Tag Archives: Midwest Dreamin’

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Patrick Solum

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This is the twenty-second 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 Salesforce Certified Administrator, and co-leader of the South Dakota User Group, Patrick Solum.

patrick solum  sodakforce

 

What’s your job title? Marketing Director, Retail Data Systems (EFD – In case anyone is curious, Retail Data Systems is the largest provider of Point of Sale hardware and software in North America.  I suppose that means they are also the biggest POS in country.  Sorry, Patrick…sometimes my sense of humor filter goes unchecked. But then, you already knew that! )

What does that mean you do? My job is to at RDS is to build and launch marketing initiatives for our various offices.  These can be email, print, web etc.  Additionally I manage a small lead generation team and get to be a solo Salesforce admin for about 75 users  (EFD – Marketing. I used to wonder what that really meant. Now, with my latest job change – separate blog post coming very soon detailing that, I’m in Marketing too!)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)?   I have been in the Salesforce world since 2010.  (EFD – Seems like only yesterday, doesn’t it.  No, not really. There have been TONS of changes to the ecosystem in that short period of time. )

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

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know?  Knowing where to find the answers and how to get them, no matter who has them or where they are. (EFD – So is that a “What” or a “Who”?  I feel a little like Whoopi Goldberg without the funky dance moves. #ExplicitLanguageWarning – not for those with “sensitive” ears.)  Some additional details from Patrick:  When starting with Salesforce 5 years ago in South Dakota there was really nobody around here to network with.  We were kind of the last frontier of salesforce so to speak.  By networking with others through The Nebraska Salesforce User Group (used to drive 2 1/2 hours one way to go to meetings) and the success community I found that connecting with others was my lifeline.  Early on, Brian Connell who mentored me in getting started, Steve Molis on answers, Mike Gerholdt on Button Click and many others I met online and at Dreamforce, too numerous to mention, these were my lifelines.   What stood out was how helpful everyone was and how everyone wanted everyone to succeed.  I found you could really be on your own in your business and really succeed with the community.   When companies started emerging in the area on the platform it took things to another level when Sarah, Liz and I started the User Group.  We again leaned on the success community to build that network (how I met you) and connect with others to help us “figure out what to do”.   Now its all about giving back and helping others find their lifelines.

How did our relationship start, and when? You were my life line when I started the User Group Leader Office Hours calls. (EFD – Ok, that’s the “how”, you are the who, user groups is the why, helping other user group leaders is the what, but where’s the “when”? [Oh my…that’s confusing!]  I think we first met at in person at Dreamforce 2013, at a user group leader event, and unlike “Who Wants To Be A Milloinaire” you can call on this life line as often as you need to!  #HappyToHelpSpreadTheUserGroupLove)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? For fun I spend time with my family (I have a beautiful wife Tiffany and 4 amazing kids), I am an avid gamer and practice Tae Kwon do.   Additionally I love helping the Salesforce community.  I am passionate about Salesforce User groups and helping leaders to help their users reach their full potential. (EFD – And you are pretty good at scoring points with the Mrs. Solum. I’m bet you’ll point out this blog to her so she can see what you just said there!)

You can find Patrick on Twitter, and be sure to check out Leaderforce, the blog for Salesforce User Group Leaders, current & future!

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Tami Esling

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This is the fourteenth 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 Salesforce MVP Tami Esling.

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What’s your job title? Senior Salesforce Consultant, SaaS Consulting Group.

What does that mean you do? I perform a variety of tasks from directing clients and colleagues towards Salesforce education (Trailhead is a must!) to full Salesforce implementations.  I receive so much joy in watching others grow and learn or completing an implementation that makes my client’s life easier.  There is never an end to learning or helping others in the Salesforce world!. (EFD – Trailhead rocks! If you didn’t see my post introducing Chris Duarte, check it out. She’s the reason Trailhead is so awesome!)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? Five years. (EFD – That’s a decent amount of time…in Salesforce Years!)

Bacon or sausage?  Its bacon or nothing!

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know?  I think it’s a bit of both.  Connections are so important, but I also think you have to have the knowledge (or a strong desire to learn) to best help others and meet your goals. (EFD – I love how you worded that: you have to have the knowledge…to best help other and meet your goals. Very interesting that you put helping others ahead of meeting your goals!)

How did our relationship start, and when? If you’re on the Salesforce Community, then you probably “know” Eric Dreshfield.  That is how it all began.  Then I had the privilege to meet you in person at the MVP Summit in 2015. (EFD –                         <- see that? You rendered me speechless. It was truly my honor and privilege to meet you…and our online relationship started when I joined the Certification study group you facilitated. I must admit, I wasn’t the best student. I didn’t keep up with the homework, and in the end, that’s probably part of why I’m still “un-certified” today.)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I have skydived and plan to take another jump in 2016. (EFD – I’ve jumped out of plenty of airplanes…but they were all sitting on the ground when I did it. I’m guessing you did it at somewhere near 10,000 feet!)

You can find Tami on Twitter.

Midwest Dreamin’ 2016…Already??

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Its still 2015, so why am I blogging about Midwest Dreamin’ 2016 already?

Two reasons:

1. If you are a Salesforce user, admin, or developer this is your chance to to see how others use the platform. It’s your chance to learn something that you can take back to your organization and implement to make a big impact!

2. If you are a Salesforce partner, this is your chance to get your name and product out in front of over 500 admins, developers and end users. It’s your chance to show the value that your product can bring to an organization in a very focused event with high quality attendees.

What’s Midwest Dreamin’, you ask? Think of it like this – take some of the best knowledge transfers you can find at Dreamforce, combine it with the community feeling of a user group meeting, throw in a keynote address by Peter Coffee, and mix it up with a Demo Jam from some of the Appexchange’s best partners in Chicago’s iconic Navy Pier…and that’s what you’ll get on July 21 & 22, 2016.

Be sure to follow Midwest Dreamin’ on Twitter to stay up-to-date on what’s happening, who is speaking, when you can register, how you can submit a session idea.

Get all the details about becoming a sponsor here.

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Taylor Grimes

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This is the tenth 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 Taylor Grimes.

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What’s your job title? Salesforce Consultant, Cheshire Impact

What does that mean you do?  I help clients engineer the lead to revenue lifecycle through Salesforce architecture and Marketing Automation enablement.  I help with marketing and sales processes during Salesforce implementations, managed services and custom projects tackling unique pain points. (EFD – I have some unique pain points, but that might just be from being old!)

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? Five years. (EFD – So in ‘Salesforce years’ you are a relative rookie, but have seen some incredible improvements!)

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

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know?  Who you know, every leg up I’ve gotten throughout my career in Salesforce is because someone smarter than me took the time to explain an answer which then became knowledge I helped share too. It’s a grassroots community empowering everyone who has a desire to learn 🙂 (EFD – Ahhh…the community in action. That’s awesome!)

How did our relationship start, and when? I started following you when I read your blog on becoming an MVP.  (EFD – so that would have been in April, 2013. I found out that I became an MVP the day after my birthday. What a present, huh? Oh…and in case anyone missed that blog, here it is!

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I went to a college prep boarding school for athletes in Faribault, MN right outside the Twin Cities.  Shattuck St. Mary’s focused on building a competitive environment for nurturing student athletes.  Alumnus include the great Marlon Brando, Sydney Crosby from the Penguins, Johnny Toews of the Blackhawks, Derek Stephan of the NY Rangers, or the countless AMAZING women on Team USA and many more. (If the Shattuck St. Mary’s google alerts find this article, my apologies for those left out who are worthy of a shout out 😉 ).  I used to think the highlight of my life would be saying I went to high school with the best of the best as I humbly cheer on my friends while they made it to Olympic levels, until I found my Salesforce network.  Now I’m a part of a group so powerful and exciting that I don’t have to just look back fondly at my time in high school, I’m excited for my future and what I can do for Women in Technology paving my own trail.  It may not be as glorious as a Gold Medal or Stanley Cup, but for me the growth in my career with Salesforce is more than I could have ever hoped for as a girl from Nebraska with a dream to find my calling. (EFD – There are some people who will be more impressed at what this girl from Nebraska has done, compared to winning an Olympic Gold Medal or the Stanley Cup….I’m one of those people.)

You can find Taylor on Twitter.

Great Dates, Bad Dates and Salesforce.com Dates

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Did you ever go out on a date with someone a friend said was perfect for you only to be wishing the date never started after just 5 minutes? That would be a bad date.

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Did you ever go out on a date with someone who you figured out was perfect for you after just 5 minutes? That would be a great date!

first sight

Did you ever wonder how you can filter a matrix report to compare this year versus last year in your production org? That would be a Salesforce date.  And when you use a Salesforce date in the right way, WOW!  The things you can do!

Salesforce dates come in all shapes and sizes…just like your personal good and bad dates. But unlike those dates, you have complete control over what your Salesforce dates will do. And that’s a good thing! Dates are one of the most important filters you can use on a report. They will not only make sure you get what you are looking for, but with a narrow focus, your reports will actually run faster.

Types of Salesforce Dates

There are many types of Salesforce dates. There’s the really important ones, the dates everyone wants to know – what date does Dreamforce start, and when is Midwest Dreamin’ next year?  While I admit those are important, they are really irrelevant to how you filter a report.

Everyone probably knows that you can use a fixed date range, simply by entering (or selecting from the calendar) the dates you want, and most people probably know that you can use a pre-defined date range such as “Current FQ” or “Last 90 Days”.

CQ

But did you realize you can use mixed dates to give you a really cool filter?

mixed dates

In short, dates are awesome, and control what you see (or don’t see) in your reports and dashboards.

For some reason, when I think about the power dates give you in reports, I thought of this: https://youtu.be/NpWAlvWNZj0

I’m the (Kevin) Bacon of the Salesforce Community – Introducing Melissa VanDyke

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This is the sixth 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 Melissa VanDyke, the creator of the Admin to Admin Academy and the host of the Admin to Admin Academy Video Podcast.

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What’s your job title? Manager, Salesforce.  (EFD – So you manage a team of Sales people?)  MVD: No! I manage a team of Awesome Salesforce Admins at Orbitz Worldwide, the online travel agency.

What does that mean you do?   Lead Salesforce solution architect for the Global Hotel Strategy instance of Salesforce (~300 users); Management responsibilities for the Salesforce team (2 direct reports on my team); I oversee the Hotel Strategy Salesforce deliverables for all stakeholders; Full end-to-end project management responsibilities for all SFDC projects. From requirement gathering, documentation and development to implementation, training and roll-out/change management.

(EFD – Uh, wow. That’s a lot. How do you have time for anything else, like your Admin to Admin Academy and podcast?)  MVD: I use all of my free time thinking about ways to bring value to the community and creating content. I listen to every podcast I can find that helps empower me, so I stop being my own worst enemy (for example, I try not to say “I am too busy” and instead think about ways to find the time — like how I can watch 1 hour less of TV and write a post instead! LOL!). If interested in this type of thing, check out The Life Coach School Podcast by Brooke Castillo she is definitely one of my major heroes (along with Tony Robbins and Stephen R. Covey of course :))!!

How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? 5 years.  (EFD – That’s a pretty good amount of time, in Salesforce years.)  MVD- I actually started with Microsoft Dynamics, so it is technically 8 years’ experience of leveraging CRM as a platform for process improvement projects.

Bacon or sausage? It’s bacon, or nothing..

What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know?  It’s what you know about who you know. Listening and knowing your audience so you can learn from them and help them as necessary  (EFD – Listening?  What?  Oh right, we have 2 ears and only one mouth, so we should listen twice a much as we talk, right?)  MVD– Yes! And the key is to ask awesome questions that make people feel comfortable with you, making it clear that you are there to help them and solve their process pain!

How did our relationship start, and when? Midwest Dreamin’ 2014!!!  (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 this summer!)

And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I was almost an amateur poker player. (EFD – Almost? Did you lose a bet and have to take a career path that led you to Salesforce instead?) MVD– Ha! I guess I was technically an amateur poker player because I had been playing tournaments and cash games in all of my free time for about eight years, then five years ago I seriously considered packing up and moving to Vegas to pursue my passion full time! In the end I decided instead to try and level up my career, knowing that if that did not work out I could fall back on the poker dream (and I can always retire early to try my hand at becoming a poker pro!). Luckily I found Saleforce shortly after, and have never looked back 🙂 I do miss playing poker tremendously, but now I spend all my free time creating content for the blog and podcast!!

And now for the extra bonus question – Tell me about Admin to Admin Academy and your podcast…what’s it all about and motivated you to start it?  I first started my blog in February 2015. It was something I had been dreaming about for at least 2 years. (EFD – Dreaming about a blog…hmmm.  Tell me more!)  I would talk about it, plan it and think about what I wanted to write.  (EFD – #Teaser  Sorry, readers…you’ll have to watch for another post coming soon that goes into all the details behind Admin to Admin Academy!  I promise, it’s a great story. That’s why I’m going to make it a separate post!)

You can find Melissa on Twitter and be sure to check out her site.

Chicago’s Weather Forecast – Cloudy and Windy with a Chance of Awesome!

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It might seem a little pretentious of me to make such a bold statement, but I am predicting the weather for a very small portion of Chicago. What’s even more audacious is that I’m making this prediction for a couple days that are still more than 30 days away!

I predict that Chicago’s Navy Pier will see cloudy and windy weather on July 9 & 10, 2015.

Now I sure hope that Peter Coffee and Dan Darcy don’t take that statement the wrong way, because sometimes when people say that others are ‘windy’ it could mean ‘they like to talk just to hear the sound of their own voice.’ In THIS case, the wind I am referring to is simply the breeze that comes off of Lake Michigan. That’s it, pure and simple. And the cloudy, well, do I really need to explain that one?

The Opening Event

Midwest Dreamin’ 2015 kicks off on July 9th at 4pm with an Opening Reception for attendees sponsored by Salesforce.com, the Salesforce Success Services team and the Salesforce AppExchange.  Come join us! Check in as early as 3pm, browse the expo hall, enjoy some food and drinks (served from 4pm to 7pm.)  This is prime time to mix and mingle with some of the brightest minds in the ecosystem. You’ll have a chance to hang out with some of the MVPs and enjoy the Demo Jam, where some of our sponsors will each have three minutes to showcase their apps, while our Master of Ceremonies, and 4-time Salesforce MVP, Joshua Hoskins, keeps everyone on schedule and entertained.

Cloudy, With a Chance of Awesome

Please don’t forget to come back to Navy Pier on July 10th! That’s when the main event happens with even more awesome stuff. Check-in will open at 7:30am, and the man once known as the Master of the Dreamforce Demos, the one and only, Dan Darcy, now Salesforce Senior Vice President for Worldwide Product Readiness, will take the stage at 9am to kick things off with his rendition of ‘Thrift Shop’! Ok, that part is a joke, Dan will not be singing, to the best of my knowledge, but he will be sharing a great story with us for our opening keynote!

The REAL Deal

Next up will be a hand-picked lineup of some of the community’s best and brightest, as they all take the stage in a great rendition of ‘We Are The World’. Sorry, that’s a lie too. As far as I know, none of our speakers will actually be singing, but they will be sharing some fantastic content, covering topics like: Chatter, Women in Technology, Platform, Not for Profit, and more!  If you are looking for interaction on a more intimate level, be sure to check out the Circles of Success where you’ll have the opportunity to participate in an interactive, moderated round-table discussion focusing on best practices, with topics including Lead & Opportunity Management, Data Integrity, Driving Success, How to Boost Sales Performance and Change Management.

And the Oscar goes to…
Of course an event like this would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. Please make sure to spend some time visiting with them in the expo hall. The hall will be open from 8am to 4pm on July 10th. There’s so much goodness in the ecosystem that you don’t know what you don’t know until you see it! The sponsors are there to help you learn and extend your efficient use of the platform.

How Can I Get in on All This Greatness?

Are you a user, admin or developer?  Attend Midwest Dreamin’!  Register today to beat the price increase. Are you a partner?  Sponsor Midwest Dreamin’!  We still have some opportunities available!

See you at Chicago’s Navy Pier on July 9th and 10th!

You Don’t Have to be From the Midwest….

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Perhaps by now you’ve heard of a little event being planned for July 9th & 10th, 2015,  at Chicago’s Navy Pier…it’s a little thing called Midwest Dreamin’ 2015. The organizers of Midwest Dreamin’  somehow managed to convince Dan Darcy to come to Chicago to open up the activities on July 10th, and Peter Coffee will be making a return trip to Midwest Dreamin’ to close the event down.

Who is Dan Darcy?

dan darcy

Many of us that have attended Dreamforce over the past few years know Dan as “The Dreamforce Demo Man”, but he gave up that role about two years ago and moved into something bigger and better. Dan is now the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Product Readiness. He is responsible for working with the product organization to develop priorities, product positioning and competency strategy for the distriibution organization, customers and partners. In addition, he manages the New Product Introduction processes to ensure that product releases have an enablement plan and assets are developed for consumption by customers, partners and employees.  Dan is also still head of Customer Visions for Marc Benioff.

Who is Peter Coffee?

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Seriously? If you have to ask that question, one might wonder how long you have been a salesforce.com user, developer, administrator or fan. Just in case you did just crawl out from under a rock, or recently converted from some other CRM system, I’ll fill you in. Peter Coffee is the Vice President of Strategic Research at Salesforce.com, but to those of us in the Salesforce.com community, we think of him as so much more than that. He’s the voice of Dreamforce, the pre-Keynote entertainment, the Master of Ceremony at the worlds largest technology conference. He is the show, before the show. He sets the stage at Dreamforce and gets the crowd all pumped up to see Marc Benioff talk about all the exciting things that Salesforce.com is working on, and all the awesome good things the Salesforce Foundation is helping to accomplish thanks to the 1-1-1 model – One percent of your time, one percent of your profits and one percent of your products being donated to great causes in order to help make the world a better place for all of us. Peter currently supports Salesforce efforts in CIO and developer engagement; in regulatory and stakeholder discussions, including information security technology and practice; and in collaborations with research professionals in both the commercial and academic communities

Breakout Sessions Are the Skid Marks of Learning
I think it’s always interesting and entertaining to listen to Peter Coffee and Dan Darcy speak, but where the rubber meets the road is what really helps businesses and nonprofits alike. That’s why people attend events like Dreamforce and Midwest Dreamin’. Skid marks of learning – just what exactly is that?  These skid marks don’t get made from quick stops or from taking turns too fast. They come from the rapid acceleration of business growth, from increased innovation and new ways of taking care of customers. Midwest Dreamin’ just completed its call for speakers and has a great lineup of fantastic speakers talking on everything from “Creating Change with Salesforce Communities” to “So You’ve Inherited (or Created) a Mess…Now What?”  Check out more sessions planned for Midwest Dreamin’ 2015.

Time is Money
How valuable is your time? Consider not only your salary, but the time you spend with family and friends, the time you spend helping others through volunteering or just by being a good neighbor. Attending Midwest Dreamin’ 2015, can actually save you both time and money. Sure, there’s a hard cost to attending…travel expenses and the registration fee, but the knowledge you will gain and the value of those new ideas that will start floating around in your head will certainly exceed those hard costs and help you find more time in your day by allowing you to streamline processes.

The Proof is in the Pudding
I know what you are thinking now….how can I get in on this? What do I need to do to get a piece of this action? That’s the easiest part! Visit the Midwest Dreamin’ Register! page. Yes…it really is that simple!

What’s that? You want to help?
Are you with a partner and wanting to help get your company’s message out to the hundreds of attendees coming to Midwest Dreamin’? We’ve got plenty of sponsorship opportunities still available. For details, visit Sponsorship Options

FINAL LOGO.2015