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!

Amanda Matczynski - Salesforce Boston 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

From Boston Massachusetts, introducing Amanda Matczynski - Boston User Group leader and #AwesomeAdmin Trailblazer.

Hi Amanda, tell us something about yourself, which User Group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your group?
I’ve been in the Salesforce ecosystem for 3 years now. And just took over as a co-leader of the Boston User Group last summer. I lead together with one other member of the community, David Pier.


I see you have a gold trailblazer hoodie, do you want to share a bit about that?
I was awarded the #AwesomeAdmin Trailblazer award at Salesforce World Tour in Boston. It was an awesome experience, and I am loving #LifeWithGoldie.


How do you become User Group leader? are you the group founder? and what make you interested in accepting the role as user group leader? 
I am not the group founder. The Boston UG has been around for quite a while, and has had a significant presence in the UG community. 
When approached to take over last year, I was excited to start planning events and engaging the Boston community. We have such a large community, and I was excited by the challenge to try and provide useful, engaging content to the community.


How often your User Group meetup?
Quarterly


How long have been your User Group established?
I’m not actually sure, but I know it’s been many years.


How big is your user group member, and the average number of members attend for the meetup?
We have over 2,500 members in the community, but we usually have 75-100 attendees.


What have you learned as a User Group leader?
I am constantly learning from our community. The knowledge of our member is incredibly vast, and I love seeing new ideas presented at each meeting.


What do you love being a User Group leader?
I have met so many incredible people through the User Group. I love getting to meet new folks and either sharing knowledge with them or getting them connected to the right person for the job!


What do the challenges become User Group leader and how to overcome it?
Finding space in Boston proper is generally our biggest issue. We’ve tried out a variety of spaces in the last few years, and want to continue to focus on meeting in the Boston area where folks have access to public transport if necessary.


Tell us what is unique about your User Group?
We do have an awesome MVP group here in Boston! Some familiar faces there for sure. Even in a city where tech is pretty big, we still have a good variety of companies represented at the User Group which I think is exciting!


What would like to see your User Group in the future? 
I’d love to be able to grow our attendance back up to what it used to be. We have an incredible group of folks who come regularly, and we frequently have some new faces. But I’d love to engage some others in the community.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
Imposter syndrome is a real thing. And man has I been there. But when others see potential in you, hold onto that insight and remember that you have worked hard for and deserve the recognition you’re receiving. Own it and remember that our Salesforce Ohana is incredibly supportive and encouraging! Embrace it!

Simplysfdc comment: You are really doing well for community and congrats for the Golden hoodie, you deserved it! 
Thanks for sharing about Boston User Group, it is a famous city, also a big name for the universities!

Dale Ziegler - Salesforce Kansas City 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

From the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri, I would like to introduce Dale Ziegler, Salesforce MVP and Salesforce Kansas City User Group leader. Let's hear his story and transformation as user group leader.

Hello Dale, tell us about yourself, which User Group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your group?
I've been in the Salesforce Community since January 2011, the first 6 years as a customer admin and now a consultant.  I am the co-leader of the Kansas City User Group with Jason Kort.


How do you become User Group leader? and what make you interested in accepting the role as a group co-leader? 
When I first started attending User Groups, I was completely lost and actually stopped attending.
My boss then told me I *HAD* to go, and even tied my attendance to my annual bonus! From that point on, I made a point to be as engaged as possible, and gave my first presentation to the group in July 2012.
By 2014, I was a frequent contributor, and in Spring 2015, I decided to put my name in the hat to be co-leader of the group.


How often your group meetup?
Post-Dreamforce 2016 has seen a fairly regular frequency of every 2 months!


How long have been your user group established?
I couldn't tell you when the KCUG started up, but it's been strong for at least 6.5 years (i.e. as long as I've known it's a thing!).


How many members attend for the meetup in average?
We'll usually draw anywhere from 50-70 attendees...free lunch at a free site in the middle of an uncongested metropolitan area helps with that :)


What have you learned as a group leader?
I've learned that everyone attends user group meetings for different reasons, so it's important to provide a variety of content that's still aimed at capturing the entire audience's attention.


What do you love being a user group leader?
I love knowing we've organized a local forum for everyone to come together with their questions and insights, and in a safe place where everyone can drop their company affiliations and just be Community members.


What do the challenges become a User Group leader and how to overcome it?
Honestly, the biggest challenge can be finding willing presenters :) I know, I have a solid core of veteran presenters, but we all love seeing people get up on stage for the first time and tell their story.


Tell us what is unique about your User Group?
From what I've gathered in talking with other UG leaders, we're very fortunate to have access to an amphitheater-style room at a customer location, which means facilities are free!  This makes our group very competitive with sponsors, so it's definitely not a bad problem to have!


Share us tips that make your User Group success
Commitment.  To lead a solid and sustainable user group, you have to be committed to planning.  But also make sure it's fun and light.  No one wants to take time out of their day to be in another boring meeting.  Do whatever you can to make your user group meetings a local destination!


What would like to see your User Group in the future? 
I would love to see our group come together for some charitable work.  Kansas City has several non-profits that love to host work groups, so I think that would be a prime opportunity to practice Salesforce's spirit of giving back!


One last thing you would like to share with the community
We have the best BBQ in the world...if you want to come to KC to present at our user group, be prepared for some fine smoked delicacies!


Simplysfdc comment: this is the first time I heard that boss pushing the employee to attend Salesforce User Group, and even tied it to the bonus, if only more and more companies do the same thing, that would be really cool!

I think another unique about KCUG is that you guys not taking many photos :)

Daniel Peter - Bay Area 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

From San Francisco Bay Area, Daniel Peter - Salesforce MVP, and Bay Area Salesforce Developer Group leader would like to share with us how Salesforce Developer Group in Bay Area is doing!

Hi Dan, tell me about yourself, which Developer Group you lead, and are they any co-leaders in your group?

My Name is Daniel Peter. I’m a Salesforce MVP with 22 Salesforce Certifications. I’m a Lead Applications Engineer at Kenandy. 

Currently, I’m running Bay Area Salesforce Developer Group group solo, with the help of amazing Salesforce people like April Nassi, Jessica Langston, Regina Walton, and Mallory Leggere.


How do you become Developer Group leader? would you share your journey when starting your the group?? 
I started the North Bay DG in Sonoma County, CA in 2013 since I was living in Sebastopol at the time. This was a really cool group with some interesting industries (like the wine industry) that use Salesforce. I passed the torch on this group to Jason Curtis when I moved closer to San Francisco in 2014.  

In 2015 the Bay Area Salesforce Developer Group in San Francisco was in need of a new leadership.  David Schach was running the group at the time, and he took a job at Salesforce, so he could no longer run the group. This has happened more than once with that group!

Shannon Hale and I both heard about the group needing new leadership, so we took it on as co-leaders. I really loved this group and would drive an hour to attend sometimes before I was living in the area, so I was excited to contribute to it.  Eventually, Shannon had to step down as her company had her traveling out of the Bay Area quite a bit.


How often your group meetup?

The last Wednesday of each month.

How long have been your group established?
I believe this was the first DG ever established, and I think it predates the formal DG program as we know it now.  It goes back to 2010 on meetup.com. The early meetups were held at the Salesforce office in San Mateo. This even meetup traveled around to other locations like New York and San Jose because it was the only meetup at the time.  


How big is your user group member, and how many members attended the meetup in average?
There are 2,774 members of the group.  A typical meetup will get 75-300 RSVPs and about 50% of the RSVPs actually show up.  Since it is a free event, there is a high drop-off rate. Fortunately, we plan for this, so we typically end up with a full house.

In a nutshell, we get about 100 showing up.  Here is a graph our growth over time.  The blue arrow is when Shannon and I rebooted the group:




What have you learned as a group leader?
I’ve learned that our group members are incredibly talented, and I love having them present topics. It always amazes me. I have learned how to plan and promote events. I have improved my public speaking skills. I have learned that there is tremendous value in getting developers together “just to hang out”. You never know what conversations will flow.


What do you love being a group leader?
I love the networking it brings. I have met so many people leading the Bay Area Salesforce Developer Group. I love being able to create something that gives value to others. When they thank me for a successful meetup, it feels great to have been a part of it!


What do the challenges become a group leader and how to overcome it?
It is always a challenge coordinating everything. I’m a developer, not an event planner! Getting the speakers and the dates to line up, and having enough lead time to promote is always a challenge.
The best way to overcome this is to brainstorm with others for ideas well in advance and try to get a big roadmap built out, even if it is rough.


Tell us what is unique about your group

We are located at Salesforce HQ!  This means we have easy access to many Salesforce employees as guest speakers. This makes for great content.  We are also the oldest, and one of the largest groups. However many other groups have grown to be our size now, so size is no longer that unique.

Share us tips that make your group success
We follow a pretty regular formula, that seems to work great: 
30 mins of networking, with food and drink, 15 mins announcements/news/jobs, 90 mins of content. Networking and taper off at the end. And of course, some short breaks sprinkled in for grabbing a drink or hitting the restroom.  

In addition, you need to strike a balance between surveying the group for topics, but also pushing them topics they might not have thought of.  Some of the best topics are ones you didn’t realize you wanted to know until you heard about them.


What would like to see your group in the future? 
I think once a year or so it is nice to tackle a social issue or soft skills area instead of just talking code every time. Last month we had a Women in Tech meetup which brought a huge number of new women attendees into the group. Coding is important, but it’s not the only topic important to Salesforce Developers.

I’m looking forward to doing something like this in the future. Also, it would be super cool if we could have a meetup at the top of the Salesforce Tower on the Ohana floor in the future!



One last thing you would like to share with the community
Follow us on Twitter: @ForceDevMeetup
Subscribe to our youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/BayAreaSalesforceDeveloperGroup 


...and if you are ever in the San Francisco around month end, stop on by.  You can even be a guest speaker!



















Simplysfdc comment: Thanks Daniel for sharing Bay Area Salesforce Developer Group, that's awesome to be in the same city with the HQ !!

Eric Dreshfield - Midwest Dreamin' Salesforce Community Conference

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

Eric Dreshfield - a familiar name in the Salesforce Community, he is Salesforce MVP, Southern Indiana User Group leader, blogger - the Kevin Bacon of the Salesforce Community, and the founder and leader of the world biggest Salesforce Community Conference - Midwest Dreamin'. He would like to share with us his journey on starting Midwest Dreamin'.

Hi Eric, tell us something about your, which user group does you lead?  
I've been a Salesforce user since late 2009. After spending a day or two on the road every month to attend user group meetings in cities like Chicago, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, I decided it was time to start a user group in Southern Indiana, with our first meeting taking place in May 2010. 

There were 5 people who attended the meeting in addition to me. We met monthly at first, and slowly saw the size of the group grow to about 15 people. I still lead the Southern Indiana User Group today, and at its peak, the average attendance is about 25 people, with one meeting playing host to over 35 attendees.


You are also the leader and founder of Midwest Dreamin' Salesforce Community Conference, what make you interested in starting this conference? 
I was unable to attend Dreamforce in 2010. The company I was working for did not have the budget to send me, since it was the first Dreamforce event for anyone at the company, those in senior management and those in more the technical roles were given the opportunity to attend. 

I watched what I could online during the event, which back then was very little - the keynotes were live streamed, and I followed on Twitter. After the event, I talked to some of my colleagues who did attend, as well as members of the Salesforce Community to learn more. Somewhat selfishly, I decided I wanted to bring a bit of Dreamforce to me, and in early 2011, the idea for Midwest Dreamin' was born.

How often this conference? How was the journey when starting Midwest Dreamin'?
Midwest Dreamin' is an annual event. The first was in 2011, in Louisville, KY, and was attended by about 100 people. Midwest Dreamin' did not happen in 2012 or 2013 (for a number of reasons) but people kept talking about it, asking me when I would be holding it again.

In late 2013, I decided it was time to really make it happen again. I reached out to members of the Salesforce Community who were either user group leaders or MVPs in the Midwestern US to see who else wanted to help organize this event, as well as to ask the Community two specific questions:
1 - "If a regional "super user group" event was to happen, and couldn't happen in your home city, where should it be held?", and
2 - "Would you be likely to attend such an event?" Chicago was the overwhelming response to where the event should be held, and a nearly unbelievable number of people indicated they would attend.


How big is the attendees?
Midwest Dreamin' saw 100 attendees at its first event in 2011, and has grown to nearly 800 attendees in 2016, with an expected 850 to 900 for 2017.


What have you learned as the leaders of Midwest Dreamin'?
Every year Midwest Dreamin' takes place is a learning experience. As the ecosystem grows and becomes more diverse, the event needs to provide content that attendees will find interesting and engaging...but it goes beyond simply having good breakout sessions, it also includes making sure keynote sessions and speakers are timely and relevant to community conversations. 

And since this is so much more than a user group meeting, we also need to consider how to improve the event year after year from not only the attendee perspective, but also the speakers AND the sponsoring partners.


What do you love being Midwest Dreamin' leaders?
I think being a member of the Midwest Dreamin' core team helps me enjoy doing more of what I'm most passionate about within the Salesforce Community, and that's connect people to others who can help them solve a problem or gain more knowledge. I say it all the time, For me, one of the greatest strengths of the Salesforce Ecosystem is its people and the connections that are shared.


What do the challenges become this leader for such this big event, and how to overcome it?
It was a big personal risk to organize the first Midwest Dreamin' - I had to believe that I would be able to find sponsors to help cover the costs of the meeting, and I had to believe that other members of the Community would be willing to attend the event. 

I took a chance, found a venue willing to work with me on an unproven, first-year event with no upfront money to hold the space. 


Tell us what is unique about Midwest Dreamin'
While most people consider Midwest Dreamin' the event that started all the regional community-led events, it really wasn't the first one. There had been an event called "Dreamforce To You" event in Florida for a year or two before, as well as "Snowforce" in Utah. 

Both of these are what I would call the start of the regional, community-led events. I think Midwest Dreamin' simply got more attention from the Salesforce Community, as well as Salesforce (the company) for two reasons, it was held in Chicago (2014 to date) and the event got Peter Coffee to provide a keynote address in 2014, and has been fortunate to have Peter return every year since.


Share us some tips that make your group and conference success.
The one key thing I can point to that makes Midwest Dreamin' a success year after year is the group of people helping me lead and organize the event. 

In 2011 it was small enough I could do everything myself. It's way too big now for that. Over the years the following people have played key roles in making the event a success: Denise Carbone, Andy Ognenoff, Jim Carbone, Jen Nelson, Leyna Hoffer, Dale Ziegler, Nick Lindberg, Samantha Safin, Susan Thayer, and Natalie (Regier) Gunther. 

Any undertaking that you want to succeed, needs to have a great team working to make that happen. Midwest Dreamin' has had a great team year after year. Additionally, the success of the event could not happen without the support of all the sponsoring companies who put faith in the event, that it would deliver value to their companies. 

Another component of the event's success is the people who have presented at the event. Great content requires great speakers, and the Salesforce Community is absolutely full of those! Finally, no event could happen at all if it were not for the people who attend the event. All the planning in the world won't make an event a success if no one attends, so to all the great people who have attended Midwest Dreamin' since 2011, thank you very much!  


What would like to see your Midwest Dreamin' in the future? 
It's both exciting and terrifying to think that Midwest Dreamin' could cross the 1,000 mark on registrations this year. As the events grow year after year, it becomes more and more challenging to make the event a success, but I'm confident that with the great team of people on the Midwest Dreamin' team, the event will continue to thrive for many years, no matter how large it gets.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
If you haven't already registered for Midwest Dreamin', what are you waiting for? Watch our website http://midwestdreamin.com and follow Midwest Dreamin' on Twitter @Midwest_Dreamin to stay up to date on the latest news about the event.

yay, I found myself there!

See more past Midwest Dreamin' photos here and here!

Simplysfdc comment: nothing beat community event, "by the community, for the community", Eric you are simply awesome, thanks for everything you do for the community!!!

Amy Oplinger - Salesforce Cleveland Ohio User Group & Women in Tech

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

Who doesn't know who is Amy Oplinger? The most awesome people in the Salesforce community, Queen of GIF #GIFSquad! She also leads not one, but two Salesforce User Group in Cleveland Ohio.

Tell us about yourself, which User Group you lead, and how many co-leaders in your User Group?
Hello, I am Amy Oplinger, 3x certified Salesforce Consultant with Coastal Cloud, a Platinum Salesforce partner. I currently lead two user groups in Cleveland Ohio: The Women in Tech, and Non-Profit User Group.


You are the leader and also the founder for 2 user groups in Cleveland, what make you interested in starting those user group?
I became a user group leader after speaking with Kristi Guzman and Toya Gatewood at Dreamforce '15. I was complaining there was no WiT group in my area, and both of them said the exact same thing: START ONE! So, returning from Dreamforce, I applied and was approved, with our first Cleveland WIT meeting in December 2015! 

As for the Non-Profit (NP) Group, I recently met with a Salesforce NP Account Executive who suggested the NP users in our area was underserved, and would I be interested in starting the group. I said I would be happy to, and our first meeting will be in June! 
The user groups are a fantastic way to connect with local users and I love that I am able to facilitate that in some part. 


Would you like to share what is WIT(Women In Tech) success community group, are all the members' women only? 
Men are welcomed and encouraged to attend our WIT meetings! We appreciate their support and willingness to hear issues affecting WIT. 


How often your group meetup?
Last year, the WiT group met every other month, and we will continue that cadence this year. Depending on the input from the group, I foresee the NP group following a similar schedule. 


When is your User Group established?
Cleveland WIT was established December 2015.
Cleveland Non-Profit was established April 2017.


How big is your user group member, and in average how many members attend the meetup?
For the WIT group, I have 86 members in the Success Community group and the core set of 10-15 members that attend every meeting. 


What have you learned as UG leaders?
As a UG Leader, I have learned that it is very important to listen to your members, and facilitate the group in a manner consistent with what they want, be it learning, hands-on demos, or just a nice dinner to catch up on everything!


What do you love being an UG leader?
I love that it’s another way to connect with the Salesforce Ohana. 


What do the challenges become UG leader and would you like to share how to overcome it?
My biggest challenge is attendance. My goal is to really invigorate the local Salesforce community and ignite the same Ohana passion locally, face-to-face, as I see online. 


What would like to see your DG/UG in the future? 
I would love to see our WIT group grow our membership in NE Ohio. 


One last thing you would like to share with the community
Anyone that knows me for any period of time knows how much I love the community! I am happy that I am able to serve and give back via my User Group Leadership. I encourage everyone to get actively involved in user groups and if there isn’t one in your area, START ONE! 

Simplysfdc comment: Amy, thanks for everything you did for the community and sharing with us your User Group story with us. I believe the 1st meetup for new Cleveland Ohio Non-Profit (NP) Group will be a success under your leadership. It's a big #Ohana and it was nice to meet you in person in MidwestDreamin last year in Chicago.


Salesforce Community Champion map, who next? Find out here...

Douglas Ayers - Salesforce Nashville 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.


In this blog, I would like to introduce another awesome leader from Nashville, Tennessee - Douglas Ayers is Salesforce Nashville Developer Group co-leaders, and also Salesforce MVP. 

Doug, tell us about yourself, which Developer Group you lead, and any other co-leaders in your group?
Funny story, my first encounter with Salesforce was my first job out of college in 2007. Ironically, my first project was to migrate the company from Salesforce to an in-house CRM our team was building. Fast forward 5 years to 2012 and the IT regime had shifted and I then was leading the migration from in-house applications back to Force.com and “the cloud”. Since 2012, I’ve focused my career heavily on the capabilities and agility of the platform and have personally grown from being an Administrator to Developer to Architect and MVP.

I began leading the Nashville Developer Group in 2015. There are 2 co-leaders with me, Mark Morrison and Chris Kelley.


Sidetrack a bit, I heard that you recently develop open source projects related to Lightning, would you like to share what is that?
Thanks for thinking of my conversion project! Yes, to help customers migrate to Lightning Experience and adopt the new Files and Notes related lists I've developed two open-source projects aptly named "Convert Attachments to Files" and "Convert Notes to Enhanced Notes". 

I also provide managed packages for each project too for easier install, or developers can install the source code directly from GitHub if they wish to customize the conversion logic. 

The projects have received high praise from Salesforce Product Managers including Arnab Bose, Henry Liu, and Cari Aves; as well as other customers. I'm very honored that the projects are being talked about at the Lightning Now! tours and user groups around the world.


How do you become Developer Group leader? What made you interested in accepting the role as Developer Group leader? 
I had been attending the group since 2014 and at the time they were hosted quarterly by a local Salesforce partner, Virsys12. In 2015, I joined Virsys12 and, having really enjoyed the meetups and got a lot of value out of them, offered to take on responsibility for organizing the group and move to a monthly cadence. A year later I joined another Salesforce partner, GearsCRM, and continued to organize the monthly meetups as I do today.


How often your group meetup?
We meet every month and alternate between Admin-focused content one month then Developer-focused content next month.


How long have been your group established?
I think the group has been around about 4 years and I’ve been involved with it for the past 2 years.


How big is your user group member, and in average how many members attend for the meetup?
We average 10-15 attendees each meetup but the group overall has about 30-40 active members.


What have you learned as Developer Group leader?
As they say in Real Estate, “location, location, location!” Nashville and surrounding areas is a large city and drawing a large audience, in my experience, really depends on how conveniently located the venue is. To accommodate our members across the area we alternate each month meeting in a different location. I’ve also learned how valuable the Salesforce Community really is by networking and talking with the members, the business problems they’re solving, and the creative solutions they come up with. It is a vital support line for many of our Nashville admins and developers.


What do you love being a Developer Group leader?
My two passions are teaching and Salesforce. The opportunity to lead the Nashville Developer Group brings those two passions together. I really enjoy helping people learn how to use the platform and grow their careers.


Any challenges become the group leader and how to overcome it?
As they say in Real Estate, “location, location, location!” Nashville and surrounding areas is a large city and so finding locations that are convenient for most of our members is difficult. Honestly, I think geographically the area is large enough that we need more groups.


Tell us what is unique about your Developer Group
We are relatively close to Atlanta, GA where a major Salesforce office is located so we’ve been fortunate to have hands-on workshops presented by Salesforce and partners.

I also think our camaraderie among the members is special too. People don’t just attend, listen, leave; no, they come to hang out with their friends who are also doing awesome things with Salesforce. New friendships are forged and they begin to meet for lunch or coffee between meetups to talk shop and grow. 


Share us some tips that make your Developer Group success
Be proactive and frequent about communicating with the group on upcoming meetups, special events, tips and tricks, and overall just trying to be a helpful resource. Understand the needs and interests of the members and cater to them with the types of presentations, workshops, and vendors that are brought in to speak. Encourage members to speak and share their story and successes.


What would like to see your group in the future? 
I would like to see more groups form to help cover the whole greater Nashville area. We have lots of users, admins, and developers in the area but not all can be accommodated with a single monthly meetup that doesn’t cause some portion of the group to have to commute an hour or more.


One last thing you would like to share with the community
I love the Salesforce Ohana! I’ve never come across a tech community so friendly and eager to help each other out, encourage each other, and want nothing but the best for the community.

Simplysfdc comment: Doug, thanks for sharing with us, great to see what you did for the community, your Lightning conversion project, and yes, we are a big #Ohana

Personal notes: thanks for sharing and promoting Nashville - Tennessee, a city that I believe not many people outside of the United States heard about; this is the magic of #Ohana