A Force to Reckon With

Rollup Summaries are red
Custom Objects are blue
Salesforce community members
Are too good to be true.

When I started on my path, I was alone.  I was stumbling through Answers and Ideas, bookmarking some interesting blogs… I was learning and going through my org cleaning up and making changes, getting my salesforce on.  I got approval for Dreamforce, set up my registration and then the Dreamforce app went live.  I dove into the app because I found it easier to navigate and interact with than other Salesforce sites.  It was amazing to watch people sharing their thoughts about the platform and how they’ve leveraged it to their advantage.  I quickly joined Challenge Us! and added to the conversations sparked by Garry Polmateer (@darthgarry) in his group Awesome People, with the Question of the Day. 

Sometimes the conversations are silly, sometimes serious, always educational and entertaining.  I learned new ways to build in Salesforce, openning up to exploring visualforce and other more sophisticated solutions.  I learned the benefits of steel cut oatmeal (though I still love my beloved cheddar grits).  I got the inside scoop to sessions and presenters, to the happening parties, what to expect when I got to Dreamforce and best of all I had new friends to meet up with in person.  If you’ve ever attended a convention solo, you know what I mean- you look forward to making some connections and have someone to meet up with for a meal or just to trade some stories and experience.  Dreamforce app made this happen before I even made my hotel or flight reservations.  I looked forward to seeing what the regulars in the app were posting- sharing about CRM news, blog posts, debating who @darylshaber is, and sharing and replying myself.  One of my favorite moments came when I realized that I could and was answering more questions people posted than ones I had to wait and see what others could suggest.  I’d arrived in my Salesforce self confidence. 

It was obvious the vocal and active folks in the Dreamforce app were knew what they were doing and talking about- their solutions were elegant, well thought out, and above all just plained worked.  There was a lot of wonderful sharing regarding best practices and how different decisions had affected different companies/instances.  I was so excited at the idea of getting to meet and thank the folks who’d become in my brain at least, my measure of what I could do in Salesforce and in the community.  

So on this, my 1st aniversary working in Salesforce.com, I’d like to give a shout out to all my Salesforce.com valentines.  I would not be where I am today if it had not been for your participation in the community.    Many of you have been recognized already as Salesforce MVPs but you’re all forces to reckon with in my book.  Thank you for your help and encouragement and I can’t wait for things to pick up again preparing for Dreamforce 2011!

In no particular order, and by twitter handle (apologies to those who have helped but I don’t have on twitter) – the accelleration behind this force to reckon with!  Follow these folks for laughs and lots of insight and learning about Salesforce.  While they may not all be official Salesforce MVPs, they have been important to me this past year.

Thank you!
@dschach
@forcedotcomlabs – Provider of some of the best tools – for free even!
@paulmyoung_net
@KevinSwiggum
@mattybme – Thank you for the Pliny introduction!
@DarthGarry – the man behind the #Awesome
@themayorpete
@barfsurfer
@forcebydesign
@klrichardson
@BryanBoroughf
@amber9904
@SFDC_SteveMo – there’s nothing he can’t help you with someway or another. The Superman of Salesforce with @mattybme
@imperialstout 
@sfdc_nerd
@mikegerholdt
@forceDotMom
@JustEdelstein
@aognenoff
@ReidCarlberg
@ericakuhl
@CRMFYI
@rathergeeky – the first I met in person at #df10
@GeraldineGray
@michaelforce – the man behind my first installed app – Draggin’ Role (use it! it is #awesome!)
@jhoskins
@mrtimmcdonald
@apexsutherland
@mattnesci
@jpseabury
@judis217
@jaredemiller
@old_nick
@robin_daniels – the man to go to for chatter questions
@TehNrd
@KarineVersace
@JasonMAtwood
@Mlamb2005
@Mrgareth
@Hammnick
@Vanityforce__c
@andrew_sf
@robcheng
@melosfdc
@MarilynLin
@SFDCMatt
@IdaApps
@CRMJen