Crossing the Channel for the Community

Last week I travelled to my first international Salesforce event outside of San Francisco. Though I have been lucky enough to attend Dreamforce for the last 3 years, I haven't been able to stretch to attending any other event outside of the UK. Don't get me wrong, I have travelled to plenty of events within the UK, including Scotland, Wales, Leicester, and at least one London based event per month (normally more) but international travel is expensive and involves more time out of the office and so has been challenging to swing.

I had to miss both the first edition of both French Touch and Dreamole due to work commitments and so when the dates for the 2nd FTD were released I blocked out my work and personal diaries and pledged to do all I could to attend.

This was made easier when my session submission was successful, I was able to take this to my employer and use it to obtain the green light to attend. When seeking the permission, the funding, or the justification to attend a Salesforce event, always go prepared with the answers to the following:

• What I will learn?
• How will I contribute?
• How will I benefit?

Depending on your position, your employer, and your role, these factors will have different relevance and weighting but if you align your reasons for wanting to attend with your situation, and remember to include the WIIFM for your company then you will hopefully be successful (but not always).

Travelling from London to Paris is super easy and so I was able to leave home after breakfast and arrive in Paris in time for lunch. Unfortunately I was also in time for the torrential rain which decided to descend on Paris that afternoon. Way to make me feel at home Paris!

My user group umbrella was essential

I will go out on a limb and say that most of us attend Salesforce events for two reasons:

1. To meet up with old and new friends (community members)
2. To learn from the same

I was able to accomplish number one that same evening as I was invited to the pre-conference Speaker and Friends Dinner. We filled 3 tables and tucked into 3 courses of French food whilst we caught up and dried off. As at so many Salesforce gatherings the dinners had travelled from across the globe and it really is great to be able to hear the different stories that a diverse group of Salesforce geeks bring to the table.

Thursday morning arrived and the rain had blown away as I made the short walk from my hotel to the venue. 

French Touch Dreamin' had attracted three keynote speakers from Salesforce, all who had flown in from the US. Ludovic Ulrich launched the day with the opening keynote, Wade Wegner took the post-lunch spot with the Developer Keynote, and Shawna Wolverton closed out the day. I made sure to catch all three keynotes.

I strongly recommend that anyone attending similar events seize the opportunity to hear from senior executives at Salesforce talk about the platform in an intimate setting. I am sure all three will be on the big stage at Dreamforce this year but I was able to hear them speak in a much smaller setting as well as actually meet and talk to each of them before or after their sessions, something that just won't be possible at Dreamforce.

Everything is more personal at these community run events, when the numbers of attendees runs to three figures rather than six, you know that there will be:

• No queuing, the only sessions you will miss are those that clash
• No losing time navigating between venues, your entire day can be spent learning or networking
• No feeling lost in the crowd, at big events I have often felt lonely when completely surrounded, that isn't the case events such as French Touch Dreamin'

As well as the three keynotes I attended several other sessions including Cyril Louis' talk on connecting the Sales and Marketing Clouds, Chris Edwards' presentation on the journey to Application Architect, Jodi Wagner's Staring Down Your Fears, and Roger Mitchell's Lightning Tips. They were all great and I am now keeping my eyes peeled for the videos of the sessions I missed to be available online.

My highlight though was delivering my session 'Bring Your Users With You on the Trail to Lightning'. Every time I present at a Salesforce event, once I get past my nerves, I find I enjoy it so completely, especially the interaction with the audience. My session was about developing a change management strategy with the migration to Lightning in mind. I am going to be delivering a version of this talk at Dreamforce and so the French Touch Dreamin' attendees got a preview while I got a dry run!

The after party was soon in full swing and presented more opportunities to meet and exchange stories of the day with new people, and share a glass of Champagne with old friends.

I will continue to take every opportunity to attend as many community events as possible and I urge you all to do the same. When these events involve a trip to Paris, London, and Barcelona, who are we to argue? I hope to see you there.