I attended the DC World Tour event this week and had a blast hanging out with my fellow Trailblazers. The sessions and information were great as expected, so I’ll focus on my non-content related favorite moments.
Meeting Old Friends for the First Time
I’ve chatted & interacted with Mark Adcock (@techforecastis) regularly in the Ohana Slack channel, exchanged messages with Rebe de la Paz (@Rabedela) via the All User Group Leader Collaboration group & Chatter, and follow Gorav Seth (@goravseth), LeAndria Streeter (@lstreeter), and Charlie Isaacs (@charlieisaacs) on Twitter.
I was able to meet them all in person for the first time this week and everyone was just as awesome as they are in the Community.
Forward Looking Statements
During his keynote, Tony Prophet said something that really captured my attention.
This really got me thinking…when I was 7 years old, the career I have today would have been unimaginable. The cheapest home computers cost over $2,000 ($4000+ in today’s dollars) and the ‘world-wide-web’ was not even publicly available yet. Now I’m laying next to my kid, who is watching an episode of Blippi before bed on a flat smart tv, as I am on a laptop writing a blog post.
I bet it would have blown my dad’s mind had someone told him this when I was 7 and with the pace of innovation only accelerating, we can be certain the careers our children can have will be similarly incredible.
Fortuitous Meetings
Kristi & I are working on a new community event to support Vetforce (more to come soon!) and of course want to have Vetforce involved, but have not been able to find the right contacts yet.
So as I went to leave World Tour yesterday, I stopped to send a quick email before departing. I find an open spot along a concourse where others are checking emails and chatting.
As I walk over and open my computer, I look to my right and Alex Sutherland @apexsutherland (Mr. PhillyForce, Salesforce MVP, User Group Leader, Veteran C-130 Navigator, dog walker, feeder of the hungry, helps turtles cross the road, etc) is having a conversation with Ann Weeby @annweeby (the soldier doing amazing work as the leader of the Vetforce program at Salesforce).
In Alex’s own words, ‘You literally could not have stumbled upon two better people for this conversation.’
Early Birds & Swag
I arrived early in the morning to stroll around DC, because there really is not better American city to walk around. Every block is full of history and around 7AM, the traffic and noise is minimal, so it was the perfect time to enjoy the Spring cherry blossoms.
Being there early, I went through registration around the time it opened and headed to the cloud expo area. There were no lines for the Trailhead station and I was able to quickly grab a Certified t-shirt & Codey the Bear stuffed figure. The line was was easily 30 deep for the rest of the day, so I was pleased with myself.
As much as I love the shirt, as I write this, my son Mathias is loving Codey much more. Now if only I could write a validation rule that stops a 2-year-old from sucking his thumb.
