It’s been an awesome few weeks for me. I’m working a job I love, for a manager who fully supports my efforts as the leader of the Southern Indiana Salesforce.com User Group, and who gives me credit, praise and recognition at work (when I deserve it, of course) and who helps keep me on track with priorities as needed.  I have a great, loving family, and my church home is really making a difference in many lives.

I received an email on April 10th from Matt Brown, Advocacy Program Manager at Salesforce.com that started with: “Congratulations! You have been selected to be a member of our exclusive Salesforce MVP™ Program.”

Wow! I certainly was not expecting that to show up in my inbox…at least not for another year or two. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely thrilled to have been named a Salesforce MVP™, but I worry that I won’t be able to function to the high standards that have been set by other MVPs. It was great timing for such a nice surprise…it was my birthday that week, and I had planned on attending the Salesforce.com Customer Company Tour in Chicago on April 18th. That would have been a great event, even without the new title, but having it and being able to get a nearly front row seat for Marc Benioff’s keynote address made it a totally awesome experience!

I think the MVP title is beginning to sink in, and thus it’s time to thank a few people, who may or may not realize they have played a role in this:

Pauline Mulvey – www.linkedin.com/pub/pauline-mulvey/1/8b8/9a2

Thank you very much, for without you taking a chance on me back in 2009, I would not have gotten involved with Salesforce.com. You gave me my start by hiring me as a Business Analyst, and suggested I get active in a user group. You supported my journey as I traveled to user group meeting in Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and Indianapolis. You gave me support as I decided to start a local user group in Evansville, and allowed me to attend Dreamforce!

Denise Carbone, www.linkedin.com/pub/denise-carbone/1/a27/180

Gina Skocilich, www.linkedin.com/pub/gina-skocilich/7/956/449

and Cecile Horsky – Thank you all, because due to your amazing hospitality when I attended my very first user group meeting in Chicago on March 4, 2010, I continued to seek out other meetings to attend. You ran a great meeting and set the bar high for other user groups. It was a very memorable experience.

Jeanine Thorpe – www.linkedin.com/pub/jeanine-thorpe/1/403/79a

Thanks for the inspiration and guidance with getting me started as I organized the Southern Indiana User Group, and for your generous assistance while I pulled off Midwest Dreamin’ 2011. (Too bad 2012 didn’t work out, and with my recent job change, I don’t think I will have time to pull of a 2013 version, but I going to do my best to make it happen again in 2014!)

Rhonda Ross – www.linkedin.com/in/rhondaross

Thank you. You called me a “Rock Star” in the Salesforce Community back in 2010, which helped my management decide to send me to Dreamforce! You have helped me grow in my Salesforce knowledge, and have inspired me to take it to the next step.

The Road2DF (2011) cast and crew – http://www.road2df.com/the-crew

Even though I did not know most of you when you took your journey, thank you for taking it. I enjoyed the ride vicariously. It gave me a vision of things to come and energized me to keep moving forward!

Zachary Jeans – www.linkedin.com/pub/zachary-jeans/28/378/184

Thank you for taking your Tour2DF (2012) across the country and back again. Many thanks for rerouting your journey simply to spend two hours with me! You are truly an inspiration. May all your wildest dreams come true!

To all the User Group Leaders and Co-Leaders (Way too many people to list individually) –

Thank you for being the evangelists and experts that you are.  Thanks for helping to spread the “Cloudy” word. You all inspire me !

To all the MVPs who have come before me (Way too many awesome people to list individually) –

Thank you for everything you have done to help me in my journey since I first became involved with the Salesforce Ecosystem in late 2009. Your willingness to share ideas, answer questions, suggest new features, answer questions, teach others, answer questions, present at Dreamforce, and answer questions, is awe-inspiring. Did I mention answering questions ?  (I think I owe someone a beer still.)

Erica Kuhl – www.linkedin.com/in/ericakuhl

It has been an awesome journey getting to this point, and I know the best is yet to come! Many thanks for all your help and support, past, present and future!

And finally, thanks to my wonderful wife who may not always understand what I do for a living, and how that relates to me running a user group, but she’s always there for me and our family, and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without her love and support.

I will close with a couple things: 1 – Who is DF13Ready? (Besides me, that is!) And 2 – who thinks there should be a Trek2DF for 2013? (Besides me, of course!)

Stay strong, and be awesome!