skits. Here's a link to last years session video. If you are easily offended, please don't watch this video, or come to the session. I can't guarantee that we are going to be completely PC. Don't get me wrong, we are going to try... but... if you are confused about this session... this is the SNL of Dreamforce (and yes, I'll be performing)

Hosted by myself, Denise Carbone, Steve Mo (Molis), Cicle Horsky, Gina Skocilich & Jackie Travieso
Have you ever wondered how other administrators and organizations handle what seems to be a simple objective or even a more complex project? You’ve read through the Help & Training, you just don’t know where to start or how to get over a technological hump? You are not alone - we have all been there! In this session, learn where to go for guidance and about the power of the Salesforce Community, how users help other users in this panel of Salesforce Community MVPs and User Group Leaders who use the exact same resources to problem solve, brainstorm creative work-arounds, research, and so much more! This is your opportunity to ask someone who has been there, done that…and is willing to share their experience. It’s called COMMUNITY and you need to be a part of it too! Community-Led Session


Hear how focusing on your top online community & social media contributors can help drive large scale engagement, build raving brand advocates and increase product loyalty.

AND... those are my picks. Of course I am reserving the right to add more later as I discover them.



Have a great day, and look me up at Dreamforce!!!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Change is GOOD




Good morning!

Taking a page from Martin Luther King Junior, "Something is happening in Houston, something is happening in our world." I've moved on from the company that was the genesis of my Salesforce.com revolution. It was a sad day on Friday. After ten years, I received an offer that I "couldn't refuse". And so, I bid adieu to my home away from home MRC, and say bonjour to my new home away from home NRGEnergy.

This morning, I have been here for four days, but it still feels like the first day. Everything is new and exciting, and I can't wait to get to work! I feel like a schoolkid at a new school where they are able to reinvent themselves as the "cool kid".

As we ramp up in preparation of Dreamforce '13, and as I am adjusting to my new job and new commute and new office and new co-workers, I can't help reflecting on the past while I am preparing for the future. Change is good my friends, never allow yourself to stagnate!

Two quotes about change for today...

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." ~ Maya Angelou

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~ Anatole France




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

MVP Summit - Amazingness




I'm just now getting around to blogging about the Salesforce.com MVP Summit. I feel a bit lazy about it, since there were some of us that were blogging it out on the airplane on the way home. I needed to take some time to organize my thoughts after the whirlwind of awesomeness.

I'm not going to run on and on about every cool thing that happened, most of the details are under NDA, so I can't share the exact discussions.

I can tell you that the co-founder of Salesforce.com, Parker Harris was there the entire day, and spoke very frequently and very forthrightly  in response to our questions and comments.

I can tell you that it was an amazing experience, spending two days with this many others who are as passionate about Salesforce.com as I am!

Having breakfast with Parker Harris (@parkerharris) and Peter Coffee (@petercoffee) was amazing. Having Charlie Isaacs (@charlieisaacs) treat us to dinner and drinks on Friday Night... amazing.

Discussing our thoughts and wishes for Salesforce.com with a room full of executives and product managers that were actually interested in hearing them, seeing some demos of new features that will be released at Dreamforce, and knowing that Salesforce.com actually cares deeply about what their community thinks about them, was the biggest amazing feature of the entire event.

Thank you Salesforce.com, Charlie Issacs, Peter Coffee, and Parker Harris for making us feel like superstars!

AND - A HUGE thank you to Matt & Erica for pulling this all together, and herding us for three days.

Matt - you are a "harsh taskmaster" and so good at what you do!

I am proud beyond words to be a part of the "Kuhl Kids".

There are several terrifc blog posts out there, and here are the links:

http://redargyle.squarespace.com/blog/2013/9/1/thoughts-on-the-salesforce-community-mvp-summit.html

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Life is Time Consuming

OMG. I've been so busy with "Life" that I've neglected this blog for too long. MVPship is a 2nd job, and it's AWESOME.

I've also started a new lifestyle change. I've been working out, walking eating nutritionally sound all that jazz. I've lost about 5 pounds, but I'm still going strong. I've decided to do Couch to 5K, so maybe by next year I'll be able to actually participate in some organized 5K's.

For the Month of April, our company is participating in "Light It Up Blue" for Autism.  And I organized our Development team to decorate our office, and wear blue!!