Mike Drop: Mike’s Last Episode

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.

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