This is the thirty-seventh post in my blog series in which I feature people I know from the community: Salesforce employees, MVPs, User Group Leaders, Partners, and honestly, anyone who I’m connected with who is willing to share with me the answers to five simple questions. I hoping that this blog series will help everyone out in the community get better connected to others who are either like them, can help them, are nothing like them, can’t help them, or are simply people they haven’t met yet! After all, a stranger is simply a friend you don’t know yet.

For me, one of the greatest strengths of the Salesforce Ecosystem is its people and the connections that are shared.

So, if you are brave enough, even if you’ve never met me in person, fill out this form and I’ll feature you in an upcoming post. (In case I have confused anyone, the questions on the form about our relationship refers to you, the reader, and me, the author, Eric Dreshfield, and not the featured person in this post.) Just beware, by completing the form, you are giving me permission to use that information in a future post, as well as allowing me to interject some of my own thoughts into your responses!

And now I introduce the Salesforce Certified Administrator and Salesforce MVP, Toya Gatewood.

What’s your job title? Salesforce Administrator, Consumer Technology Association. (EFD – Consumer Technology Association? I had to google that one! Many people probably know them by their former name, Consumer Electronics Association. Regardless of what you call them, they are the producers of the Consumer Electronic Show, also know as the CES, which takes place in Las Vegas annually, and showcases over 3,500 companies who manufacture, develop and supply computer technology hardware, content, delivery systems and more. It’s a REALLY BIG SHOW with over 160,000 attendees from 150 countries worldwide!)

What does that mean you do? I’m the solo admin of my org; my company produces the Consumer Electronics Show and we manage all contracts and amendments associated with the show using Salesforce, not to mention the other events that we manage. I’m also working with other CTA departments to maximize efficiency. (EFD – I know what show management is like. I lead a group of awesome Salesforce MVPs and user group leaders to put on Midwest Dreamin’ each year.)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I’ve been on the Salesforce platform for 7 years.  (EFD – Wow!  That means you and I started using Salesforce the same year…2009!)

Bacon or sausage? It’s Bacon or Nothing!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? I’d have to say it’s a combination of both. You have to take what you know and leverage it with and for who you know. All the nuggets of wisdom and tips & tricks I pick up from the Success Community add to what I know – which I can then utilize either in my own org. It all comes full circle eventually. (EFD – So it’s kind of like this. Oh wait, you said “full circle” not “circle of life” Hey Apex and the Limits – here’s a song idea for you: “The Circle of Admins”.)

How did our relationship start, and when? I started following you on Twitter either right before or right after you became an MVP for the first time, that was in the spring of 2013….and met you in person for the first time at Midwest Dreamin’ 2014! (EFD – I remember meeting you at Midwest Dreamin ‘2014. We had a great, but short, conversation as I was helping out at the registration desk and the line was getting long! It’s been great fun watching your community involvement grow over the years, and congrats on joining the ranks of the MVPs!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I’m an avid & voracious reader. I read from one book or another every single day without fail no matter how busy I am; sometimes I’m reading several books at a time. Right now I’m reading 3 different books. This year I finished all 5 Game of Thrones books in less than 2 weeks. (EFD – Me and books seem to have a different kind of relationship. They don’t bother me, and I leave them alone. Kind of like me and insects.)

You can find Toya on Twitter.