Pritam Shekhawat - Noida Salesforce User Group

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

In this blog, I would like to introduce one of the community champions from Noida - India, Pritam Shekhawat, he is Salesforce Noida User Group co-leader, and he is also very active in Salesforce Answer Community.

Tell us about yourself, which User Group you lead?
I am 3x Salesforce Certified Developer and Salesforce Lightning lover and champ. The most imperative thing which I like about Salesforce is giving back. There aren’t sufficient words in the lexicon to portray the essentialness of giving back. Also, egotistically, when I give my time and vitality to others, I simply feel better — about myself and my group.

No matter how much time I have, I am a big fan of Answers Community where I have been answering for almost 2.5 years. My count is over 9000 answers now and I am inspired to never stop contributing.

Here’s my example of overcoming adversity that as of late got distributed on:

• Salesforce MVP Vinay’s (Noida User Group Leader) "Know Your Answers Community Leaders" site. 
• My Salesforce story distributed at 3x Salesforce MVP Eric Dreshfield’s online journal.
• Salesforce in 2017: Predictions for the Future with Mason Frank.
• My guest blog “Tips For Classic To Lightning” on Salesforce MVP Sharif’s site.

I started my career back in the year 2014 and I hold 3-year hardcore Salesforce Implementation experience. Currently, I lead Noida Salesforce User Group, which is the most vibrant user group in India. It was set up by my friend Vinay Chaturvedi, who supported me here. 

I am also involved in the campaign #SFDC4Students which focus on Students and train them to be successful with Salesforce, with the sole aim of bringing more developers in Technology.


How do you become User Group leader? and how is your journey when taking the role as User Group leader?
I use to collaborate in the events managed and run under Noida Salesforce User Group. Also, I am involved in other meetups by other User/Developer groups in the region. That gave me to gain experience in managing and executing such events successfully and that's the reason why Vinay assigned me the group leader for Noida User Group, which is the most successful group in the region and India, I was always a big fan of.


How often your User Group meet up?
As we have a large community here who support us, we plan a meetup every 40 days, more than just the members, we all are friends, the reason is we meet so frequently and so many exciting stuff keep on happening here in the Noida region.


How long have been your User Group established?
I believe 2+ years approx if I am not wrong.


How big is your user group member attend for the meetup in average?
The last event held here recently "#TDX17", we got an attendance of 134 members who joined us.


What have you learned as User Group leader?
So one big learning is "Team work is dream work". We have a really big team of developers here in the region which is ready to help us in everything and every decision. 
Every member here is technically sound and good speakers, they all are real gems from the community.


What do you love being User Group leader?
Being a team leader, I feel proud being within the community and support it grow. I look at it as an opportunity to learn and live together. I am a fan of #OhanaCulture.


What do the challenges become User Group leader and how to overcome it?
Two big challenges I believe here are:
a) How to grow the size and how to improve the quality of meetups.
b) What important steps could be, in order to raise the number of #WIT members in the group.


Tell us what is unique about your User Group
One big unique here is that: "Noida Salesforce User Group" helping the campaign #SFDC4Students to support the Notion of “Giving Back” to the Salesforce community. 

#SFDC4Students is the campaign run and managed by Salesforce community in the region, to bring more developers in Salesforce, for the reason we target colleges and do regular meetups in there, help the students learn Salesforce through Trailhead.


Share us tips that make your User Group success
I am a co-leader in Noida Salesforce User Group and I should say, every member of our group is a leader, with equal opportunities to present himself or to speak, equal opportunities to learn and teach. We respect every girly appearance in our group and with each meetup, we plan something special for our #WIT soldiers.


What would like to see your User Group in the future? 
I am currently looking at and focus on the students, so I would love to see more students joining us and being successful with Salesforce.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
As I always said and will say it again, "For I can't help falling in love with" #SalesforceOhana. 
I love being here and I really love the words said by "Cheryl Fieldman": "The best thing I developed on the Salesforce Platform, is my Career". 
Working on Salesforce Platform has worked wonders for me and many others I know. 

Simplysfdc comment: it always feels great when seeing you guys, with full of the energy in serving the community. Keep up the awesome works mate!

Vipul Goel - Ohanachai of Salesforce community from New Delhi

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

In this blog, I would like to introduce one of the community champion from New Delhi - India, he is active in Noida Developer Group, Chandigarh Developer Group, and India Dreamin '17. also heading Ohanachai a virtual coffee session with Amy Oplinger.

Hello Vipul, tell me about yourself, which Salesforce group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your Developer Group?
I'm associated with Salesforce for more than 4 years now. I'm Senior associate now & holding 2 certifications, much more lined up this year. I'm also leading Salesforce Chandigarh Developer Group with Paarth Jolly & Madan Khichi as well as a helping hand to Salesforce Indian Community driven event "INDIA DREAMIN" and Moreover, I'm collaborating with Amy Oplinger to have virtual coffee sessions with Salesforce Ohana Family.

I was the most de-motivated & discourages person and never thought about my career to follow this #salesforce route with a big success.


Share us your journey and growth with Salesforce Chandigarh Salesforce Developer Group?
Still, I remember the day when I attended the first Salesforce Noida Developer Group Meetup with Zachary Jeans in June 2016. I was new to this Salesforce Community and got the guidance from Vinay Chaturvedi, Madan Khichi, and Atul Gupta. Due to this Salesforce Ohana family collaboration, now our group has been grown up to more than 200 members. 

Then I have a lot of key discussions with Madan Khichi about the handling, responsibilities of Developer Group.

Responsibilities of handling Salesforce Developer Group:
1. It's a tough job to manage all the things simultaneously.
2. Events, Salesforce Success community collaboration, Handling all the Developers & admins to collaborate with each other, knowledge sharing sessions, Salesforce awareness.
3. It looks very simple from outside but behind the scene, there are many things we need to manage.


What do you love being a group leader?
I love people motivating, inspiring and discussing the Salesforce new features which kick off me to work hard myself for the new features and spread over to the community.

NOTE: Sharing is caring, so giving back to the community.


Tell us one thing you want to share with Salesforce community.
Moreover, today I want to discuss the career growth of students who are involved in Salesforce, and who are keen to know about Salesforce.

Whosoever wants to think about their career in Salesforce, It's better to do certification of their own before getting into the job.
Because this helps you in getting the job little easier because you should be knowing the Salesforce infrastructure before getting to the Salesforce career.

Mainly in India with a lot of population and software engineers, people find it difficult to get into the job. It's just a way around so that they can give a try to get the job this way and build their career.  

All credit goes to my brother who helps me in every way. Moreover, I've surprise for Salesforce Community that I do have a TWIN brother "Vineet Goel" and he loves blogging about Salesforce: https://vineetgoelcloudblog.wordpress.com/

Simplysfdc comment: Thanks Vipul for sharing your Salesforce journey with us, good to see your career, skill, and leadership growth for Salesforce community and ecosystem.  

Freya Crawshaw - London Salesforce Women in Tech User Group

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

In this blog, I would like to introduce one of the leaders from the United Kingdom, Freya Crawshaw, co-leaders of London Salesforce Women in Tech User Group.

Tell me about yourself, which Salesforce group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your group?
My name is Freya Crawshaw, I’m a Community & Collaboration Practitioner based in London for the past 2 years. I lead the London Salesforce Women in Tech User Group along with the awesome MVP’s Louise Lockie and Jodi Wagner.
  

How do you become WiT group leader? and what made you interested in accepting the role as group leader? 
I first attended a Salesforce User group back in 2013 and met Jennifer Laing, who at the time was setting up the Scotland Women in Tech User Group, I jumped at the chance to join other women for a cause I was passionate about. 

When I moved to London in 2015, I immediately got in touch with Jodi, who was at the time found the London Women in Tech group. She invited me to co-lead, 8 months later along with Louise and we’re now an unstoppable force.


How often your group meetup?
We try to meet at least once a month, we have lots of User Groups in London so it’s great to be able to have joint meet ups and bring our members together.


How long have been your group established?
The user group has been up and running since September 2015. Our first big event was in May 2016 at Salesforce Tower where we had 126 Women in Tech and allies attend for a panel session and preview of the Stemettes documentary.


How big is your user group member, and the number of members attend the meetup in average?
We hold lots of different types of meetups so or numbers vary month to month. Our evening with Ladies who Salesforce was the biggest at 126, we hold Saturday brunch meetings where we have roughly about 15 spaces. An average meetup has around 50 people.


What do you love being WIT group leader?
I love bringing people together over a shared connection. That’s the driving motivation for me as a User Group leader – build a safe space for people to come and be themselves.


What do the challenges become a group leader and how to overcome it?
Getting the location, sponsor, and people together all in one place can be a logistical challenge with a full-time job and a personal life, it isn’t always easy to find that balance of time which is important.

Oh, and if it’s sunny in London people would rather be outside (perhaps we move our meetups to the park when it is sunny) – we get about a 50% dropout rate here.


Tell us what is unique about your WIT group
We’ve had two speakers who have been awarded MBE’s and one who has received an OBE in the Queen’s honors list. We’ve also had a Paralympic Gold medalist.


Share us tips that make your group success
Our biggest success? Mixing it up! We keep a mix of formal and informal meetings – our August 2017 meet up might even be a User Group first! Follow us on @LondonSFDCWiT to find out what we got up to.


What would like to see your group in the future? 
I’d love to see our User Group come together more outside our monthly meetings. We’re already seeing some of that, but I want to keep the conversation going, for people to know they can reach out on any other day of the month. That’s what’s in my master plan for the rest of the year.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
At our WiT group, everyone is welcome. It isn’t just for Women; in fact, we love for our allies to join us in conversation. We can only make a change if we come together.

Simplysfdc comment: thanks for sharing London WIT group, love to hear you guys have varieties of contents and speakers. Having a meetup in the park, why not????

Sonika Tomar - Salesforce, Gurgaon Women In Tech User Group (India)

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

Introducing our community champion Sonika Tomar - Salesforce, Gurgaon Women In Tech User Group leader.

Tell us about yourself, how is your Salesforce journey? Are you the group founder, and any other co-leaders in your group?
My name is Sonika Tomar. I have been working as a “Salesforce Consultant” for more than 3 years. At the very outset, I started my journey as VFX artist. 

After then, SaaSnic gave me an opportunity to step in Salesforce. I started learning Salesforce through “SaaSnic Technologies”. I am pleased to change my direction in Salesforce as it has many valuable career opportunities to volunteer. 

Today, I am proud to be part of Salesforce echo system and I am proud that I am leading “Salesforce, Gurgaon Women In Tech User Group”. I don’t have any co-leader as I myself can flourish the group efficiently.

Yes, I am the group founder and leader of the WIT group and I am administrating the group with brimming competence. 


What is WIT group? Is that only for women?
I do believe that every individual is exclusive in his own way just as a fingerprint is and women also must be given equal chance to prove their individuality. The contribution of women can be seen enormously in all fields. Nowadays, women are becoming more and more inclined towards mechanization. 

Current scenario has witnessed many welfare programs for women. Salesforce development is one of the platforms which has taken a great initiative for women empowerment by launching WIT groups globally.

WIT is the acronym for “Women Integrated Technology”. The aphorism of WIT is “Cheers to feminism and the strength all women possess”. 

WIT will work seamlessly for a betterment of women, and to make them realize how valuable, powerful and commendable they are. The purpose of starting WIT group is to promote more and more females in this high-tech world by conducting stirring discussions with them.

Yes, WIT is a female-centric group where they have the freedom to come up with their vision, issues, ambitions, and guidance they are viewing for in the technical world. I hope this initiative will influence more females to work distinctively.


Do you have the standard local group (User or Developer) in your city?
Yes, we do have few groups around the city which comprise of both male and female. Executives from various spheres come up with their unique outlook. This group basically organizes technical sessions and hold discussions on the essence of Salesforce. 


How long have been your group established?
It has been approximately 6 months since “Gurgaon WIT User Group” started. I have organized two kickoff events so far. The events were graced by the presence of more than 20 females and to my surprise, most of them had already made a mark in Salesforce. Conversations of the members were mainly concentrated on how revenue is earned from CRM, advanced outgrowth and how rapidly market is booming in Salesforce.  


How often your group meetup?
I have proposed to organize an event quarterly. Women from all areas can hook-up the link with the group and can debate on the topics like high valued marketing companies, cloud computing, and other vital issues. This made the members more acquainted with the current trends in the market.


How big is your user group member, and members attend for the meetup in average?
The thought of WIT-a new beginning for females gave me the courage to take a step which will make a significant difference for the place of women in society. I knew I had to broaden my vision with more brilliant and innovative ideas and plans to gather members. 

I started the group with the aim of involving as many females as possible. I managed to attract 50 girls and more than 20 members attended the events. As WIT excelled more and more women came in. I am delighted to reveal that at present my group constitutes 120 members and I hope to lay an everlasting impact with my modest initiative.


What have you learned as a group leader?
The thought of becoming a leader is a matter of great responsibility as you have to supervise all the tasks by yourself. Leading a Salesforce group demanded extensive knowledge about not only Salesforce but social media, web services, IT infrastructure and all the latest technologies. 

I would like to convey my genuine and earnest acknowledgment to “SaaSnic Technologies” and its efficient executives for their commendable support and cooperation which assisted me to master in Salesforce. 

As a group leader, I learned the art of coordination and how to cope up with different people. I even expanded my knowledge regarding the recent developments prominent in the market.


What do you love being a group leader?
Leadership requires many skills like good orientation, positive attitude, and commitment towards your work. Discovering your group’s vision is vital to prosper in your endeavors. 

Being a group leader I got an opportunity to come in contact with some of the incredibly talented people not only in Salesforce but from other spheres as well. The group consisted of people from all age groups. Some were college students and were seeking for appropriate career choices. 

After attending the event they were swayed to choose Salesforce as a career. I always love to meet new folk and share my knowledge & experiences with them. 


What do the challenges become a group leader and how to overcome it?
The biggest challenge which came during my journey of establishing WIT was to inculcate in myself the appropriate proficiency in Salesforce. Apart from this I also had to deal with time-management, prioritizing the events, thinking wisely and making correct decisions.

To overcome this I had to increase my efficiency so that I could be an inspiration for the members of the group. After seeing the success of my group all these things seem trivial now.


What do you think the "uniqueness" of your Group compare to others?
I wanted to serve as a guiding light in the lives of those women who felt hesitant to face the world. Keeping this perception in mind I took a step forward to lay a foundation of WIT. The concept of bringing women at the front foot in the field of automation is unique in itself. 

Salesforce has elaborated the group’s perspective to a next level. My main motive is to lend voice to all the females and encourage them to work productively which will enhance an individuals’ personality.      


Share us tips that make your group success 
When we initiate a group then it is expected from the group leader to be patient as you need to deal with people with different psychologies. It is expected from a leader to be open-minded and listen to the audience as only then can the leader give his advice. It is the responsibility of a leader to be more flexible and committed and serve his role systematically. As of my group my association with Salesforce made it huge.   


What would like to see your group in the future? 
As the group is progressing with time my expectations are also growing. I have the perception of making WIT an epic in Salesforce through the participation of women. 

A number of female intellectuals are prompting to be associated with the group which is a great achievement for me. WIT acknowledges the unbeatable spirit of women.


One last thing you would like to share with the community?
Women must be given equality in every sector. They must be stimulated to work by identifying their strengths be it in gathering knowledge in Salesforce, Information Technology, cloud-computing or any other field. 

Simplysfdc comment: thanks for sharing Gurgaon Women In Tech User Group with us, and thanks for your leadership for the community.

Keiko Niimi 新美啓子 - Salesforce Tokyo W power group

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

I would like to introduce our next champion from the land of the rising sun - Keiko Niimi 新美啓子 (that link is not Twitter, but it's Facebook, from my experience connect with Japanese friends, they are mostly on Facebook, and not really on Twitter).

Niimi-san is "Salesforce Tokyo W power group" leader - I would assume W power group in Japan is similar with WIT. She would like to share with us Salesforce Tokyo W power group. If you can't read Japanese, you know google is your friend :)

Tell us something about yourself, which Salesforce group you lead?
W power groupでリーダーをしています。
17人の頼れるコアメンバーがいます。


How do you become Tokyo W power group leader?
W power group は、Salesforceユーザー会の女性メンバーで立ち上げたUGです。
※Salesforce社は主体でなく、事務局としてご支援いただいています。

私がリーダーとなったのは、W power group 発足会で立候補したからです。
本当は、私よりもずっと優れた方がたくさんいらっしゃいました。
ただ、皆さんお忙しいので、リーダーの役割を担うことが難しかったのです。
発足会で、皆さんの熱い想いを聞いて、「この人達と一緒にやっていきたい」と思い立候補しました。
この発足会で、ご参加いただいた方がコアメンバーとして、現在も一緒に運営しています。


Can you share with us the journey and history of W power group establishment?
日本のUG全体のメンバの女性比率は２～３割(感覚値)で、圧倒的に男性の方が多いです。

■2013年～2015年
W power groupを立ち上げた2013年は、安倍首相が総理大臣になり、
いわゆるアベノミクス「3本の矢」を掲げた年です。
そして、3本の矢の一つである「成長戦略」の中で「女性の活躍」が挙げられています。

日本では、男女雇用機会均等法が制定されてから長く経ちますが、仕事で女性にスポットが当たるのは、難しい状況でした。

そこで、「Salesforceと女性の力で日本の変革を推進する会」というのをサブタイトルとして掲げ、「女性も働きやすい社会」になるためにどうすべきかの情報提供、情報交換の場として運営してきました。

■2015年～2016年秋
W power groupの名前は徐々に浸透してきましたが、女性の参加者は毎回8割以上でした。
女性も働きやすい環境を作っていくためには、女性だけでなく、男性の意見も必要です。
そしてワーキングマザーだけでなく、経営層などいろんな視点での考え方が必要であることに気づきました。
そこで「workstyle」に重きを置いた運営に変えて行くことにしました。


■2016年冬～現在
「働き方改革」というワードがトレンドとなり、
W power groupの活動が、注目されるようになりました。
みんなが無駄だと思っている日々の業務を改善するための、アイディアを出す場としています。


Are you the group founder, what made you accepting the role as the group leader? 
私は、発足時からのメンバーなので、割愛します。


How often your group meetup?
今年は、4回開催予定です。
時々、特別講師を招いた会やお食事会も開催しています。


How big is your user group member, and the average number of members attend for the meetup?
130人です。(フォロー数)
先日開催された企画では、約50名のユーザーが参加して下さりました。


What have you learned as a group leader?
 私は、UGleader になった事で、
本当に多くのことを学びました。
ユーザー会の運営、「働く」事の意味など、たくさんの尊敬できるUGメンバーから教えてもらいました。


What do you love being a group leader?
W power groupをきっかけに、とても尊敬できる素敵なメンバーと出会う事が出来ました。


What do the challenges become a group leader and how do you overcome it?
発足時と現在で、テーマが変わるように、その時代に合ったみんなが興味を持つテーマを考えて企画したいです。
ただ、根幹の「女性も働きやすい社会の実現」は残した上で、これからもやっていきます。


Tell us something what unique about your group
機能にフォーカスするのではなく、その時の話題となっているトピックから、
Salesforceをどう生かせるか、ディスカッションする点です。

また、他のユーザー会よりも女性が多いです。


One last thing you would like to share with the community
偶然にも、salesforce 社が掲げている「equality 」とW power groupの考え方が通じるところもあり、よりsalesforce のUGである事の意味がでてきたように思います。

これからも、「女性も働きやすい社会の実現」を根底として、楽しみながらたくさんの企画を考えたいです。

wow #Robohon #Trailbalzers "hello hello"

Simplysfdc comment: thanks for sharing about W power group Niimi-san, thanks for your leadership and hospitality #Ohana

Amit Chaudhary - Farmington Hills (Michigan) Salesforce Developer Group

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

Introducing Amit Chaudhary, he is a regular blogger, active in Salesforce developer forum, and the leader for Salesforce Farmington Hills - Michigan  Developer Group leader.

Hello Amit, tell us something about yourself? Which Developer Group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your group? are you the group founder?
My name is Amit Chaudhary and I am working as Salesforce Developer in IBM. I am active on Developer Forum from a couple of years with more than 35K points, and I am a regular blogger at http://amitsalesforce.blogspot.com. 

I have created a free product, "Code Coverage Report" which is available for free download at AppExchange.

Currently, I am running "Farmington Hills Salesforce Developer group" alone. I started this group with Brad but after our first meetup he moved to New York. 


How do you become Developer Group leader?
I have shifted from India to the US in July 2016. Then I found we have a new developer group here in Farmington Hills and they we were looking for there first Meetup. I joined the group as co-organizer and help them for first Meetup.


How long have been your Developer Group established?
We are going to complete 1 year in this August 2017.


How often your group meetup?
Once in a month. We are also doing "Salesforce Apex Hours" online event where anyone can join us online.


How big is your user group member, and the number of members attend for the meetup in average?
Currently, we are more than 388 members. As we are also doing online event "Salesforce Apex Hours". In online event average, 100+ person is joining us from all over the world.


What have you learned as a group leader?
I have learned how to plan and promote events and Lots of learning involved, organizing skills, managing skills or public speaking skills. And Most Important is giving back to the community


What do you love being Developer Group leader?
Knowledge sharing, fun activities, and networking


What do the challenges become Developer Group leader and how to overcome it?
As I told, I joined the group just after coming to the US. So I struggle a lot to find a place for meetup (new country, unknown place and without any vehicle). Initially, we did some meetup in Starbucks, I used to walk 3-4 miles to reach Starbucks.


What do you think the "uniqueness" about your Developer Group compare to others?
We are doing "Salesforce Apex Hours" online event, so anyone can join us online all over the world.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
I love getting to talk to the #Ohana and help others, and I will recommend everyone to join your local user group or developer group for Networking and Learning with Fun.

1. Networking: it's a great opportunity to meet other professionals in the same field and share ideas. 
2. Learning: presentations are always informative.
3. Fun: enjoy the meetup fun activity as well :) 

Simplysfdc comment: thanks for sharing Farmington Hills (Michigan) Salesforce Developer Group. I spot the photos taken from Starbucks, and love to see group meetup anywhere, that's #Ohana spirit.

Jean Velonis & Misty Jones - Phoenix Women In Technology

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

Hello ladies, tell me about yourself, which User Group you lead and any other Salesforce community groups in your city?
Jean Velonis: Sr. Salesforce Admin, Phoenix Women In Technology.
Misty Jones: Sr. Salesforce Admin, Phoenix Women In Technology.

We have 5 awesome leaders in Phoenix:
Phoenix WIT - Jean & Misty.
Phoenix User Group - Gloria Gutierrez & Marisa Hambleton.
Phoenix Developer Group - Mike Norton.


When is your group established and when you become the group leader?
Group has been around since 2006 for core user group, but WIT has been around for the last 3 years. We love helping our fellow Salesforce members. 

Jean has been an admin since 2001 and Misty since 2011. We encourage women in tech to step up and share HER story in the WIT group. This helps them practice for a larger audience and/or build confidence.


How often you plan for User Group meetup?
Phoenix Women In Tech meets once a month.


How long has been your User Group established?
The last 3 years.


How many members attend the meetup in average?
We get anywhere between 5 to 25 ladies.


What have you learned as a User Group leader?
All of our community members are so grateful to have a group that they can come and share stories, bounce ideas and learn new skills. 

For Misty, she initially joined because she felt more comfortable and that it is a "safe place" in an industry traditionally dominated by men. We've heard the same initial sentiments from other attendees.


What do you love being a group leader?
We love giving back, sharing and learning about what others are doing in life balance, career, and health. Teaching, helping, and inspiring others, in turn teaches, helps, and inspires us!


What do the challenges become User Group leader and how to overcome it?
Finding a location that works for all our members. Phoenix is a wide city. We see members from 50 miles. This is hard to meet in a centralized location.


What do you think the "uniqueness" about your User Group compare to others?
The Phoenix WIT User Group has a vast span of members. We have OGs to Newbies. Admins, business users, and developers. We encourage everyone to participate and share HER story. You never know who else is having a similar issue, solution or career opportunity.


Share us tips that make your group success
Meeting regularly with a day of the month and location. We are lucky in that University of Phoenix partners with us. They allow us to have a permanent home on one of their campuses. 

We also evolve the community members in share their stories and experience. We try to find a topic like a movie showing for She Started It to bring in allies. 

Relating topics to discussions that have happened at meeting and bring in experts to help facilitate specific skills.


What would like to see your group in the future?
We would love to see more executives join us! Admins, developers, and business users are the core but having executive sponsorship from the top down really gives Salesforce the sparkle it deserves.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
Jean & Misty are "swagaholics". We love to collect, trade, and give out swag! Both of our spouses desperately wish for us to declutter.

Simplysfdc comment: Just curious if men allowed to attend WIT? Yes, I agree that user group and WIT group is the place to practice to speak to a larger audience and/or build
confidence. So, I believe both of you have submitted your presentation for DF17.

I had a chance to visit Phoenix, Arizona two years back, where my ex-company US regional office located in Scottsdale, it's around Jun and it's so hot!!! 

Cynthia Saalfeld - Marin County Salesforce User Group

This blog is part of a blog series to highlight Salesforce Community Champion, from user group leaders, developer group leaders, and members from around the world #Ohana

Introducing the next Salesforce champion from Bay Area, Cynthia Saalfeld - Marin County Salesforce User Group.

Hello Cynthia, tell us something about yourself, and which User Group you lead?
Cynthia Saalfeld, Salesforce Administrator at my current job but a Salesforce Evangelist inside and outside of work.  I’m the founder and co-leader of the Marin County Salesforce User Group covering a region north of San Francisco and I’m also an active member of other Bay Area UGs.


How do you become User Group leader? and what made you interested in starting a User Group? 
My previous co-leader, Liz Gladstone and I met virtually in the Success Community, as both of us are Marin County residents, we noticed the existing gap in our neighborhood between San Francisco and the Wine Country. We decided to do some research on the requirements of how to become a User Group leader and started hosting events. Two years went by, Ian Gotts has joined me in the leadership.


How often your group meetup?
We’ve been meeting every other month, but working on expanding our frequency.


How many members attend for the meetup in average?
We have a loyal core group of 15-25 attendees, over 100 members subscribed in all media combined.  The attendance varies upon the topic and the day of the week.  We avoid scheduling our events that would conflict with others in the Bay Area.


What have you learned as a group leader?
I’ve learned that it’s important to have a User Group to rely on and, somewhere you feel a sense of community that is there for you.  It’s also a place where you can share your issues without being criticized because we’re constantly learning new features, new workarounds, something new almost every single day.


What do you love being a User Group leader?
I love being there for the people. The guests choose to spend a couple hours of their lives with us in order to learn together, brainstorm as a group, debate as a community, network as friends and have fun along the way.


What do the challenges become a group leader and how to overcome it?
Time management: started using Trello as a guide for the planning, execution and post-event phases.
Venue: started hosting events not only at tech offices but also local business unrelated to the cloud computing. Our last meetup was taken place at a MINI dealership.


Tell us what is unique about your User Group
The proximity to San Francisco and Salesforce’s headquarter. This allows our User Group the ability to get a number of key Salesforce people as speakers and participants. Additionally, Marin County is known for wonderful outdoor activities that help draw attendees even from San Francisco to our meetups. 


Share us tips that make your User Group success
- Relevant topics
- Good speakers
- Creative venues
- Wonderful food and wine


What would like to see your User Group in the future? 
A guest appearance from Marc Benioff.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
Never underestimate the power of the Salesforce Community!

Simplysfdc comment: you guys seriously have the event in MINI car showroom, or event in Mircosoft store? wow, thanks for sharing Marin County Salesforce User Group!