2 July 2019 - Yeur in Amsterdam for Yeur Dreamin’ and Yeur Leadin’

Mid June and the Salesforce Ohana gather in Amsterdam for a fun packed early-weekend. Am I dreaming? No, Yeur Dreamin’. Yes, really. 

This was the inaugural Benelux Salesforce Community Conference with a large team of organisers and volunteers to bring everything together. 

The speakers drinks on the Thursday night was a lovely chance to meet other speakers and get familiar with the venue. The venue was an intriguing choice. The main stage and sponsor area was in one space in the centre of the building, a sort of glass covered atrium. Meanwhile we settled into Dutch nibbles and beer while networking with fellow speakers. 

Friday and the main event began. Greeted by yellow shirt volunteers on reception to help us with our badges, t-shirts and event guides. We then made to our way into the main space to be greeted with breakfast goodies; one being a most delicious chocolate covered croissant. How naughty! 

With a quick kick off by Kevin Jackson to launch the day we were off! I had a first speaking slot so I quickly found my room and audience. 

Thank you to everyone who joined me to hear my talk on Top Tips for a successful Salesforce CPQ implementation. My normal routine of pointing to my slides to talk through the process flow was a bit scuppered this time round as the screen was so high up. I know the Dutch are pretty tall, but really! 

One talk down I now had time to prepare for the main speaking event; the keynote. For the inaugural event the Yeur Dreamin’ team asked a group from within the community to speak. They chose the Ladies Be Architects. As an advisor to the group it was an honour to join them for the keynote. 

Grateful to the Yeur Dreamin’ team to provide the Ladies with space so we could prepare. As keynote speakers it was important to us that we could deliver a talk worthy of a keynote and didn’t want to let anyone down. 

I did manage to take some time to enjoy the rest of the conference, managing to catch a really useful talk by Richard Parker from Elements Cloud on 3 words that can supercharge your admin skills and delight your users, showing how their tool can help to clean up and maintain the health of your Salesforce Org. 

And then, show time! Mics on, time to hit the main stage as keynote speakers for Ladies Be Architects. 

Charly kicked off, talking about the challenges that can stop us from achieving our goals and spoke about personal aspects that holds her back. 

Susannah then spoke about how a change in mindset can lead to better results. 

My turn and I offered advice on what action can be taken to achieve your goals once you have the right mindset in place. Some of you eagle eyed will have also noticed a quick costume change for keynote too. 

And finally Gemma took to the stage to share her personal journey and how the Ladies Be Architects movement has evolved. 

Keynote completed, standing ovation, not a dry eye in the house, especially from the ladies in the stage. Nailed it! 

Time to celebrate with the post event party drinks and nibbles. 2 talks done, one more to go! 

Oh yes, our time in Amsterdam was not done for some of us. The next morning Community Group Leaders gathered once again in the same venue for another inaugural community conference, Yeur Leadin’. With leaders from across the globe, the furthest being New Zealand, we came together to learn, network and have fun. 

Did I mention cake? We couldn’t let Kerry’s 40th Birthday go un-celebrated. Thank you to Salesforce for the lovely cake. It tasted delicious too!

The first keynote from Debra Brunner from the Together Plan, someone who works with volunteers and gave insights on her operation and insights on the power of me, the power of we. 

Then onto the community talks for the afternoon, sharing our knowledge and experience on items such as engaging with your local Salesforce office, content themes, an open forum for all leaders to ask questions, and learning about how to work along side leaders and volunteers. 

And then for my 3rd talk of the trip. This one was about Aim Higher! How to be an effective Event Manager. I spoke about all the things you have to consider when putting on an event from the general admin, sponsors, venue, content, event promotion and the all important food and drink. You really have to become a jack of all trades and ultimately a Greatest Showman! 

And for the last keynote, Jessica Langston from the Community Team had this honour and she gave us roadmap updates and opened up the floor for us to ask questions. 

Another event done. Group photo shot taken. Time to celebrate again, this time in another venue just down the road. More wine vicar?

Good times had by all. We came, we spoke, we learnt, we networked, we drank. We did Amsterdam. Well done to both Yeur Dreamin’ and Yeur Leadin’ teams on your inaugural events. Time for a sit down. Phew!