25 May 2019 - Salesforce World Tour Week
It's May which means at some point in the month the
Salesforce machine spins into overdrive for World Tour hitting London town. What’s
special about the London market place is that World Tour here is the largest
that Salesforce puts on and is only out done by the San Francisco events that
help to generate the content, namely Dreamforce and to some extent, TrailheaDX.
What I love about London is that it joins in with World Tour and a one day
conference has turned into a week’s activities in the community. I like to consider
this week as my mental and physical preparation for Dreamforce. Let me tell you
about 2019.
In the UK the week tends to start on a Monday and this year
there were no Salesforce events. This could have been influenced by a certain
final episode of Game of Thrones that was available to be watched and so many
of the UK community diligently did, and the Salesforce world patiently waited
to learn the fate of all in Westeros.
Tuesday, and with GOT now completed everyone could return to
the fun of the blue cloud. And what better way to kick everything off than an
evening with the London Admins. As a group we celebrate World Tour each year
and we are lucky enough to be joined by members of Salesforce. This year was no
different and we were graced by members of the Evangelist team, Mike Gerholdt, LeeAnne Rimel and Rachel Mincarelli.
Gillian wasn’t able to make it this time but we showed that
she was missed with a gift for Baby Bruce. A future London Admin in the making.
Content was provided by the Evangelist team and Mike kicked
things off with a talk on how to give a great presentation, with LeeAnne in hot
pursuit on how to give a Rockstar demo. The venue, courtesy of our hosts 4C,
was packed to the rafters with members all wanting another evening of learning,
networking, entertainment and fun. We aim to please!
Did I mention cake? Well here at London Admins we have a
tradition for each World Tour that we celebrate with a cake. And when you have
a lot of people turning up to our events, well you’re going to need a big cake.
While the Evangelist team gave their stellar presentations, the cake cutting
team extraordinaire of Claire and myself got into gear and cut up this sugar
beauty.
With everyone on a sugar high we carried on with the show.
Next up our popular feature of Interview an Admin. This is where the previous
month’s Admin interviewee interviews the next one. This month we had Will Turner
interview Paul Foley. We learnt about his incredible journey to Admin, from
being unemployed in Ireland to taking a punt and coming over to London to seek
his fortune. Paul took a chance on a 6 week contract which converted to a 1
year Fixed Term contract and then onwards to a permanent position as a
Salesforce Admin with a consultancy. His personal resilience and faith in the
blue cloud has transformed into a career path and so much potential. What a
great story and we are so grateful for Paul to share it. In addition, Rachel
from the Evangelist team set up a camera and live streamed the interview so I’m
hoping that Paul’s story will be a source of inspiration for many more people.
Our co-leader Matt took the floor to give an update many of us had been
waiting for. Matt and Gemma are each other’s study buddies, both on their journey
to CTA. They took the dreaded Board exam in close succession only to find out
that they hadn’t passed it this time. We are grateful to both Gemma and Matt
for sharing their story. It’s a genuinely very tough exam. You have to know
your stuff and be prepared on the day. This is just a minor set back and they
will achieve their goal some day and we will be there to celebrate when they
do.
Such a content rich evening and the inspiration didn’t stop
there. We then had our last speakers of the evening Kerry and Martin speaking about
their Mentor/Mentee experience. Over a year ago I paired them up together to
share knowledge and help in their career growth. Its heart-warming to see when
a pairing works as both parties gain from the experience. Martin, as the mentee,
had a contact who he could ask advice from, while Kerry received affirmation that
her 12 years in the Salesforce world had generated a wealth of knowledge worth
sharing.
With a Mentor/Mentee selection its up to the pair to decide how
and the frequency of contact. For Kerry and Martin they found that email was
the most convenient solution and this enabled the relationship to stay the
course and benefit both parties.
We have kicked off another Mentor/Mentee programme with the
addition of coaching this time too. If you are interested in getting involved
then please complete this form:
We have already had a great response but we will keep the
registration open for a few more weeks. This programme is open to anyone in the
ecosystem. Technology is our friend and can provide many ways to connect and build
relationships.
With a content busting evening and of course, an after-show
party at the local pub, we eventually brought Tuesday to a close. And then came
Wednesday. A more sophisticated evening lay in wait thanks to very gracious
hosts the Galaticos team who organised a very chi-chi drinks event on a roof
top bar with free-flowing pink champagne. My kind of party. Joined by some
usual suspects and other wonderful community pals we watched the sun go down
while being entertained by a magician and a vertically challenged man with his
basket balls.
Two evenings of community events done. That was the pre-work
completed. Now onto the main event – London World Tour!
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