Tag Archives: MVP

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

Posted on by

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!

It Feels Like The First Time…

Posted on by

Despite the racy title, this is not one of those posts that you can’t read in front of your children. In this post I want to explore human nature, and try to explain what if feels like to be named an MVP.

In the spring of 2013, I got the email telling me I had been named an MVP for the first time. I was full of all sorts of emotions. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor. It was a rather odd day to begin with. I had shut off data on my mobile phone because I was on the last day of my billing cycle and was dangerously close to exceeding my data plan limit, so it wasn’t until lunch time when I connected my iPad up to WiFi when I noticed a few tweets telling me congratulations. I replied to one of them with a ‘for what?’ and the response I got was ‘check your email’. Oh, wow. Look, I’m an MVP now! Oh &*#^! What does that mean? What’s expected of me now? I was excited, nervous and scared all at the same time. Some of the MVPs were (and still are) heroes of mine. They post so much good stuff to the community, they help so many people solve problems, and all I did was start a user group and host a small regional user conference…so small that some user groups were bigger!

Fast forward a year. I was a little nervous about being renewed. I’m one of the few MVPs who hold zero certifications, and those seem to be gaining a lot more attention. I knew I should be trying to get certified, but I’m not an Admin or a Developer at my job. I’m simply the reporting and analytics guy. I build reports and dashboards all day long. Ok, I do more than that, I do have Admin rights, and I’m allowed to play the admin role, as long as I do it in the sandbox for testing. Once I’ve got things tested out and working as I would like, I pass it all over to our Admin who moves everything to production. I did organize a “little” regional event called Midwest Dreamin’ that seemed to be a success.  When I got the email telling me I was re-awarded the MVP title, all those same feelings came right back. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor.

2015 was no different.  I’m still not certified, although I did try the Admin certification exam once, and failed.  I also just finished participating in the Salesforce Certification Study Group on the Success Community, but I haven’t yet attempted the exam. I’m not quite ready to try it again. I’ve been too busy with work, planning Midwest Dreamin’ 2015, and helping my wife launch her new business to have the appropriate time to devote to studying and practicing in a Dev org.  I got the email again, stating that I’ve been renewed as an MVP yet another time. Needless to say, I was thrilled, but still, all those same feelings came right back. I felt incredibly honored, very humbled, and 100% totally undeserving of such an honor.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

To all of the Community who has helped me, a very big THANK YOU. I couldn’t be where I am today without YOU!

Just a Little Dreamforce Excitement!

Posted on by

There’s a great deal of excitement found in this Facebook post from Cheryl Feldman

IMG_0358.JPG

And this was before Cheryl found out she was named a Salesforce.com MVP!
Cheryl and 14 others were named MVPs for the Summer ’14 class, and 22 current MVPs were given the honor again. Check out all that excitement here: Summer ’14 MVPs .

I Might Be Hangout Impaired…or What’s This Thing Called “Community” all about?

Posted on by

Dreamforce ended about two months ago, and I just discovered something. It’s good to be able to stay in touch with friends via social media, but it’s even better to do so through live, streaming conversation and video. I recently spent about 45 minutes hanging out on Google with Zachary Jeans.

The First Thing I Learned
My first takeaway from my conversation with Zachary, actually happened before the conversation even started. I discovered that I don’t really know how to fire up a Google Hangout. Of course, I’m a “tech-child” of the 70s & 80s, and if my memory works, our creed was to simply try things to see if they work, and hope we break anything while we were in the “error” stage of “trial and error.” We felt that reading the manual (or help screens) was for wimps, and if we actually did some reading there was no way we’d admit to it, short of penalty of death.

(Editor’s note: The previous statement is not an admission of guilt, expressed or implied, however, this statement just might be a little bit sarcastic.)

The Second Thing I Learned
My second takeaway from my conversation with Zachary (which actually did happen during the conversation,) is that faith can move mountains. (Ok, I already knew this, but talking with Zachary reaffirmed it.) Back in June, 2012, Zachary decided to follow a dream and founded a company centered around his passion for social media. At the end of August, 2012, he made the decision to give up his career driving trucks across the country to devote all his efforts to his new company. He struggled for a while, as many start-up companies do, but he had a few things going for him that have gotten him to the point he’s at now…a successful businessman, supporting his family while doing what he loves. He had (and still has) the following things working In his favor: 1. the support of his wife and son; 2. A strong faith that The Lord won’t give him more than he can handle; and 3. A strong network of supporters and friends, some of whom he only knows through social media, and others he has met personally, and all contribute in some way to the success he is now enjoying.

The Third Thing I Learned
My third takeaway from my conversation with Zachary, was another reaffirmation of something I already knew, but it is so huge that it merits pointing out because many people still don’t get it. What’s “it”? It’s the secret sauce, it’s what floats people’s boats. It’s It’s what turns people’s cranks. It is why some people get out of bed every morning and continue to suffer through another day on the job that they may not enjoy. It is also why some people feel like they don’t work at all, even though they are on the job, hard at work, for 50 to 75 hours a week (or more.)

“It” is “Community.”

Community

What’s Community?
Community – a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

Community – without it, I wouldn’t know a lot of the great people I know today. I wouldn’t know the “Answers Champion”, the master of the “Safe Habbah” statement, the one and only Steve Molis. I wouldn’t know the ButtonClickAdmin, Mike Gerholdt and his trusty sidekick, Jared Miller.

Community – without it, I wouldn’t know some of the best User Group leaders on the planet. I wouldn’t know the CRM Doctor, Rhonda Ross. I wouldn’t know the awesome leaders of two of the largest Salesforce user groups, Leyna Hoffer and Denise Carbone. I wouldn’t know the world traveling, master at starting new user groups, Joshua Hoskins. I wouldn’t know one of the latest additions to the ranks of the Salesforce MVPs, Sarah Duetsch, whose inspiring story of community and the drive to get certified brought us all to tears as Dreamforce 2012 started. And if it weren’t for community, I wouldn’t know Cher Feldman, whose recent blog post told the story of a great career transformation, powered by the force.com platform: (insert link to Cher’s blog post)

Community – if it weren’t for community, I wouldn’t know the great Community Managers of the world: Erica Kuhl, Matt Brown, Samanthia Achuff, Eanna Cunnane, or April Nassi.

Community – without it, I wouldn’t enjoy going to work every day. I work with a great group of people, who, whether they realize it or not, are a community too.

Community – without it, I wouldn’t be who I am today, and to all of you in my Community, thanks for everything you do. It is greatly appreciated!

That’s the Power of Love…I mean the Community!

Posted on by

To quote the book “212 – the extra degree” by Sam Parker: “At 211, water is hot, at 212, it boils. And with boiling water, comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. One extra degree makes all the difference.”

To quote Brendan Conroy, Certified Salesforce Administrator and Salesforce MVP:  “The Community is that extra degree. The effort and expertise from Community members genuinely makes miracles happen.” You can find Brendan on Twitter and the Salesforce Success Community.

It’s really odd how sometimes things go full circle. I got the idea for this post in late September, 2013, and was reminded of it again while enjoying the opening a keynote at Dreamforce in November, 2013, when Marc Benioff introduced a special guest – Huey Lewis and the News, who wowed the crowd with “The Power Of Love”

It wasn’t accompanied by the video from the movie “Back to the Future”, but after attending Dreamforce, and seeing how much emphasis Salesforce has placed on API and Mobile, it seemed appropriate for me to use that clip. With all the massive changes that have been baked into Salesforce.com over the past years, Salesforce Releases – 2011-Now, it’s really great to realize just how much Salesforce.com cares about what their customers want and need.

It’s a return to the grass-roots…it’s back to basics. It’s True To The Core! It’s … Wait for it … It’s

Back to the future!

Its Midwest Dreamin’ 2014, coming to Chicago, Summer, 2014.

What’s Midwest Dreamin’ 2014?

It’s the best of user groups combined with a Dreamforce-like atmosphere (with only 250 of your closest friends.)
Stay tuned for more details and how you can register to attend.

Interested in helping to sponsor Midwest Dreamin’ 2014? Send an email to: midwest.dreamin.2014@gmail.com

Safe Harbor

Posted on by

Inspiration.

So I’m on an airplane, again, and another inspiration seems to have struck me, just as the seat in front of me struck my knees when the passenger up there decided to recline.

Actually, inspiration struck me a couple days ago when one of those emails that most people would call spam hit my inbox. This one was from a university advertising an all new, totally online Masters degree program in Data Analytics. Of course, being an analyst, my curiosity was peaked. So I did what every marketer hopes happens, I clicked to open the email. (Seriously, I didn’t even consider the fact that it could be a scam or some unsavory character phishing for my identity.) I then did what I usually do when I open this type of email, I click the link…no, this time I’m kidding. I hit up Google and did a search for the university in question. What I found was a properly accredited university offering a great, totally online program in a field that I have been wanting to learn more about for a few years now. The tag line of the message in the email about this program was “Big data, big opportunities.”

Big Data.

As someone who has considered himself a data analyst for many years, and one who feels like he has dealt with big data before, the topic still fascinates me. I’ve often told people that my job is to translate data into meaningful information, which means I am a detective, searching to find what story all the data is trying to tell. I’ve worked for a university and helped them install a new student accounting system that took the staff through a leap from a weekly updated set of microfilm, to a real-time, online system, updated instantly. Talk about a leap of faith! This ‘big’ data jump was not without it’s share of problems, and even though we successfully tested (and properly balanced) the new system, and tested the conversion routines not once, not even twice, but seven times prior to doing it in the production system, it still did not balance when we did it for real. $42 Million in accounts receivables, and we were off by $107.25. What a way to cap off several months of hard work. Complete and total failure. Great! (editors note – please be sure you have read that last sentence with the appropriate amount of sarcasm!) This failure kicked off what I thought wa showing to be the start of a long and grueling weekend of cross checking, rebalancing, auditing and caffeine, hoping to discover where the missing $107.25 wound up.

I was searching big data, but without a modern tool to query with. Much to my surprise, finding the missing money was actually quite easy. It was the last record in the file, and out of the millions of records, it was the only one that was exactly $107.25! Yes! We are balanced. TURN ON THE NEW SYSTEM AND LET’S GET ROLLING!

Oh wait a second, we found the money, but not the account it was supposed to be charged to. Too late, we are live. The Vice President (of the university) said we had better go live on time, or we had better all start looking for other employment. Feeling confident that I could solve this mystery, if given enough time, we created a new account: “Unknown Student” and began moving all unidentified dollars to that account. After much searching, and getting down to the smallest detail, we successfully identified the correct accounts for all the mystery money.

A solution.

Customer data. Call it big data, call it small data. I think it really doesn’t matter how much data there is, as long as you understand what it all means.

Here’s a great way to better your understanding of your customer data: attend Dreamforce, San Francisco, November 18-22, 2013. Register at http://www.dreamforce.com and you too can become a Customer Company.

Save $100!

Use promo code D13MVPREF to save $100 on your registration!

Get to know the Community.

Want another way to help you understand how to make the most of your customer data and your Salesforce implementation? Get connected with a local user group! Find yours at http://success.salesforce.com/usergroups

History in the Making

Posted on by

A few thoughts occurred to me while flying to San Francisco for the Salesforce MVP Summit.

We are on the cusp of a breakthrough.

The MVP program has been around for about three years now, but up till now, the only gathering of the MVPs has been at Dreamforce when most MVPs make the annual pilgrimage. This time, all the MVPs from all over the world were specifically invited by Salesforce.com to attend the first ever MVP Summit. It’s an honor to be included in such a great crowd of people, and it’s an even bigger honor to know that Salesforce.com wants to know what we think about their products and services.

Safe Harbor.

I’m sure there will be things shared with the MVPs at the Summit that they can only discuss amongst themselves, and I’m certain that all the MVPs will honor this. Having had the privilege to see something that is being developed for a future release already, I can say it is incredibly awe inspiring when a company comes asks the users of its products for input, but to top that, to ask about something that’s not even available to the general public…Wow!

Dreamforce.
Register Now!
Don’t forget to register soon, and use promo code D13MVPREF to save $100!

Moving forward

Posted on by

A few thoughts occurred to me while flying from Chicago to Philadelphia recently.

Some organizations (and size doesn’t matter here) do a great job with customer service but meeting their customers where they are and communicating with customers in the manner I which the customer chooses. A few examples of such organizations include: Habitat for Humanity; Enterasys Networks; American Airlines; KLove Radio, Starbucks, and Salesforce.com.

Of particular interest from that list, at least to me, is Salesforce.com and Enterasys Networks. Why, you might ask? Because both those organizations focus more on B2B interactions, where the final customer may not even realize that Salesforce.com or Enterasys is involved at all. They both provide a backbone for their customers, who I turn rely on the stability of that backbone (or platform, if you will,) to in turn, provide excellent service to their customers.

So why the focus on customer service? Because in some form or another, we all provide customer service. At my job, I am in a role where I support Sales Representatives and Management, but that doesn’t mean what I do on a daily basis has no impact on my company’s customers. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Without the work I do, our Sales Reps might not make the best decisions on how to conduct their business, which in turn affects how our company’s customers view our products. Without customers, wait, make that without satisfied customers, the company can not thrive and grow. I worked in the corporate accounting office for a major shoe retailer for a few years, and we had a saying, “If you did not sell a pair of shoes today, what did you do to help someone who did?”

That sums it up very nicely. Everyone in an organization, no matter what their role, does something that helps shape the final consumers view of the company and the products or services the company sells.

I think it was Sam Walton who once said, “There are two rules in business: Rule #1 – The customer is always right; and Rule #2 – When the customer happens to be wrong, see rule #1.”

We all know that in a perfect world, that works, and we also all know that our world is far from perfect. However, if we all strive for excellence and have as our goal to exceed our customers expectations, we will all be much better off.

Remember, everyone has a little awesome inside, you just need to let it show!

Thank you, part two…and a preview of things to come!

Posted on by

You know that song “Hook” by Blues Traveler?

“It doesn’t matter what I say
So long as I sing with inflection”

Hook by Blues Traveler

I’m not so sure I agree with that statement. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of Blues Traveler, and I do hope they make an appearance at Dreamforce 2013, but, in my opinion, most times it really IS what you say, and not how you say it.

In my last post, I thanked colleagues, friends, coworkers and others in the Salesforce community who have inspired and influenced me. In this post, I extend those thanks out to the ecosystem and feel the need to express gratitude to partners who have helped me on this journey over the past 4 years from rookie Salesforce.com business analyst to Salesforce.com MVP.

Forest Yule from Silverpop, thank you for having faith in me and my crazy ‘Midwest Dreamin’ idea for a regional user group event. I appreciate all the support you have given me, and continue to provide to all the Salesforce user groups.

Darren Cunningham from Informatica, Al West from Apttus, Mary Beth Kush from Acumen Solutions, Andy Thoe from Bluewolf – thanks go out to all of you for your support of the user group community.

Cast Iron, DocuSign, NextGen Consulting and JAUST Consulting Partners – Thank you all for your support to the user community as well.

Without all of you, Midwest Dreamin would have remained an idea in my head.

A lot has changed since May, 2011, and I wish I could have made Midwest Dreamin an annual event since then…but there’s always tomorrow – so…be watching, be on the lookout, there very well could be a Midwest Dreamin 2014.

A few thoughts…from a newly appointed Salesforce MVP

Posted on by

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


20130420-003309.jpg

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

20130424-222245.jpg

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

20130424-222414.jpg

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

20130425-230103.jpg

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

20130425-230524.jpg

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

Road2DF_header

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

20130425-231150.jpg

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) –

sfdc community

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) –

image

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

20130425-231333.jpg

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!