Want to Attend Dreamforce 2017, 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.”

I’ve had the 2017 edition of  “Attend Dreamforce, Help a Homeless Child” contest running for a while now. The high bid (at the time this blog went live) is $500. Keep in mind that the current rate for a Dreamforce pass is $1,799. One lucky winner will get a free pass to attend Dreamforce* and many homeless children will get a NightNight pack from Project Night Night. (*Conference fees only, sorry – travel and other accommodations are the responsibility of the winner.)

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 #DF17PNN_HIGHBID.

The bidding will close at 11:59 PM on Friday, September 30, 2017.

URGENT UPDATE: If you already have a pass to Dreamforce and you are the winner, you can simply contact the Dreamforce Registration and Housing Hotline:

U.S./Canada: +1-866-855-3818
International: +1-650-416-8832.

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!

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 when Cirrus Insight emailed to tell inform me that they were holding the same contest they held last year, where the winner would receive a free pass to Dreamforce, the contest I won last year, and auctioned off the Dreamforce pass because I did not need it, with the proceeds going to Project Night Night, I decided to take the bolder approach this year. Instead of entering the contest and hoping I would win, I simply emailed my contact at Cirrus Insight and asked if they would donate a pass that I could action off to benefit Project Night Night again this year. I think the response I got might have set the record for the quickest email response EVER. And that response was “Absolutely, YES!”

I’m now announcing the 2016 edition of “Attend Dreamforce, Help a Homeless Child” contest. One lucky winner gets a free pass to attend Dreamforce* and many homeless children get a NightNight pack from Project Night Night. *Conference fees only, sorry – travel and other accommodations are the responsibility of the winner.

Please answer these two questions:

1. Do you still need a pass to Dreamforce?
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 #DF16ProjectNight2X_HIGHBID.  The bidding will close at 11:59 PM on Friday, September 2, 2016.

URGENT UPDATE: Because Salesforce expects Full Conference Passes to sell out sometime during the week of August 29th, no bids will be accepted after 11:59PM Central Time on Saturday, August 27, 2016. The winner will be notified by 11:59PM Central Time on Sunday, August 28, 2016, via email or telephone.

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!

This is the eighth post in my blog series in which I will 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 Jocelyn Fennewald, co-leader of the Chicago Women In Technology Group. 

What’s your job title? Managing Partner, OpMentors.
What does that mean you do?   My job is a mult-hat one. I am co-owner of my company, OpMentors. We are a Salesforce SI partner, as well as partnering with FinancialForce and Apttus on thier X-Author for Excel tool. Most of my day is working as a consultant and system admin. Working with clients to push their platforms to the next level is a absolute thrill for me. On any given day I can be working with the client’s system admin to solve an issue, conduct end user training or working through their implementation or optimization of Salesforce or FinancialForce. Being able to wear so many hats keeps it fun and interesting. Since I love problem solving so much, this type of work will always keep pushing my knowledge of the platform.

(EFD – Who doesn’t wear more than one hat on the job these days? And WOW…I do love Apttus X-Author for Excel!!))

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? 2.5 years as a customer, and now 1.5 years as a partner for a total of 4 fun-filled years.  (EFD – Congrats, you made the jump! Why am I now thinking about the movie “Speed”?  https://youtu.be/AmOBTB4Py-Q)

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

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know?  I think it’s what you know about who you know. I always love to surround myself with the most amazing people because that pushes me to be better. If the people you know (like the great Salesforce community) are strong in all different areas then by knowing them and learning from them you will innately become more well rounded and have the communal knowledge to solve any problem. No one person can know everything about Salesforce so having the community is the most valuable part of Salesforce.  (EFD – Wow…I couldn’t have said it better myself!)

How did our relationship start, and when? After Midwest Dreamin’ 2014 I started following you on Twitter.  (EFD – Midwest Dreamin’?  What’s that?  😉  I know a thing or two about Midwest Dreamin’. If you don’t, check it out! It’s coming back to Chicago on July 21 & 22, 2016!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I am a drummer. I have just been playing for over a year but I LOVE it! I learning all different types of musical styles but can play rock music the best. (EFD – There’s a lot of musicians who are great Salesforce Admins & Developers. Perhaps we should get a band together!)

You can find Jocelyn on Twitter.