Salesforce Admins Podcast

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we have a big announcement: we’re changing things up! With the new year comes a new show and shorter, snackable episodes published twice a week. Gillian is flying solo but, don’t worry, Mike will still be a frequent guest and co-conspirator.

Be sure to subscribe to keep up the new and exciting changes. We’re going to be using a few different formats, so here’s an overview of what we’re planning.

Insights Episodes

Insights episodes will be a roundtable discussion with experts on the Admin Evangelism team: Gillian, Mike, LeeAnne Rimel, and new team member Marc Baizman. We’ll take deep dives into specific topics, and we’ll be doing a different theme each month. Coming up for January, we’ll take a look at adoption, not just on the podcast but for everything you get on http://admin.salesforce.com including blogs and webinars.

Interview Episodes

Interview episodes will feature amazing guests coming talk to you about their expertise. We’ll talk with product experts from Salesforce, community leaders making a difference, and Awesome Admins making changes in new and exciting ways with Salesforce. For Adoption Month, we’ll be looking at people who have learned best practices and tools by driving adoption at their own organizations.

The Same Great Segments

Don’t worry, the Lightning Round isn’t going anywhere. We are, however, going to go with one question for each interview guest we have. The fun part is that we’re looking for ideas for great Lightning Round questions. If you have an idea, tweet at Gillian (@gilliankbruce) or the Salesforce Admins team (@salesforceadmns) so we can put your questions to some our guests.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don’t head on over to iTunes and give us a review. It’s super easy to do, and it really helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.

Love our podcasts?

Subscribe today or review us on iTunes!

Direct download: New_Format_Same_Great_Show.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:34pm PDT

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re celebrating the history of the Salesforce Admins podcast before Mike signs off as host. We’re talking with Jared Miller, the first co-host of the then-named ButtonClick Admin podcast that launched in 2013.

Join us to learn about the evolution of the podcast, hear fun stories about when Mike & Jared first started, and why hosting the podcast has been such a rewarding experience.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Jared Miller.

It All Comes Full Circle

Five years ago, Mike launched the ButtonClick Admin podcast to bring a voice to the all of the blog posts and articles in the community. Jared joined as Mike’s first guest and helped him bring all this great content to life in a different medium. Now he’s joining as Mike’s final guest.

Community is at the Core

Back before there was an official online Salesforce community, Mike & Jared used their connections at Dreamforce to find people to talk to on the podcast. Sharing Salesforce stories over the podcast helped create a new kind of connection that is deeper and more direct than you can get in a blog post. Podcasts allow people to “peel themselves away from the desk and still be engaged,” explains Mike. Gillian adds that “the whole point” of the podcast is “to connect with others in the community and to make others feel welcome and inspired.”

A Ripple Effect

Mike & Jared proved that anyone could make a podcast. They helped inspire others in the community to try it as well, contributing to a whole slew of amazing Salesforce-focused podcasts across the globe. One of those podcasts is the OoTTpod (One of These Things Podcast) which Jared co-hosts with Becka Dente and Matt Bertuzzi. Jared explains that podcasting is a great way to have conversations with the community because “there are people out there that want to talk back to you,” so after listening to the podcast, they can let us know “if we’re right, if we’re wrong, or if we’re thinking about things the way we should be.”

Using what Jared learned from Mike, he’s been able to share expertise about the mechanics and logistics of how to produce a podcast to others in the community. In fact, Mike’s probably talked to every other Salesforce podcast out there to help them in some way. He encourages others to get on the air: “People forget that they are interesting, and they need to remember that.”

I Remember When…

Mike reminisces about when he recorded episodes from a wooden TV tray that he covered with a towel (acoustics matter, right?), and late nights interviewing guests after their normal day jobs. They tried all kinds of ways to help run the interviews more smoothly, including silent facetime sessions. Fond memories of experiments along the way, including the dramatic SteveMo readings, drinking while recording, and unique on-location episodes involving alligators and Vegas parking lots gets everybody giggling in this episode.

Mike, Jared, and Gillian have had a chance to meet hundreds of people through the podcast, and many of those guests have gone on to do all sorts of incredible things. One of Mike’s favorite moments that reflects this is during the Dreamforce 2017 main keynote, when he texted with Gillian that almost all the admins featured were previous podcast guests. “Probably one the most memorable podcast moments” Mike’s had in five years of podcasting was the Zac Otero podcast. Watch out for rainbows.

Mike Drop

For his final episode as host, Mike signs off with a very special goodbye and thanks to the community, Sarah Franklin for believing in him, and his podcast buddy Gillian. He ends with a Steve Jobs quote, “stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Thank you, Mike, for inspiring a movement!

You can follow Jared on Twitter @jaredemiller and Mike @mikegerholdt.

We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get more Awesome Admins on the podcast.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don't head on over to Apple Podcasts and give us a review. It's super easy to do, and it helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.  

Love our podcasts?

Subscribe today or review us on Apple Podcasts!

Direct download: Ep._369-Final.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:21pm PDT

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re continuing our discussion with guests from the Admin Keynote at Dreamforce. We’re talking with Bindu Jallabah, Operations Director of Girl Develop It.

Join us to learn about why Mary Scotton is behind everything we do on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, what the amazing community of the Salesforce makes possible, and why silence can be the best option.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Bindu Jallabah.

Making a Pivot to Engineering

Like many children of immigrants, Bindu’s parents pushed her to be a doctor or a lawyer. She got through a bunch of prerequisites before she realized that she hated blood, giving shots, and pretty anything you’d need to do in order to be a good doctor. “The doctors have to chase me down even to this day to give me a shot,” Bindu says. With all of the math courses she had taken, however, she realized that it would be relatively easy to transition to Engineering.

As Bindu began to gain experience, however, she encountered persistent problems. “Engineering was not conducive to me as far as the environment and how women are treated in the field,” Bindu says. She ran into difficulties as a woman, as a mom, and just as someone trying to fit into the community. “I had to take a break from engineering and go into social service.”

Focusing on the Real Problem

Bindu started a nonprofit, Karanso Africa, which initially was created to teach women literacy skills. “But when I got there, I realized it’s way beyond just literacy. In Africa, it’s way beyond just literacy— you can teach women how to read and write, but they’re not going to come to the classes because there are so many other issues there.” In looking at health and gender equity problems and starting to do that work, she realized that technology could do a lot to help.

“I started this program called Docteur Mobile where we wanted to let women in remote villages use an app to access preventive prenatal care.” They found that many women were dying from preventable conditions, especially preeclampsia and eclampsia, so their goal was to develop a program to teach them to take their own blood pressure and report it to a doctor via the app, even if they’re illiterate.

The Power of Girl Develop It

Bindu returned to the US to get the technical skills she needed, which is where she encountered Girl Develop It. “Girl Develop It took all of my passions and merged them. It took the technology piece and the social justice piece and the gender equity and merged them so perfectly,” Bindu says.

At its core, Girl Develop It teaches women how to code for web and software develop. “But beyond that, in the digital age, I like to say that Girl Develop It is a revolution,” Bindu says, because it teaches skills “that women are going to use in this century to be front and center of the technology program. They do that by teaching skills, but also by consciously cultivating a community. It started in 2010 in New York City and has grown from a single class to 58 chapters across the country and 98,000 members.

The program doesn’t end with just a few classes— it’s about developing a pathway to leadership. You can come back and TA, and then once you’ve assisted you can teach that class. From there, you can become an instructor or even a Girl Develop It chapter leader. As Bindu says, “we’re not just teaching women how to code, we’re also teaching women to elevate themselves in the tech industry.”

Live from the Dreamforce Stage

Bindu’s main takeaway from Dreamforce was the amazing strength of the community. “I have to say I gained new respect for Salesforce as an organization, being in technology and being a woman of color. Salesforce’s commitment to equity and diversity was totally apparent in everything that was happening there.”

It was Bindu’s first Dreamforce and she shared a stage in conversation with Parker Harris. “I have to ask you guys, when do you get off the Dreamforce high? Because I’m still on it.”

For more insights, make sure to follow Bindu on Twitter (@its_bindu).

We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get more Awesome Admins on the podcast.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don't head on over to Apple Podcasts and give us a review. It's super easy to do, and it helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.  

Love our podcasts?

Subscribe today or review us on Apple Podcasts!

Direct download: The_Amazing_Story_of_Girl_Develop_It_with_Bindu_Jallabah.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:21pm PDT

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re taking a post-Dreamforce journey back into the Admin Batcave: AppExchange. We’ll be talking with Connie Dea, Product Manager for the AppExchange at Salesforce.

Join us to learn about the AppExchange relaunch, Salesforce Labs apps, and what to do if you’re struggling to move to Lightning because an app isn’t ready yet.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Connie Dea.

AppExchange Reborn

Connie is back after an earlier appearance this year to share all the cool things that AppExchange got up to at Dreamforce this year. “Our big news was that we launched a new AppExchange,” Connie says, “there’s a lot of things to show off about the new AppExchange so we covered that in our den and our breakout sessions.” It came out a couple weeks before Dreamforce, so there was a lot to cover about what’s new and what’s changed.

The new launch has let them address a problem Connie hears a lot from customers: “It’s really amazing, you’ve got thousands of solutions on AppExchange, but often I have no idea where to start.” It can be sometimes overwhelming to sift through all of your options, so Connie’s team focused on how to make that process faster and easier for a customer.

The first thing you’ll notice is that there are personalized recommendations on the homepage, based on who you are, what department you work in, and what’s already installed in your org. Another improvement is to search to make it more dynamic and powerful. There are new solution types as well, including Lightning Data and Bolt Solutions. Finally, they’ve added integrated trails and content throughout the entire site so you don’t need to have a million tabs open to learn about something.

The Wonderful World of Salesforce Lab Apps

If you haven’t checked out the Salesforce Lab apps, you should. “These are all free, unmanaged packages that are built by Salesforce employees,” Connie says. There are more than 300 solutions on AppExchange that cover a wide range of uses, including dashboards and reports, and offer a lot of customization to help meet your organization’s needs.

Connie and her team recently had a contest to develop new apps around service. The winner was Fieldy, a technical assistant powered by Einstein that field service folks can take on the road with them and use to help get questions answered and troubleshoot any problems.

The AppExchange Action at Dreamforce

At Dreamforce, AppExchange had a Demo Jam in every theater. “The winners of each of the individual Demo Jams competed in a mega Demo Jam.” The winner (spoiler alert) of the big tomato was Conversica. All of the videos are up on the AppExchange, now that they have integrated content.

We wanted to go over the most common questions that Connie got asked at Dreamforce, so if you weren’t able to go we still might have an answer for you. A lot of new users to the ecosystem were wondering who the best person to reach out to if they have questions, and the answer is to tap into Salesforce’s amazing community. We don’t think that we’ve ever done a Salesforce Admins Podcast where someone doesn’t talk about the community. It’s the first thing that everybody mentions, and there’s a reason for that.

The other thing that Connie got asked a bunch at Dreamforce was how AppExchange can facilitate an organization’s transition over to Lightning. There are a bunch of Lightning-ready apps ready to go. Says Connie, “The simplest way to find those Lightning-ready solutions is to use the filters.”

Transitioning to Lightning

A lot of orgs are blocked from transitioning to Lightning because something in their package isn’t Lightning ready. Depending on what the App is trying to solve for, the first step is to reach out to the partner to see when they plan on making the app Lightning ready: “It’s great for partners to hear that there’s a continuing need for customers to migrate to Lightning.”

All apps that are added to AppExchange have to be Lightning ready now, and Connie’s team is making a huge push to work with partners to get other apps transitioned. There’s so much out there that there also might be something complimentary you can add on to fill in while you’re waiting for your partner app to get updated. Sometimes simply making the switch to Lightning means that you don’t even need an old-school app anymore.

For more insights, make sure to follow Connie on Twitter (@ConnieDea11).

We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get more Awesome Admins on the podcast.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don't head on over to Apple Podcasts and give us a review. It's super easy to do, and it helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.  

Love our podcasts?

Subscribe today or review us on Apple Podcasts!

Direct download: Revisiting_the_AppExchange_with_Connie_Dea.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:04pm PDT

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re continuing our post-Dreamforce series with Shonnah Hughes, Salesforce Admin at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA).

Join us to learn about the power of the Salesforce community, why having drive is the most important quality for a Salesforce Admin, and why asking for help is the most powerful thing you can do.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Shonnah Hughes.

A Classic Accidental Admin

Shonnah was featured in the Salesforce Admin Keynote at Dreamforce, where she answered some questions onstage. We wanted to bring her on the podcast to take a deeper dive into her story because there’s so much going on.

Shonnah is the poster child for Accidental Admins. She worked for a DME Home Infusion company that purchased Salesforce back in 2006, to build their patient intake system on the Salesforce.com platform. She was tapped by her company to learn the new platform in order to train their end users: “I wasn’t the dedicated trainer at the time, but I did train all of the users who came into our department so that’s one of the main reasons why they chose me.”

When it comes to how businesses can identify the next Shonnah Hughes, she has some advice: “When you’re looking for those Awesome Admins within your organization, you find the people who have tenacity and the aptitude to take on a new challenge and really just run with it.”

The Evolution of Salesforce Training

“When I first started out my Salesforce journey, help and training wasn’t as easy as it is now,” Shonnah says, “we didn’t have the Trailblazer community so it was hard to get the questions you had answered.” When her director let her know about these emails she was getting for something called a “user group,” Shonnah jumped at the chance to go and ended up at one of the most well-attended user groups around. “The amount of success that I have today is in large part due to the community.”

When Shonnah has to train her own users, she takes a varied approach. “Every user learns differently, and every person has a different learning style.” She tries to incorporate a variety of approaches to make sure that it’s easy for anyone to follow along. “To be quite frank, with Trailhead and the new My Trailhead rolling out, Salesforce has made it so much more simple.” She uses a combo of in-classroom training, Trailhead, and user documentation to change things up and keep everyone engaged.

The Power of Community

“Creating community is one thing that this world needs right now, and I think that Salesforce has really honed in on doing that.” She’s looking at how to bring that spirit of community to her organization. They’ve built an Employee Resource Group at MIA to advocate for equity of change and change management. She’s working to reach out to the communities that they serve and open up the institution’s doors to a wider variety of people.

Shonnah cofounded and sits on the board of the nonprofit PepUp Tech. “It’s a way to bring in underrepresented youth into the tech ecosystem.” They use their experience and connections within Salesforce to bring students in, not just to learn about technology but also soft skills like best business practices. It’s all about “creating a pathway or pipeline to employment.” The hope is that by making this community for these students, they’ll be able to build relationships that will last a lifetime. Their goal this year is to get 100 students to Dreamforce, and maybe someone out there is interested in helping making that happen.

For more insights, make sure to follow Shonnah on Twitter (@Saasy_Sistah).

To learn more about the article Mike mentioned - https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/at-one-high-school-lunch-is-a-feast-for-the-soul/

We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get more Awesome Admins on the podcast.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don't head on over to Apple Podcasts and give us a review. It's super easy to do, and it helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.

Direct download: 366._Shonnah_Hughes_MASTERED.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:41pm PDT

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