Hurry! Special Dreamforce Offer Expires at 11:59 PM Central Time, September 3, 2022!

Want to Attend Dreamforce 2022, and Help Homeless Children at the Same Time?

If you had the chance to do something (that you do every year) and help a great cause at the same time, would you do it?

Yes, that was a rhetorical question, but do me a favor, think about it and answer the question anyway.

My answer would be a resounding ‘Yes!’ I try to give back to the Salesforce community every chance I get. I’ve been fortunate enough to have secured a full pass to Dreamforce that I could auction off with the proceeds going to Project Night Night.

Today I’m thrilled to launch the 2022 edition of the “Attend Dreamforce, Help Homeless Children” auction. The rules are pretty simple:

  1. Place you bid here.
  2. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM Central Time on September 3, 2022.
  3. The highest bid wins.
  4. Free pass covers conference registration fees only. All travel and other accomodations are the responsibility of the winner.

Registration for Dreamforce 2022 is already open, and once the early bird rate expires on August 9th, the cost for a full Dreamforce pass will be $1,999.00.

The lucky high bidder in this auction will get a full pass to attend Dreamforce 2022, taking place September 20-22, 2022.  And in the process the winner will be helping many homeless children get a NightNight pack from Project Night Night so that they can have sweeter dreams, no matter where they happen to call home for the night.

Please answer these two questions:

  1. Do you, or someone you know, still need a pass to Dreamforce, or want to save money on the pass you already have?
  2. Do you want to help children have sweeter dreams at the same time?

If you answered yes to both questions, please place your bids here. To see the current high bid, follow me on Twitter and search for #DF22PNN_HIGHBID.

The bidding will close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, September 3, 2022.

If you happened to answer the first question with a no, please visit Project Night Night to learn more about their mission and consider making a donation through my special “bacon donation” to Project Night Night.

Either way, please follow Project Night Night on Twitter and support their cause with prayers!

Thanks!

5 Things you might not know about Salesforce partner FairWarning

Guest post from Mike Mason, Senior Product Marketing Manager, FairWarning.

FairWarning is an ISV Salesforce partner – and here are 5 things everybody should know about us.

Kurt J. Long founded FairWarning after his own experience with a data breach.

Years ago, as founder and young CEO of the information security company OpenNetwork, Kurt was approached by the FBI after false information about a celebrity lawyer was sent from their network to a local radio personality, who read the information on-air to listeners. They needed to quickly determine where the leak originated, and whether they had somebody dangerous on staff. For three days, their key IT person – we’ll call him “Ken” – worked around the clock to investigate IP addresses and delve into all types of audit logs, painstakingly piecing together that the breach had come from an insider named “Don.” After this experience, Kurt realized the market needed a “Magic Button” that a business-minded person could push – one that would help organizations grow trust in their workforce while verifying that their access is above board. No other industry needed this more than the healthcare industry, due to the vast amount of sensitive data involved in patient care. FairWarning started there, monitoring electronic health record systems (EHRs) and other applications containing patient information. We introduced FairWarning for Salesforce in 2015 as a way for all types of organizations – not just healthcare – to unlock the information hidden in complex Salesforce Shield audit logs.

(EFD – Creating a product from a personal experience…I bet that’s how a lot of AppExchange partners go their start!)

FairWarning’s vision is to grow trust in an increasingly interconnected world.

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, consumer trust in businesses has plummeted. As headlines of security breaches make their way to our news feeds nearly every day, citizens may feel that the organizations holding their most sensitive data care little about the security of that data. Everything that FairWarning does, from product upgrades to educating customers, is designed to help our customers grow that trust, both internally and with customers.

(EFD – All of us in the Salesforce Ohana understand the value of Trust.)

We want all business-minded users to have full visibility into Salesforce user activity – not just data scientists.

“Ken” from OpenNetwork spent three days combing through those audit logs to track down the origin of one leak. Had the FBI not notified Kurt of the leak, the company may have never known anything happened. FairWarning delivers that visibility by translating complex audit logs (e.g., Salesforce Shield Event Monitoring) into simplified, actionable insights and proactive alerts on specific user behavior. We believe everybody should have visibility into their cloud applications without having to turn to a data scientist to interpret the information within the applications’ audit logs. And we believe in providing a product that works when you need it most.

(EFD – Putting the power into the users’ hands!)

We work closely with Salesforce.com product development to help our customers unlock the full value of Salesforce and Shield.

Because visibility for all is so important to us, we are in constant contact with Salesforce.com product development and marketing to ensure that our customers’ voices are being heard within the Salesforce ecosystem. We have helped drive enhancements to Event Monitoring logs, and are currently working with a group of customers on real-time monitoring. In fact, our Dreamforce ‘18 messaging is “Empowering You to Take Shield to the Next Level.” We are a true partner for Salesforce and our customers, in every sense of the word.

(EFD – Be sure to visit with FairWarning while you are at Dreamforce!)

fairwarningbooth

FairWarning Senior Product Marketing Manager Mike Mason discusses how businesses can take Shield to the next level and get greater visibility into Salesforce by coupling FairWarning with Salesforce Shield Event Monitoring.

We are inspired by global adventure.

FairWarning’s values include “Growth,” and we’re inspired by challenges and adventures. For many years, we’ve had an internal Flag Program, where employees take a FairWarning Flag on their travels and submit photos of themselves in amazing locales (over 40 countries to date!). Recently, we opened the Flag Program to any customer who would like to take a piece of FairWarning with them. And FairWarning CEO/Creator Kurt J. Long is currently making his way across the Mediterranean for the 2018 Virgin Strive Challenge. The Challenge benefits Big Change, which works to give young people essential skills, opportunities, and support to grow within themselves and change the world. The five-stage challenge includes a duathlon across Sardinia, hike on Corsica, five-day cycling arm through the Southern Alps, Alpine hike, and scaling of Europe’s tallest mountain, Mont Blanc.

fairwarningflag

Customer Success Manager Megan Krieger displays the FairWarning flag while climbing the Salkantay Trek in Peru

(EFD – Wow! Now that’s a view that needs no warning!)

 

5 Things you might not know about Panaya – Managing Change Impact in Salesforce

Guest post from Ronit Eliav, Director of Product Marketing, Panaya

Who is Panaya and why we care about SFDC

Panaya is the leader in continuous delivery of innovation to the world of enterprise IT applications. As SFDC environments mature, they become more complex, making any system alteration or change a major risk. We enable risk-free change of Salesforce.com business applications.

What is RDx for SFDC

Panaya Release Dynamix (RDx) for Salesforce.com is a release management solution that pinpoints areas impacted by change so you can foresee and resolve potential change delivery risks. It helps you make informed decisions when going into production.

(EFD – Who remembers Panaya ChangeGuru, and who missed that when it was decommissioned off the AppExchange? Keep reading – you’ll enjoy the rest of this!)

How we provide visibility

With Panaya RDx for Salesforce, change is no longer a calculated guesswork.  How do we enable release certainty? The solution provides a full view of change dependencies and usage statistics so that you can pinpoint the  impact of all code developed. This way you can foresee and resolve any risks associated with the change prior to production.

(EFD – “Prior to production” – did you see that? You can see and resolve issues before things go live.)

Panaya Release Dynamix for Salesforce: Scoping

How we remove risk

Panaya RDx helps you understand the impact of all code developed before going to production. Once scoped items have been defined, you can decide which impacted customization and development components should be changed. For every scoped entity, a deep analysis is available, with detailed component dependencies including: code change highlights, usage rating, modification dates, and touchpoints to external applications. With an auto-generated list of impacted components, you can easily assign development and customization tasks to team members.

Panaya Release Dynamix for Salesforce: Dependency Map

How we ensure quality

Panaya RDx automatically generates test plans for safe release to production. Once the list of development and customization components has been created, a test plan can easily be defined. This is done based on an analysis of the chosen components and an auto-generated list of related testing entry points. For every entry point, a test owner may either link a test from an existing catalog, ask the system for test recommendations or create a new test.

(EFD – Panaya is trying to make your life easier. Shouldn’t you at least talk to them about a demo at Dreamforce?)

Release Dynamix for Salesforce addresses those pain points associated with releasing changes so that IT teams can deploy faster with quality. Calculated guesswork is removed and replaced with data-based decision making to ensure confident deployment.

See for yourself, download 5 tips to Safe and Fast Salesforce.com System Changes.

Hurry! Offer Expires at 11:59 PM Central Time, July 31, 2018!

Want to Attend Dreamforce 2018, and Help Homeless Children at the Same Time?

If you had the chance to do something (that you do every year) and help a great cause at the same time, would you do it?

Yes, that was a rhetorical question, but do me a favor, answer it anyway.

My answer would be a resounding ‘Yes!’ I try to give back to the Salesforce community every chance I get. So I reached out into my network of connections in search of a pass to Dreamforce that I could auction off with the proceeds going to Project Night Night. I was very fortunate in that the first person I emailed replied back with a resounding “Happy to provide that for you.”

Today I’m thrilled to launch the 2018 edition of the “Attend Dreamforce, Help a Homeless Child” auction. The rules are pretty simple:

  1. Place you bid here.
  2. All entries must be received by 11:59 PM Central Time on July 31, 2018.
  3. The highest bid wins.
  4. Free pass covers conference registration fees only. All travel and other accomodations are the responsibility of the winner.

When registration for Dreamforce 2018 opens, the rate for a full Dreamforce pass will be $1,899.

One lucky winner will get a free pass to attend Dreamforce and many homeless children will get a NightNight pack from Project Night Night.

Please answer these two questions:

  1. Do you, or someone you know, still need a pass to Dreamforce, or want to save money on the pass you already have?
  2. Do you want to help children have sweeter dreams at the same time?

If you answered yes to both questions, please place your bids here. To see the current high bid, follow me on Twitter and search for #DF18PNN_HIGHBID.

The bidding will close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, July 31, 2018.

If you happened to answer the first question with a no, please visit Project Night Night and consider making a donation.

Either way, please follow Project Night Night on Twitter and support their cause with prayers!

Thanks!

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Launa Saunders

This is the forty-sixth 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 co-leader of the San Diego Salesforce User Group, and Salesforce MVP, Launa Saunders.

launa-saunders

 

What’s your job title? Manager, Sales Operations, Illumina, Inc. (EFD – I had to look up Illumina…I knew you worked there, but really didn’t know much about the company. According to their website: “Today we are a global leader in genomics – an industry at the intersection of biology and technology. At the most fundamental level, we enable our customers to read and understand genetic variations. We strive to make our solutions increasingly simple, more accessible, and always reliable. As a result, discoveries that were unimaginable even a few years ago are now becoming routine – and are making their way into patient treatment.” I’m still not sure what the company does! It’s a biotechnology firm.)

What does that mean you do? Currently my focus is on the strategy of our CRM from the technical perspective. When I first started at Illumina, I was a Sr. Business Analyst in the GIS department. Now that I am in Sales Operations I am able to tie the needs of the business to the IT infrastructure. (I speak in Salesforce talk to our Admins: “WFR”, “FLS”, etc. oh yeah, and “LOL”). (EFD – I bet sometimes your Salesforce Admins and users make you also say “WTF”, and then you reach for a drink! #WhyAdminsDrink)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I have been managing Salesforce systems since 2007. I started off as an Administrative Assistant responsible for running the department metrics, out of Salesforce. When I started (at this particular company) every employee was assigned the Admin profile, and had the ability to change layouts, fields, etc. I couldn’t run metrics successfully since we would come in and find that someone had changed a picklist value the night before, or removed a field altogether. I became a member of the Salesforce Community and eventually taught myself Salesforce through trial and error (and a little help from SteveMo of course). Eventually I submitted a project plan to revamp Salesforce, including removing everyone’s admin rights. Since then I have worked in multiple orgs with various titles, but it always comes back to the strategy and improving adoption.  (EFD – Ouch! “every employee was assigned the Admin profile” Yeah…that’s calls for another drink! #WhyAdminsDrink)

Bacon or sausage? Eww…a pork product? No thank you!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? It’s definitely who you know, the community proves that! I don’t have to be an expert on everything Salesforce, but if I go to the community, I know someone will be and I can reach out to them with questions, advice, etc., I can then pay it forward and share my knowledge. It’s what makes the world go ’round (plus I like to avoid being a “jack of all trades, master of none”. The community is my Rolodex of experts to reach out to when the time comes) (EFD – Ooo…Love that: “The community is my Rolodex of experts.” WOW!)

How did our relationship start, and when? Well, we are both UG leaders, and inducted as MVPs at the same time (Spring ’13), so that’s when it started. But you were the first MVP that I had a beer with at the first MVP Summit in 2013, so you were the “welcome wagon” of sorts.  (EFD – A fellow user group leader and an MVP class mate…or is that glass mate?  Either way, it’s been great knowing you since 2013!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? While raised in San Diego, I wasn’t born here. I’m actually from a small farming community in central California. My family is still there. We have a massive ranch there where I learned to farm, shoot, raise bees, you name it! My Dad taught me to live off the land if need be, so he keeps me grounded. I love the beaches and sun in San Diego, but nothing beats a campfire in the middle of nowhere underneath a million stars. (EFD – I live out in a rural part of Southern Indiana, after growing up and living most of my life in suburban areas near large cities. I really like being able to go outside at night, look up and see millions of stars! I totally agree with that!)

You can find Launa on Twitter.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Aldo Fernandez

This is the forty-fifth 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 brains behind the first-ever Punta Dreamin’, Aldo Fernandez.

aldofernandez-profile

What’s your job title? Technical Architect, Litify.com. (EFD – I had to look that company up. According to their website, Litify is the world’s best business management platform designed specifically for law firms. And it’s built on the world’s leading CRM platform…Salesforce, of course!)

What does that mean you do? I work as a Technical Architect for Litify.com, a Salesforce startup based in NY, where we are building end-to-end products for the Legal Industry like Referrals, Intakes and Practice Management tools. Daily, I’m back-to-back with multiple Product Managers and Development teams, helping to meet business requirement with the Platform’s best practices on development, automation, integration, security and customization scenarios. (EFD – That’s a pretty wild commute from Uruguay. I’m guessing you work remotely.)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I’ve been working with Salesforce since 2008. I started for a partner as a developer on a 3 month integration project with no big expectations. Then I started digging deeper on the platform and learned that Salesforce was much more than just a CRM. So yes, you can say I was seduced by the Force.  (EFD – You have a year more than I do on the platform. It’s very interesting to see how many different directions people can take their careers with the Salesforce platform.)

Bacon or sausage? Can’t I have both? Don’t make me decide!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? What you know is very important but I think who you know (and learn from) wins. It’s amazing how you can learn things from the most unexpected people. (EFD – Score another victory for the “who”! I wonder just what that score is. For my next post in this series, I’ll review the stats!)

How did our relationship start, and when? I was studying for the CTA exam in the lounge area of a Hostel in San Francisco during Dreamforce, (2013, I think) and I noticed your Salesforce t-shirt and started talking about local Salesforce User Groups. You encouraged me with ideas to our Developer User Group in Uruguay which I really appreciated. In the name of our Community, Thanks Eric! (EFD – Yes! I remember that chance meeting in the hall of the Hostel. What a great conversation, and if memory serves me correctly, Zachary Jeans was there as well. How exciting it is to see that now you’ve taken the user group idea even further and launched Punta Dreamin’, the technical conference for Latin America’s Salesforce Community.)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I used to be a professional football(soccer) player in Uruguay. It didn’t worked; I was a better student on Engineering School than on the pitch. (EFD – Wow…now I know 2 people who were professional soccer players before starting a career that got them involved with Salesforce!)

You can find Aldo on Twitter.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Ryan Lorenzen

This is the forty-fourth 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 four-time Salesforce Certified, Ryan Lorenzen.

rlorenzen

What’s your job title? Salesforce Solutions Architect, PayPal. (EFD – That sounds impressive. When you get your paycheck is it deposited into a PayPal account?)

What does that mean you do? I’m the Salesforce solutions architect for PayPal’s largest business unit, Global Operations. The user base we support consists of 1300 users based in APAC, EMEA, and NA who work in sales, account management, business support, product integration, and underwriting…to name a few. I also lead a team of awesome admins based in the US, India, China, and Ireland. Everyday I get to talk to people all over the world and help design solutions for them. For a kid from Nebraska, that’s pretty cool. (EFD – That IS really cool!  So there’s more than just corn in Nebraska…)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I’ve been using Salesforce for about 11 years and have been a System Admin for the past 7.  Got my start as a user while working in Sales Ops.  (EFD – 11 years…I bet you’ve seen a change or two-hundred!)

Bacon or sausage? I love bacon. I love black pudding more. (Blood sausage, popular in the UK/Ireland) (EFD – Uh…not sure I’d eat anything with “blood” in the name, but to each their own!)

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? To me, they’re equal.  Those who are talented and surround themselves with the right people will be successful. (EFD – I used to think who you knew was more important than what you know, but the more I publish this post and see other people’s views, the more I tend to agree with your statement that they are equally important.)

How did our relationship start, and when? Our relationship started on Twitter, in the Summer of 2015, I think. I was sitting at 100 followers and DM’d you to ask how you managed to amass 3k followers. Since then, I’ve got your advice on other things as well, which I really appreciate. I look forward to meeting you in person someday. (EFD – And since then, you’ve increased your followers like 12-fold, and I’ve not quite doubled mine. Hmm…the student might be performing better than the teacher. I’m looking forward to an in-person meeting with you someday too!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I came very close to being a Firefighter.  I went to college for computer programming, but I barely graduated and failed to find a job in that field.  I gave up on software and spent 2 years in my city’s Firefighter hiring process.  I passed all the tests, and right before the final interview, I realized it wasn’t for me and withdrew.  I’m fortunate to have found a career that I truly love, and I still get to put out lots of fires, just in a different way.  (EFD – While the fires you put out now may not be life-threatening, I’m sure some of them feel just as exhilarating and stressful as fighting an actual fire might be.)

You can find Ryan on Twitter.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Rebecca Fontanilla

This is the forty-third 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 graduate of the first-ever Salesforce Admin BootCamp, Rebecca Fontanilla.

2016_grad_rebeccafontanilla-33-of-91  2016_grad_rebeccafontanilla-84-of-91

What’s your job title? University Program Expansion Coordinator – Technical Development, on site at Google contracted by Zenith Corporation. (EFD – Wow…straight out of college to working at Google!  That’s Awesome!)

What does that mean you do? As a Program Coordinator, I am responsible for engaging in technical outreach and creating developmental programs to promote Google’s presence on campus. In addition to scheduling and conducting training programs with advocates, I assist in virtual set-ups and prepare for interview sessions. As a recent graduate, I believe the people I’ve met (whether they be students, co-workers, or professors), have helped shaped me into the individual I have become. This is why I’ve chose to be in the role that I am in today. I serve as the person I wish I could have met while in college. (EFD – That’s a really cool role. You get to help others just like you, but give them a step up on the competition in what is most certainly a fierce job market. Congrats to you…and kudos to Google for recognizing the need!)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? My relationship with Salesforce sparked in January 2016 when I attended the Salesforce Admin Bootcamp at the University of San Francisco.  (EFD – That was a great program. I got to enjoy the closing festivities of the program as I happened to be in San Francisco at the time and Jennifer Wobser invited me to attend.)

Bacon or sausage? It’s Bacon or Nothing!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? Neither. One of my college professors always told me that it doesn’t matter who you know, but who knows you. I gave his advice some thought and it speaks volumes. You could know x amount of people but if no one knows you then, do you really know them? (EFD – Hmmm….interesting. I never thought about it that way before, but it’s still about the people, and making connections, right?)

How did our relationship start, and when? I think we met through Cheryl Feldman, who I met through Jennifer Wobser. I remember I would have hour long phone conversations with these two ladies about career tips and I believe they e-introduced us. They advised me to follow you on Twitter, and being the social media lover that I am, of course I had to. (EFD – And then we met in person in January, 2016, at the closing reception of the Salesforce Admin BootCamp. It was great to see you at Dreamforce recently too!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? In January 2015, I went to Peru for a sports-based immersion and learned how sports has transformed some the youth in Peru. This trip was such an eye-opening experience. I used to play soccer when I was in kindergarten all the way up to my senior year of high school. I always thought of soccer as just a recreational activity, but the youth in Peru view soccer (sports in general) as an outlet from their day-to-day routine. Most spend their days perfecting their soccer skills in hopes of being recruited to play in the United States. I played soccer with a few of the children (ages 4-18) and I have never felt so out of shape in my life. These kids are truly an inspirational for self-betterment. They are so content with the little that they have but they make the best of what is offered to them, and that is true happiness. Also, side note: I am in the process of finishing my personal blog, but no surprise I’m creating a website for my personal brand. I guess it’s a little surprising that I haven’t had a site for my personal brand. I’ll probably post the link to my site next week after I clean it up a bit. Oh, I also don’t have a snapchat…is that weird? (EFD – Personal branding is SUPER important! Good for you in recognizing that so early, and doing something about it. I’ve never been to Peru, or played soccer!  And I don’t have a snapchat account either. I need one of my kids to explain snpachat to me, I guess. I don’t get it!)

You can find Rebecca on Twitter.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Ben Bolopue

This is the forty-second 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 2-time Salesforce Certified, Ben Bolopue.

ben-bolopue

What’s your job title? Salesforce Administrator, Quanex Building Products. (EFD – When Ben completed my form with all his details he actually listed his job title as: Salesforce Administrator/CRM Geek/Salesforce Kool Aid Consumer. I suppose that means he’s “All in” with the Salesforce platform and ecosystem.)

What does that mean you do? I’m the (goal) keeper of all things CRM related. On paper… I’m to facilitate the development and upkeep of CRM based systems/processes intended to standardize and/or improve the overall efficiency of day-to-day operations in: Customer Service, Quality Assurance, Tech Services, Sales and Marketing… and whoever else wants in really. In reality, I do my best to pull from my experience as a Continuous Improvement Coordinator and lifelong geek in order to make people’s work lives better, easier, more enjoyable and efficient. All via Salesforce, of course! (EFD – Oh boy…you’ve got it bad, but it really sounds like you LOVE your job and all the ways you can make an impact at your company.)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I first logged into Salesforce back in November of 2011 and have been my company’s Admin ever since. Literally… the first time I logged into (ever even saw the login page of) the system, I did it as an admin. Don’t get me wrong, Salesforce being as intuitive as it is, I was able to find my way around it pretty quickly. Also, I was fortunate enough to attend a week-long “Beginning Admin” class in Minneapolis a few months after I took over our org. It was HUGELY helpful in getting my feet wet with some of the more complex features of the system. It was definitely a zero to 60 in under three seconds kind of experience, though!  (EFD – Starting your Salesforce career as an Admin…wow, and having to figure some of it our on your own. Whoa…and Trailhead did not exist back in 2011 either.)

Bacon or sausage? Can’t I have both? Don’t make me decide

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? Wow… Personally I think it’s more a matter of how you use WHAT you know to help WHO you know. Loads of people are experts in some or most parts of “something”. Which is great, but unless those folks are able to make huge, sweeping changes that make a difference in some part of life for the masses using their knowledge of said “something”, the impact (specific to their area of expertise) they have is most likely going to be highly localized. Now… if that same expert made it a point to share, even a small amount of their knowledge on a regular basis, the ripple effect kicks in and the potential impact of their efforts can grow exponentially. (EFD – Uh, So that’s a “both”?)

How did our relationship start, and when? I believe it was early Spring, 2016, and our relationship started the same way as almost all relationships… on Twitter of course! You play a large role in the Salesforce Community and post wonderful Tweets involving bacon. It was really just a matter of time before a conversation started between us! Long story short, knowing that you’d been around the Salesforce block several times and that you seem to also recognize bacon as a food group, I wrote you looking for insight and guidance. You, in turn, responded with kindness, openness and the insight and guidance I sought. Thanks, Eric. (EFD – Ok, so this is supposed to be about YOU, but thanks for the kind words, none the less. )

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I contemplated being a vegetarian for a time. I was young and highly impressionable. Not to say there’s anything wrong with being a vegetarian, but for those that know me… it’s probably the last thing you’d expect me to think! You see, when I was little (5-6 years old-ish) my family was pretty poor. We lived with my grandfather who was a retired farmer and whose farm had sat unused for probably 25 years at the time. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but somebody decided that a good way to save some money, would be to purchase a calf from a neighboring farm, raise it and (eventually) eat it. Somewhere along the lines, this cow became mine. At least to me it was. I named it Leon and made it a point to spend time with him whenever I could. Leon being a gigantic cow and me being a little boy, I wasn’t able to do things that most kids would with their pets. There were no games of fetch, no going for walks and yard clean-up was never less than a two person job. My parents, seeing how attached I’d become to Leon and not having accounted for how much a cow would cost to raise, decided to sell Leon back to the neighboring farm. I-Was-Devastated. Shortly after I watched the farmer come to take Leon away, I overheard a conversation about how “the steaks probably wouldn’t have been very good anyway” and how “it would’ve cost too much to have a butcher come out all the way out for one cow”. Putting two and two together, I realized what Leon actually was and where he was headed. Almost made a vegetarian out of me. Almost! (EFD – I actually know someone who did become a vegetarian after realizing that hamburgers came from cows!  As for me, the only way I could be a vegetarian is if Bacon was a vegetable, but we all know Bacon comes from pigs, which are most certainly NOT a vegetable.)

You can find Ben on Twitter.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Kris Salava

This is the forty-first 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 3-time Salesforce Certified , Kris Salava.

kris-salava

What’s your job title? Salesforce Consultant, Redpath Consulting. (EFD – I featured Nick Lindberg in my last post…he works at Redpath too!)

What does that mean you do? I work with non-profit organizations, assisting them with implementing and managing their Salesforce Orgs. (EFD – So you  provide the technology that helps NPOs help others. That’s cool!)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? I’ve been in the Ecosystem for about two years.  (EFD – Two years, three certifications….nice ratio!)

Bacon or sausage? It’s Bacon or Nothing!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? Who you know is most important. What you know is important, but if you are the only one that knows what you know, it doesn’t get you very far. You have to share with others to move forward. (EFD – I like that response!  Share your knowledge!)

How did our relationship start, and when? We met at Midwest Dreamin 2015, introduced by a member of the Study Group I am working with for Salesforce Administrator certification. (EFD – Midwest Dreamin’ 2015…let me think. That was the year with Dan Darcy and Peter Coffee as keynote speakers, and no band.)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I love to be involved in things, but if I don’t put myself in a position where I am accountable to others, I might skip it to relax at home instead. That’s how I became treasurer and then president of our local MOMS Club in the early 2000’s and how I became a Girl Scout Troop Leader. So I volunteer to lead when given the opportunity. (EFD – That’s awesome! Girl Scout Troop Leaders really have an opportunity to make a huge impact on the future!)

You can find Kris on Twitter.