24 September 2017 - Fires, bombs and wine

I hosted our LAUG meetup at the Tes office on Wednesday, mind you it nearly didn't happen. I had just got everything ready, the wine chilled, the food on the table when suddenly I was informed by our security team that the police had cordoned off the square due to a bomb scare and no one was allowed into the building. Tricky. And then, we were told to evacuate the building. Everyone out! I got everyone out and took some essentials, my bag and a couple bottles of wine - naturally. 

As soon as we were out, we were given the all clear. Everyone back in again, let the show commence! Relax, have a glass of wine and listen to our great speakers. The night's theme was about 'from Admin to Architect'. Its funny, I'm am the owner of my company's Org, I control the destiny of its strategy and yet, I have never considered calling myself an Architect. Its a word that hasn't sat well with me in the past, but maybe now I shouldn't be so afraid of this term and give it a go, see how well it suits me.


Meanwhile at work, the fires continue to burn with post deployment woes but at least we have all hands on the situation and everyone determined to resolve the issues. We're getting there, bit by bit. Its been an interesting learning curve for my Exec team. For the past 2.5 years they have demanded a very ambitious implementation programme and my team have done outstanding work to try to meet their needs. We flagged problems along the way; we're very experienced and try our best to mitigate wherever possible but sometimes its not enough. Sometimes it takes something to break for others to stop and listen. They are now starting to listen. This is a good thing. Will they learn from this? That is the next question. 

In the world of Salesforce its been a busy few weeks. There have been some community events such as French Touch Dreamin' in Paris and Surf Force in Ireland. I attended both inaugural events last year and had much fun, even spoke a bit of French as part of my FTD talk but didn't make it this year due to work commitments. 

Salesforce has also announced the latest batch of MVP's to join the fold. Its a privilege to be nominated and more to be awarded the title. The recipients do so much in the community to get the recognition they deserve. We welcome the new unicorns and sprinkle fairy dust in their presence. 

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