Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we’re joined by Josie Chiles, VP of Admin Relations at Salesforce, to go over everything that’s coming for Dreamforce ‘19 and how you can keep in the loop no matter where you are.
Join us as we talk about how we’re bringing the UN Sustainable Development Goals to life at Dreamforce, what you can expect to find on the Admin Meadow, and how you can keep up with all the great content from home.
You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Josie Chiles.
As you’re listening to this episode, you’re probably already on the way to Dreamforce. This year, we’re really thinking carefully about the footprint that we have on San Francisco in hosting such a large event. We’re bringing the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Dreamforce, both across campus and specifically in the Trailhead Zone.
Josie Chiles leads Admin Relations at Salesforce, a team that includes Mike and all the other Amazing Admin Evangelists as well as the marketing side of the equation. Although she’s been with Salesforce for five years, this will be her first Dreamforce heading up the Admin Relations. “As Marc says, business is a platform for change,” she says, “and I think that we’re bringing that to life in new ways and really thinking about who we are and why we do what we do and what the impact is.”
“The first thing we want you to do when you walk into the Admin Meadow is to share with us what it means to be an admin,” Josie says. We’re really interested in all the different ways that admins are having a major impact on their communities.
This year, we’re also adding something new: one-on-one consults. “You can have a 30-minute consult with an expert and really dive into whatever challenges you’re trying to solve,” Josie says. There are a ton of exciting people signed up, including the one and only Mike Gerholdt and the rest of the Admin Evangelist team.
We’re also adding even more slots to the Admin Theater, with 67 total slots including sessions in other theaters. Most importantly, this year we’re repeating about 15% of the content so if you miss a session and it has a (1) or (2) behind it you have a chance to catch it again. There are also 82 breakout sessions you can attend, curated by Marc Baizman. That includes Org Security Fundamentals with Laura Pelkey from last year, and Formulas for the Everyday Admin with Steve Molis, Deepa Patel, and Geoffrey Flynn for the fifth year in a row.
Of course, the event you should absolutely not miss is the Admin Keynote: Transform Your Company, Career, and Community. It’s November 21st in Moscone North. It jammed packed with product news, amazing demos, and how these new tools can really make a difference in your office and in your community.
If you’re not able to make it to Dreamforce in person, there are a lot of resources to bring all of the excitement to you wherever you are. For starters, follow #DF19 to get all of the latest Dreamforce information, as well as #awesomeadmin for, well, admins. There will also be livestreaming on Facebook, including the keynote so you don’t miss a beat. And even if you can’t experience it live, you’ll get content straight from Dreamforce to your local user group and on admin.salesforce.com.
Make sure to listen in for even more tips about Dreamforce, including Josie’s footwear recs. It’s sure to be an amazing weekend, so we hope to see you there!
Mike: Welcome to the Salesforce Admin podcast where we talk about product, community, and careers to help you become an awesome admin. I’m Mike Gerholdt and today-
Josie: Mike, this is Josie. We are minutes away from Dreamforce, and I really can’t think about anything else. Can we just jump into what’s top of mind and start talking Dreamforce?
Mike: You’re right. We got to stop the presses and just change everything up, because Dreamforce is like hours away. By the time you’re listening to this episode, you’re probably getting on a plane to come out to San Francisco. So I’m with you, Josie. Let’s record scratch this whole thing and talk Dreamforce.
Josie: Awesome.
Mike: So Josie, for anybody that’s not familiar with who you are, it’s been a couple of years since you were on the podcast. What have you been up to?
Josie: Sure. So I am Josie Chiles, and I lead admin relations here at Salesforce. So this is my amazing team of Mike, and the evangelists, as well as the fantastic marketing team. I’ve been at Salesforce a little over five years and led AppExchange marketing for most of that time. And I’ve been doing admin since January. So very excited for my first Dreamforce as the lead of admin relations.
Mike: Oh, it’s going to be great. So let’s start talking Dreamforce, and let’s go big and think about all of the goals and really cool stuff that we’re doing for Dreamforce this year.
Josie: Yes. So one of the really exciting things that we’ve been working on is how we can bring the UN sustainable development goals to life at Dreamforce. So there are 17 goals, and they’re really how we should think about the future, and how we can really work together to make the future better for all generations to come. And so we are focusing on quite a few of those goals both across campus as well as in the Trailhead Zone where we’re going to bring them to life in a really interesting way.
Mike: Ooh. Can you share any of those really interesting ways with us?
Josie: Can we share any? I think that it’s a little bit of a surprise, but I will say that we do have a customer in our admin keynote that is doing some really fantastic things around the goal of life below water. And I’m very excited to share all that, because we’ve become very huge fans of this particular endeavor here at Salesforce. And so I’m excited to share that piece.
Mike: I love it. And I love to see how we at Dreamforce are really grabbing everything that we can in thinking about the footprint that we have on San Francisco and in the world with reusing everything. I know I always carry a water bottle with me, because we have all those water refill stations. So I’m excited to see how all of our goals are being met this year.
Josie: No, it’s totally true. It will come through Dreamforce, and I think we really, as Mark says, “Business is a platform for change.” And I think that we’re bringing that to life in new ways, and really thinking about who we are and why we do what we do and what the impact is.
Mike: Cool. All right, so admin gets off a plane, gets checked into their hotel, and they probably get registered and get their badge. I’m going to say first stop is perhaps the admin meadow. So let’s start our journey of admin awesomeness there.
Josie: Yes. So you walk into the admin meadow and the first thing that we want you to do is to share with us what it means to be an admin. So we really want to crowdsource a definition of what it means to be an admin and listen to all the ways that you think admins are having impact in their company, in their career and in their communities. So come share your words with us, and you’ll be able to share that on Twitter as well. So even if you’re not in person, you can follow along with us at home.
Mike: Very cool. And I’m so excited for how we have that set up. I can’t wait to see it in person.
Josie: Yes, me too. It’s always fun when the thing that we dream up in the conference room comes to life. And I think this is a particularly exciting one.
Mike: Now we’ll also have demo booths, same as last year, but not same, because we do things a little different. So you’ll be able to get hands on with product in admin zone and throughout the Trailhead Zone as well. But we’re also doing something a little bit different in the admin meadow with one-on-one consults.
Josie: Yes, exactly. So if you have those burning questions, you can come to the admin meadow. You can have a 30 minute consult with an expert and really dive into whatever challenges you’re trying to solve. So we think this is an exciting way to get those questions answered, and to be able to go back to your office on Monday and show off, or probably Tuesday, right? Everybody needs a little bit of a break. Go back on Tuesday and show off all that that you’ve learned and bring that impact back right away.
Mike: It’s going to be great. And we have some really fabulous people signed up for the consults. I know all of our evangelists team signed up, so you might get a slot where you can sit down and talk with me. Who knows?
Josie: That would be pretty lucky.
Mike: It would be wonderful. Be exciting. So in addition of course the big jewel in the admin meadow is the admin theater, and we have a ton of sessions signed up for the admin theater as well. In fact, Josie, you helped us get some sessions in another theater as well. So we actually have 67 total theater slots this year, which is up from last year because we do have some sessions that will be in other theaters. So make sure you look at the admin role in agenda builder.
Josie: Yeah, we worked really hard on that, or you worked really hard on putting out that call for proposals, and we got so much incredible content back that we were able to make a really great case for why we needed even more spaces here for all of the awesomeness. So I’m very excited to be expanding our footprint a little bit and making sure that we can make even more of that content available, because there’s just so much fantastic knowledge in this community and it all needs to be shared.
Mike: It does. And we’re doing something unique this year for the theater in that we’re repeating 15% of the content. So if you miss a session, there’s an option for it to be repeated later. So make sure you look at the title of the session. If it’s got a Prinz one or a Prinz two behind it, it means it’s going to be repeated. So that’s something that we used to do for breakouts only, and we’re doing it for our theater sessions this year. So that should help kind of give you more options to get to all of the sessions. And speaking of which, we have 82 breakout sessions. So [Mark Baseman 00:06:39] on the team has done a really great job of curating all of the speakers and getting all of the sessions together as well as making sure that we have a good breadth of topic choices for admins.
Mike: And there will be some sessions, second floor, Moscone West and up at the Hilton, because we can’t fit everything all in one location. But I want to give a shout out for a couple sessions that I think people will be very excited for. So Org Security Fundamentals with Laura Pelkey, we’ll be back from last year. She’s refreshed it. Laura is on our security team. You’ve probably seen her at world tours and also fifth year in a row. Formulas for the Everyday Admin is returning with Salesforce MVP, Steve Moelis, Deepa Patel, and Jeffrey Flynn. This session was incredibly well attended last year, in fact, every year. And it will be repeated this year, so make sure it’s on your agenda. So wow, we’ve covered a lot. We’ve booked through the meadow and we’ve given some highlights on the track. But I think, Josie, the must attend event for an admin at Dreamforce is the admin keynote. Why don’t we talk a little bit about that?
Josie: Yeah, it’s got to be the keynote. So this is Salesforce for admin keynote, Transform Your Company, Career and Community. It is November 21st in Moscone North at 5:00 PM, so this is the capstone of your Dreamforce experience. And it is going to be fun, fun, fun with also a lot of really good product news and amazing demos. I know Mike, you’re going to be on stage doing an amazing demo, so that’s fantastic. And we’re just really excited to have Parker back as our host this year and bring all of the fantastic news and everything to life for admins, and sort of show how all that you’ve learned at Dreamforce so far can be brought back to your offices and really make a difference again in your company, in your career and in your community.
Mike: Yeah, I think the best part about a keynote for us is the level of excitement. I know it tops up my battery every year.
Josie: Yeah, I can’t wait. This’ll be my first time on stage in the admin keynote, and I am really counting down the days because I’m so excited to see all of the faces out in the audience, and to be able to bring all that energy. It’s such a special and unique keynote. It’s a real privilege to be able to be on stage for it and I’m very excited to bring it to life.
Mike: It’s going to be fun. Okay. So we’ve talked a lot about the onsite experience. Let’s talk about if you’re not able to make it to Dreamforce.
Josie: Yes. And we definitely want to make sure that whether you are in person or online, that there is a lot to experience. I would say the first thing to do is to start following the #DF19. That’s going to get you all of the latest Dreamforce information, and you’ll really be able to see what’s happening across campus that way. And then of course for admins, #awesomeadmin is where all of our information is going to be. And that’s where you can participate in what’s happening in the den, get a lot of the news that’s happening across campus, and see some of the highlights as they’re happening in real time.
Josie: But it’s more than that. We will be on Facebook live streaming key moments. So you’ll be able to experience content that way. And the keynote that we just talked about will also be live streamed. So no need to miss out. You just have to mark your calendar for 5:00 PM Pacific on the 21st, and you’ll be able to experience it wherever you are.
Mike: Very cool.
Josie: And Mike, do you want to talk about how people can experience it through Global Gatherings? Because there’s so many other ways to experience it.
Mike: Just what I was going to bring up. I was going to say, so even if you’re unable to make it to some of the things as they’re happening live, a lot of the content after Dreamforce will be coming right to your user groups. So I know Mark on our team has been working directly with some presenters to make sure that their content is also brought to the team that will package it together and send it out to the user groups as part of the Global Gatherings. So if you aren’t already a part of your user group, go to your user group and make sure you know when the next meeting is, because most likely, I think it’s January, Josie, that all of the Global Gatherings content will come out. So you’ll be able to get a lot of the content that was shared at Dreamforce. In addition for admin, we are also going to highlight some content on admin.salesforce.com
Josie: That’s right. Both during Dreamforce, so we will be breaking news as it happens on edmund.salesforce.com as well as blogs after Dreamforce highlighting some of the key things that we learned, top sessions, really interesting information. And then also we will have a fantastic trail mix so you can go and get hands on with all of the new products that there are to learn about and the key things that we were talking about at Dreamforce.
Mike: So many. Okay, so we’ve covered keynote, meadow, track, the theater, the really cool things to do inside the meadow. Let’s send them on their way. If you’re an admin, and you’re listening to this podcast, maybe getting ready to walk into Dreamforce tomorrow. What are some of your tips, Josie? How many Dreamforces have you been to?
Josie: So this is my sixth Dreamforce, which means that I’ve got a few tips up my sleeve. Let’s see. My number one tip is to wear different shoes every day. I think that the key mistake that people make, even if your shoes are comfortable, is wearing the same pair of shoes every day. So move your foot around, get some new experiences. Feel the discomfort in new ways.
Mike: Yes. I will attest to that. I brought one pair of shoes with me once to a South by Southwest and man, I regretted it. Almost bought a new pair.
Josie: Yeah, exactly. One of my favorite pieces of swag that someone gave out in the campground one year, or in the expo one year, were insoles for your shoes. On Friday morning, they were all just standing there with insoles for your shoes. And I think that was the best that they knew their audience. They were ready for our needs. So that’s piece number one. I think piece number two is really take it all in. There’s a lot to see at Dreamforce, and I always encourage my team to spend some time, block it on your calendar, just to walk around and see what people are doing, see the different areas. You’ve got to kind of make that checklist of places that you want to go check out. But there’s so many different opportunities to learn. And of course I’m very biased, and I would love for everybody to spend all that time in the admin theater, but that’s part of why we’re repeating those sessions, right? So that you have the opportunity to go explore and see what’s happening across campus.
Mike: I couldn’t agree more, and I would add to that by also saying kind of know your limits a little bit. It can be a lot to take in, and you can have some pretty long days. I think I’ve logged probably close to 23 miles over the four days of Dreamforce, so it’s quite a bit of walking.
Josie: That is a lot of walking. That goes back to the shoes, but also with our focus on sustainable development goals, have your water bottle, use your reusables, stay hydrated, all that good advice. But I think, to me, Dreamforce is absolutely my favorite time of the year, and I truly love it. It does have all of the feels for me. It’s so exciting to be there and see everyone, see people experiencing new things and get to experience it all together. So I think it’s just also relaxing into it, having fun, taking it all in.
Mike: Yeah. And I would say as an admin, think about what you can also bring back for your users. So I know oftentimes I would think about pens or just anything that was given out that maybe I didn’t need but I could use to hand out to my users to drive adoption. So there’s always that to think about.
Josie: And also content. Right? What are those key things that you’re learning that you can take back? I think it’s always smart to start to think about the content and this is what I can do this week. This is what I can do this year. This is what I can do starting next year, right? That there’s going to be all different types of information that you’ll get and breaking it into, “Okay, this is something that I can do right away that’s going to have that big impact.”
Josie: I think what you don’t want to do is go back to your desk Monday and say, “Wow, that was a lot. Where do I start?” And it’s easier to start to think about where to get started as you’re hearing it. Then when you go back, and you’re looking at all that pile of information. So we’re thinking about that too and thinking about ways to help make sure that that you can start to think about how to go from what you’ve learned into putting it into action. And that’s where the trail mix and the blogs and the recordings, all the things that we’ll be sharing after Dreamforce will also come in handy.
Mike: I like it. Well, Josie, we are hours away from Dreamforce so I’m just going to wrap everything up and just remind people, because you just spoke of resources that you can go to admin.salesforce.com to find all the resources we talked about including additional blog posts and podcasts if you want to listen to them. They’re always great when you’re on a plane. You can stay up to date with us on social for all things admins. We are @salesforceadmns on Twitter, no I. You can find myself. I am @mikegerholdt, and Josie, you’re on Twitter. You are?
Josie: I’m @josiec211
Mike: Easy enough to remember. So with that, stay tuned for our next episode. It comes out the Thursday of Dreamforce. I promise you, you won’t want to miss it, and we’ll see you in the cloud.
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