It’ll be the user group of all user groups. At least in the Salesforce community. 400+ Salesforce admins, partners, developers & employees in one city for one day. That’ll be Midwest Dreamin’.
Ten Midwest Salesforce User Groups are behind the event, which will take place July 10 at Chicago’s Navy Pier and comprise the largest Salesforce User Group Meetup to date.
In other words, it’s a big deal.
That’s why I caught up with the leaders of two of those user groups – Denise Carbone, Chicago Salesforce User Group and Natalie Regier, Nebraska Salesforce User Group – to find out what those of you attending should know.
Here’s what they said:
1. Get ready for killer content.
The crew behind this conference takes serious pride in the content they’ve lined up. And for good reason. They packed over 20 sessions, hosted by leaders from salesforce.com and the Salesforce community, into five hours. Most of these sessions will consist of content unique to Midwest Dreamin’, and none will be recorded, so you have one shot to get each experience.
Natalie explained: “One of our mantras has been: We’re not going to be a Dreamforce, but we can knock the content out of the park, because we’re sourcing from the community and the best speakers we know of.”
And, on a side note, she means “sourcing from the community” in all senses – the entire event is funded by the Salesforce User Group community, for the community.
As for specific sessions that you should be particularly excited for, Denise and Natalie nominated these two:
- “New Services, No Silos – A salesforce.com Vision for the Next 15 years,” the opening keynote, presented by Peter Coffee, VP of Strategic Research at salesforce.com. [Learn more on that here.]
- “What salesforce.com Product Managers Want Their Customers to Know,” a breakout session presented by Shawna Wolverton, Sr. Director of Product Management for Force.com and Todd Enders, Sr. Director of Product Marketing for Salesforce.
2. Start making lists.
When it comes to getting the most from Midwest Dreamin’, the conference team is all about lists. For one, they say to make a list of the topics you’d like to learn more about.
“…everything from ‘I have this challenge’ [and] ‘I need to build something like this,’ to ‘it’s not working,’ ‘how do I drive adoption,’ ‘where do I get started’?” Natalie suggested. “Whatever your question is about Salesforce or strategy or process, chances are there’s somebody there that’s going to be able to answer it right away, or they’ll be able to point you to someone who will.”
She and Denise also encourage you to write a list of people you’d like to meet – and to not be timid in finding a way to make those meetings happen. “We’re all connected with the Salesforce ecosystem,” Denise said. “Ask around to get that introduction.”
3. Consider sticking around.
When the event does come to a close, think twice about how quickly you pack up, too. As Natalie said: “Everyone that’s going to come to the event will be really passionate about it and about meeting people who are just as interested in Salesforce use. They’ll want to stick around.” So head to dinner with a few of those new connections and make the most of it all.
Well, there you have it. One week to go, and you’re ready to go. Actually, almost – first, three quick additional tips from the LevelEleven team:
- Thank the Midwest Dreamin’ team when you see them running around at the event.
- Stop by our booth to learn about sales motivation, or simply say hello. (You could walk away with a Fitbit!)
- Remember this: There’s an America’s Dog right inside of the pier that’s a great spot for Chicago hot dogs.
Okay, now you’re ready. Enjoy the event.
Awesome post! Glad to have you as an event sponsor. Thanks for sharing this out to the community!
Thank you, Eric! We’re excited to be a part of it!