Navigating the Tumultuous Waters of AI, Ethics, and Accessibility

Hot take: I’m not ready to hop on the AI hype train just yet.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand how the possibilities of AI are there, even if much of it hasn’t been quite realized yet. AI has the potential to make our lives easier. AI will definitely increase productivity. Even if the mention of ChatGPT makes you want to roll your eyes so hard they fall out of your head and you won’t have to be subjected to another useless AI-generated “news article” littering Google’s page one search results, the technology is accelerating at an exponential rate and there’s no turning back now.

It’s just that for me, the very real harms—such as exacerbating racial discrimination in policing and surveillance and scraping struggling artists’ works without consent, to name only a few — still far outweigh AI’s currently novel but ultimately still tepid applications.

Reflecting on Three Sessions from Three 2023 Salesforce Dreamin’ Conferences

A rising tide will carry all boats, but what if you don’t have a boat to begin with? What if you are already struggling to keep your head above water, and the deluge comes?

And yet, after recently wrapping up a hat trick of conferences (Midwest Dreamin’, WITness Success, and Mile High Dreamin’) where the topic of  this year’s sessions and keynotes were inevitably dominated by some permutation of AI (an in particular, GenAI), three sessions that I attended have managed to, if not entirely change, then at least somewhat soften my bearish stance on the whole thing.

At the very least, they’ve given me a lot of food for thought around AI and accessibility: who gets to have it, who doesn’t, and what that ultimately means.

“Generative AI and Ethics: Safeguarding Privacy and Nurturing Trust in the Salesforce Ecosystem”

Robert Wieland, Mile High Dreamin’ 2023

At this year’s Mile High Dreamin’, Robert Wieland, an AI Ethicist and Senior Salesforce Engineer at Verisk Analytics, led his audience through a brief but fascinating history of AI development,  which actually started as early as 1966 with the creation of ELIZA, the world’s earliest AI chatbot. His tour through AI history’s highlights and lowlights centered less on the latest groundbreaking developments and more so on the philosophies, ethical concerns, and questions that have arisen as a result, which made for a refreshing change from the usual shock and awe sales pitches I usually hear when it comes to the wonders of AI.

AI’s ethics framework can trace its roots to the 1979 Belmont Report, which laid the ethical foundation for human subjects research in medicine and the social sciences:

  • Human Autonomy, or the respect for people’s decisions and not injecting bias or manipulation into the decision-making process
  • Beneficence, or how to minimize harm while maximizing human well-being and benefits
  • Justice, or how to ensure equitable access and the equal and greatest distribution of benefits

 “In the realm of AI, ethics involves the thoughtful consideration of the potential impacts of AI technologies on individuals, society, and the environment,” Wieland said. “It prompts us to assess how these technologies align with our shared values and to ensure their responsible development and deployment.”

When it comes to predictive AI and language models, the ethical and social risks are not insubstantial, Wieland went on to explain, something we’ve unfortunately already begun to see play out in an alarming number of ways: from producing discrimination, exclusion, and toxicity to being used for misinformation by malicious actors to the incidental environmental harm as a byproduct of the sheer amount of processing power needed to run these increasingly complex processes to the unintentional harm caused by humans overly trusting a language model or treating it as human-like.

While he’s not looking at the AI world through rose-colored glasses, ultimately Wieland ended his presentation on a more optimistic note. There are, after all, a number of very smart people trying to steer this ship for whom these ethical considerations are always top of mind, including Paula Goldman, Salesforce’s Chief Ethical and Human Use Officer, and Kathy Baxter, Principal Architect of Ethical AI Practice. Together, they put out five guidelines for responsible generative AI development to act as Salesforce’s North Star.

While it’s reassuring to know that Salesforce wants to responsibly balance innovation with ethics, I’m more skeptical than Wieland on this front: I can only place so much trust in a corporate or governmental entity’s ability to be self-accountable to their self-proclaimed principles, something for which even Salesforce is not without controversy. Wieland himself noted,  “Even if you’re following the law, you can do things where people get queasy,” in reference to the 2012 controversy where Target used customer data to predict when someone was pregnant based on their shopping behavior and market to them accordingly. As we’ve seen many U.S. states begin to roll back LGBTQ+ protections and legal access to abortion, just because something is law does not necessarily mean it is ethical or just. How will the power of AI be wielded in those instances?

“Tech for Good: AI’s Role in Uplifting Marginalized and Underserved Communities”

Jaye Cherenfant, WITness Success 2023

Jaye Cherenfant is a Salesforce Administrator, tech enthusiast, and AI strategist who spent over a decade empowering Black students in the U.S. and South Africa before founding her own sustainable gardening business and then later launching Vista Tech Solutions, LLC, a tech consulting company.

As a Black, neurodivergent woman in tech, Cherenfant understands the vital importance of leveraging technology for beneficence, especially when it comes to serving the marginalized and underserved. In her session, she was especially concerned with how AI can inherit societal biases, further discrimination, and lead to data privacy violations that disproportionately impact BIPOC communities.

One of the best ways to begin to address these concerns, Cherenfant argued, is to ensure that tech teams, especially AI teams, diversify: Black people need a seat at the table.

But that’s far easier said than done. As of 2021, Black representation made up less than 10% of the STEM workforce, while Black women only represented 2% of the tech industry. These figures also reflect the STEM pipeline, where Black students make up only 9% of STEM degrees at all levels. According to a report from Jobs for the Future, the primary reasons for STEM underrepresentation are “systemic and structural barriers that Black learners confront from an early age into adulthood.” This includes a lack of access to a quality education and resources, which, in the U.S., are allocated based on wealth.

According to 2023 Pew Research, over half of Black households make less than $50,000 in the U.S, with 30% of Black households making less than $25,000.

One cascading effect of these inequities, Cherenfant pointed out, is a growing Digital Divide between children from low-income households and their more affluent peers, a disparity that worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Pew Research Center, almost 60% of lower income families experienced at least one of the following digital access obstacles during the COVID-19 school shutdowns:

  • Having to use a mobile phone to complete schoolwork
  • Needing to use public Wi-Fi to complete schoolwork due to unreliable or no internet connectivity at home
  • Being unable to complete schoolwork due to not owning a computer

As the pace of technological innovation keeps accelerating, those who cannot access the knowledge and tools needed to contribute to these advances in hopes of shaping the discourse, nevermind merely being able to keep up with them, will fall further behind and eventually be shut out of these critical spheres altogether.

So where does that leave us? Where can we even begin to address these challenges? Cherenfant advocates that one’s activism can begin locally, from collaborating with her children on generative AI art projects to volunteering at local groups and community-driven events to introduce the community, and especially the youth, to the world of AI and practical AI applications. Giving underrepresented groups access to, knowledge of, and skills to use AI is the first step to giving them that much-needed seat.

My feelings on this are, as ever, somewhat mixed. On one hand, giving marginalized people equitable access to privileged white spaces to empower themselves and others  is crucially important to AI’s future and mitigating the growing harm that systemic biases like flawed racial profiling software and “predictive policing” algorithms are perpetuating.

On the other hand, as Audre Lorde said, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Can we ignore how, despite assurances, companies are actively replacing or attempting to replace human creative labor, including already underrepresented Black creative labor, with generative AI to the point where even Hollywood has sat up and taken notice? Or how these technologies still betray their systemic bias even when they are being used by Black creators because of the inherently biased data sets they’re trained on?

I don’t know what the right answers are, or if there even are any to be had right now. If the goal laid out in our AI Ethics framework is to make sure AI is doing the greatest amount of good with the least amount of harm, what is an acceptable level of harm and who gets to decide what that is?

“How to Create Accessible Digital Marketing Assets”

Cara Weese, WITness Success 2023

While Cara Weese, CRM & Marketing Automation Strategist at Sercante (and, in full disclosure, one of my most favorite coworkers ever), did not directly address AI during her presentation, her topic was one that runs in the same circles of AI discussions nevertheless: accessibility, and in this case, specifically for those with disabilities.

Weese set the stage for her presentation by sharing her own powerful story as a person with a disability, which further drove home the point that people with disabilities aren’t an imaginary segment of the population to be treated as an afterthought or, worse still, acceptable collateral damage if the cost proves too high or the effort too bothersome to be ADA-compliant. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, have a significant disability. 

If us marketers don’t center accessibility-first strategies in our work, Weese said, we not only exclude a not insignificant portion of the population, we also risk a number of repercussions from missing opportunities to expand our customer base, create positive associations with our brand, encourage inclusivity in others, and improve our quality ranking score and SEO. 

And if that wasn’t convincing enough, businesses who fail to comply with ADA regulations are liable for some hefty penalties should their non-compliant practices be reported.

As Donald A. Norman, author of the influential book Design of Everyday Things, points out, “Designing for people with disabilities almost always leads to products that work better for everyone.” Using large, legible fonts and high contrast in our emails not only helps those with visual disabilities, but consider how much the elderly with failing eyesight would also appreciate these design choices. Or how about the fact that we’re all having to turn on the subtitles to watch TV shows and films these days.

Even in this, class is inextricably entwined with accessibility, furthering the Digital Divide. Assistive technologies such as screen readers are a helpful device for the visually impaired to navigate the digital world, but their high price point can pose a significant barrier for lower income households. And even if one were able to secure a lower cost device, as Weese explained, newer, more expensive screen readers are often more capable of parsing web pages and emails than cheaper ones, even when the content doesn’t entirely meet web accessibility requirements.

Conclusion

I’m not anti-AI.

I’m already eager to see how AI will get better at making inaccessible digital content accessible. I’ve already played around with gen AI for coding and generating seed data for Salesforce imports. I’m looking forward to trying out Jaye Cherenfant’s method of using gen AI to study for her Salesforce exam.

But what is more important to me than what I want AI to do is how I want it to be used — and how I don’t want it to be used. I’d love to see the rich experience of the marginalized to be welcomed and included in AI’s development to not only empower those communities but to improve the accuracy and power of AI itself. I want to see AI close the gap between the privileged and the underserved.

I don’t want to see the worst consequences of AI fall upon the most vulnerable among us: those with lower incomes, those who have been excluded from consideration, those who will suffer the most from climate change, and those who are primed to be heavily exploited by richer, and vastly more powerful entities.

The tide is rising, and the sea is rough. If we can’t stem or even slow it down, then at the very least, I hope we have the courage and strength to pull others out of the water and into the boat with us on our way up.

Original article: Navigating the Tumultuous Waters of AI, Ethics, and Accessibility

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Navigating the Tumultuous Waters of AI, Ethics, and Accessibility appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-09-13T17:31:02+00:00September 13th, 2023|Categories: Community, Events, Real Talk|

Dreamforce 2023: The Ultimate Marketer Guidebook

Guess what time it is! Dreamforce season! As the weather begins to cool (please no more heatwave!) and the kids go back to school, we begin our journeys to San Francisco, CA September 12-14 to learn, network, eat, and play. And we are back with our go-to marketer guidebook to Dreamforce 2023! As always, we have been promised this will be even bigger and better than Dreamforce 2022, focusing on how AI + Data + CRM is “powering the future.”

If this is your first time attending Dreamforce or you are a seasoned Trailblazer, Dreamforce 2023 is going to be packed full of 1500+ amazing sessions and countless community events and we don’t want you to miss a thing. 

Consider this your ultimate marketer guidebook to Dreamforce 2023!

Not going to be able to attend in person this year? No worries! Dreamforce is streaming on Salesforce+ with “live sessions and keynotes, on-demand episodes, exclusive digital content, and much more.” Remember to register for free here

Dreamforce 2023 has everything – from small breakout sessions to inspirational keynotes from world leaders and celebrities. Just check out the number of different roles, industries, and topics Trail Maps Salesforce provides! Here is the Marketers Trail Map to keep you focused.

Hoping to just hang out with your favorite marketing consulting agency? Well, make sure to look for the Sercante team at these Dreamforce ‘23 sessions and events

Here are our top marketing-focused sessions, meetups, parties, and events to consider both virtually and in-person as you build your dream Dreamforce schedule. 

Let’s get planning for Dreamforce 2023! 

Day 1: Tuesday, September 12th

Dreamforce Main Keynote

Join Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff along with special guests for our newest innovations at the Dreamforce main keynote.

Sanjna Parulekar, VP, Product Marketing, Salesforce
Clara Shih, CEO, Salesforce AI, Salesforce

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM PDT | MOSCONE NORTH, HALL F
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Marketing Cloud Release Highlights

Salesforce announced Marketing GPT earlier this year at Connections. Attend this session to understand how the latest features can help you and your team save time with AI, understand your data, and leverage it in your customer journeys.

Heather Rinke, Salesforce Product Director, Sercante
Whitni Freeman, Lead Solution Engineer, Salesforce
Ruth Bolster, Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 1:00 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Data Cloud + Einstein: Plan Your Marketing Data Strategy

The promise of CDP and AI-driven marketing is enticing—personalization at scale. Bad data gets in the way of this outcome. Learn to overcome this obstacle with a marketing data strategy.

Timo Kovala, Managing Delivery Architect, Capgemini

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 3:00 PM – 3:20 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Enhance Marketing Automation with Account Engagement and AI

Dive deep into how artificial intelligence can boost marketing automation capabilities, optimize campaigns, and create more meaningful relationships with customers in the digital cloud landscape.

Stephen Stouffer, VP, Digital Transformation & Innovation, SaaScend

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 4:00 PM – 4:20 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, L1
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5 Ways Busy B2B Marketers Can Do More with Less

Explore how marketing automation can save you time — from using AI to building reusable assets. These best practices will allow all teams, both large and lean, to work more efficiently.

Natalie Mathes, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 4:00 PM – 4:20 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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How Marketers Can Create Their Own Tribe at Dreamforce (And Beyond!)

This is a session for ALL marketers! Attendees will get to share insights with their fellow marketing trailblazers, exchange war stories, and build deeper connections within the community that will lead to success!
Marcos Duran, Marketing Manager, Sercante

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 4:30 PM PDT | COMMUNITY NETWORKING AREA
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Day 2: Wednesday, September 13th

Marketing Cloud Release Highlights

Salesforce announced Marketing GPT earlier this year at Connections. Attend this session to understand how the latest features can help you and your team save time with AI, understand your data, and leverage it in your customer journeys.

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 9:00 AM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2

The (Email) Future is Now: Prepare for 2024 with Data Cloud

What awaits email marketers in 2024? Discover how Data Cloud harnesses the power of streamlined workflows, enhances CX, and provides actionable insights to wow your customers and meet business goals.

Yeva Roberts, VP of Strategic Alliances, North America, AllCloud
Chris Zullo, Practice Director, Marketing, AllCloud

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM PDT | MOSCONE SOUTH, CAMPGROUND
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What’s the “Big Idea”? Key Trends in Marketing

Losing sight of the big picture amid the daily marketing grind? Learn how hot trends like AI can impact your business, and which other trends may stay or fade.

Martin Kihn, SVP, Market Strategy, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce
Erika McGrath, VP Salesforce Data Cloud & MarTech, Astound Commerce

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 9:00 AM – 9:40 AM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Data Cloud + Einstein: Plan Your Marketing Data Strategy

The promise of CDP and AI-driven marketing is enticing—personalization at scale. Bad data gets in the way of this outcome. Learn to overcome this obstacle with a marketing data strategy.

Timo Kovala, Managing Delivery Architect, Capgemini

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 11:00 AM – 11:20 AM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Scale Your Marketing Insights with Automation and AI

Data is growing rapidly and marketers need a way to keep up. Learn how Marketing Cloud Intelligence helps teams automate their data practice to speed time to insight.

Jaime Romero, Vice President Corporate Marketing, Fortinet
Dillon Baker, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Personalize Mobile Experiences with Einstein

Help your users supercharge Salesforce on mobile with the help of Einstein. Learn how admins can configure Prompt Studio and Dynamic Forms to deliver a next-gen experience for mobile users.

Keith Samuel Jr., Associate Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce
Andrew Mangano, Director, Product Management, Salesforce

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 12:00 PM – 12:40 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 3
THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 1:30 PM – 2:10 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 3

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Learn Essential Habits for Salesforce Admins

Build good habits around the four core responsibilities needed for admin success and learn about growing your skills with the Salesforce Admin Skills Kit.

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 12:30 PM – 12:50 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, TRAILBLAZER FOREST
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Marketing Keynote: Marketing in Generation AI

Generative AI is disrupting marketing everywhere. To drive growth, marketers must innovate across the campaign lifecycle. Learn how Trailblazers are transforming their business with AI + Data + CRM.

Kelly Eliyahu, Product Marketing Senior Director, Salesforce
Ruth Hartmann, SVP, Product Management, Salesforce
Prasanna Vijayakumar, VP, Product Management, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce
Steve Hammond, EVP & GM, Marketing Cloud, Salesforce

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 12:45 PM – 1:35 PM PDT | MOSCONE NORTH, HALL F
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AI-Powered Strategies for Next-Level Marketing Operations

Learn how to leverage generative AI to revolutionize customer segmentation, personalize messaging, and optimize your campaigns. Experience how AI can propel your marketing ops into the future.

Adele Kurki, MarTech Lead, Aiven
Jamie López, Sr. Director, Marketing Operations, Aiven

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 2:30 PM – 2:50 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Data Done Right: Admin Playbook for Ensuring Data Quality

Unlock the true value of your data with innovative strategies. Learn how to improve data with flows, lightning components, duplicate management rules, exception reports, and dashboards.

Monica Sandberg, Architect/Admin, EKIA/ PCFoy

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13, THURSDAY, SEP 14 |  2:30 PM – 2:50 PM PDT | MWEST, TRAILBLAZER FOREST
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AI-Driven Campaign Analysis with Einstein Attribution

Explore measuring campaign impact in Sales Cloud effectively. Gain insight on measuring Campaign ROI and attribution in Salesforce, incorporating AI analysis via Einstein Attribution.

Tasha Rucker, Founder, Principal Consultant, ReadyCRM
Brandon Walton, Founder & Principal Consultant, Cypress Learning Solutions

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 3:30 PM – 3:50 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Day 3: Thursday, September 14th

Marketing Cloud Release Highlights

Salesforce announced Marketing GPT earlier this year at Connections. Attend this session to understand how the latest features can help you and your team save time with AI, understand your data, and leverage it in your customer journeys.

Heather Rinke, Salesforce Product Director, Sercante
Whitni Freeman, Lead Solution Engineer, Salesforce
Ruth Bolster, Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

Thursday, Sep 14 | 9:00 AM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Supercharge Your B2B Marketing with AI and Data

AI and data are fundamental to helping B2B marketers make smart decisions and do more with less. Learn how you can use Account Engagement and AI to align teams and supercharge your B2B strategy.

Victoria Calkins, Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce
Kelli Meador, Senior Manager, Marketing Operations, Grammarly
Danielle Grau, Director, Product Management, Salesforce

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 9:30 AM – 10:10 AM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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How AI Turns Your Website into a Pipeline Generation Machine

Join this session to learn how AI can power the corporate website, deliver a completely bespoke visitor experience, and generate more pipeline.

Sarah McConnell, VP, Demand Generation, Qualified
Joanne Lee, Solutions Engineering Team Lead, Qualified
Tooba Durraze, Vice President, Product (AI and Data), Qualified

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 10:00 AM – 10:20 AM PDT | MOSCONE SOUTH, LODGE VILLAGE
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Elevate Your B2B Marketing with These Key Features

Your B2B customers’ needs are evolving, and we’re innovating to empower marketers to keep pace. Discover key features in Account Engagement that’ll maximize your B2B marketing.

Becka Miller, Senior Consultant, Rosetree Solutions
Blake Miller, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Salesforce
Shonica Mitchell, Global Marketing Automation Manager & Community Manager, BrightDrop (GM)
Stephen Stouffer, VP, Digital Transformation & Innovation, SaaScend
Nathan Maphet, VP, Product Management, Salesforce

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 11:30 AM – 12:10 PM PDT | MOSCONE WEST, LEVEL 2
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Measure Impact with Engagement and Google Analytics 4

Make the most of your data for your journeys with Google. In this session, we will dive into how you can utilize this partnership for more effective marketing.

Sara Fefferman, Marketing Cloud PMM, Salesforce
Kyle Robbins, Senior Product Manager, Salesforce

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 12:00 PM – 12:20 PM PDT | MOSCONE SOUTH, CAMPGROUND
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Develop, Measure, and Optimize Your ABM Programs

80% of marketing teams lead customer experience initiatives across the business. Join us for a hands-on workshop to sharpen your ABM strategy, learn best practices, and gain insights from your peers.

Jared Roy, Senior Managing Director, Salesforce
Daniel Newman, Executive Strategist, Media & Communications, Salesforce
Jeffrey Stollenwerk, Principal Solution Engineer, Salesforce

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM PDT, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM PDT | SOUTH, LODGE VILLAGE
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Our Favorite Dreamforce Meetups, Events, Parties, & Places

The Home For Marketers

This is where marketers meet at Dreamforce! The Home For Marketers (HFM) @ The Pink Elephant Alibi is where marketers on the Salesforce platform can go to find their people. It’s the perfect spot to take a break, network, and get resources to level up your marketing operations.

MONDAY, SEP 11 – THURSDAY, SEP 14 | THE PINK ELEPHANT ALIBI
Bookmark this

The Lodge for Marketing Trailblazers

The Marketing Lodge is a home away from home for marketers at Dreamforce, with networking, meals, and more.
Learn more

Connect and Learn in the Admin Meadow

Theater sessions, four demos, a quiz-based activation and 1:1 Consultations: all for admins, by admins!
Learn more

Marketers Welcome Bash

Come find a friend (or two) to experience everything that Dreamforce has to offer. We will have plenty of food, drinks, and goodies to give away throughout the night.

MONDAY, SEP 11 | 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT | THE PINK ELEPHANT ALIBI
Register here

Dreamforce Party: An Intergalactic Night

Get ready for an out-of-this-world party! From delicious appetizers to signature drinks, you’ll find all your friends at this incredible party.

TUESDAY, SEP 12 | 7:00 PM – 12:00 AM PDT | CITY NIGHTS CLUB
Register here

Dreamfest Pump Up Party

Ignite your festivities with upbeat tunes from a live DJ and your favorite cocktail to get amped up before the concert trailblazers will talk about for decades!

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM PDT | THE PINK ELEPHANT ALIBI
Register here

Dreamfest 

The biggest Dreamforce party is back! Dreamfest 2023 is once again supporting UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals Foundation and this year’s main live act is Foo Fighters.

WEDNESDAY, SEP 13 | 6:00 PM – 9:30 PM PDT | CHASE CENTER, WARRIORS WAY
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OpsStars 2023

Join 2500+ sales, marketing, and CX operations professionals and explore how to reduce friction in every aspect of your go-to-market strategy to fuel business growth, gain a competitive edge, and get deals done faster.
Learn more

B2B Marketer’s Lounge

Step away from the madness at Moscone and refuel at our B2B Marketer’s Lounge featuring live content and delicious snacks throughout the day.
Learn more

Pipeline Summit at Dreamforce

Join us for an evening of networking, thought leadership, and fun with leaders from some of the biggest names in B2B.
Learn more

Marketing Career Growth Meetup 

Moving to the next level in your marketing career is so much easier when you have people in your corner. So, get into the Marketing Career Growth Meetup and form the connections to make that happen. This is also your opportunity to connect with marketers like you who are plugged into the Salesforce platform. You’ll expand your network, see things from another perspective, and share laughs over drinks.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2023 | 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PDT | THE PINK ELEPHANT ALIBI
Register here

Marketer’s Afterglow Party

Join us for a quick drink before heading out at our wrap-up happy hour on the last day of Dreamforce. Come say goodbye to all your newfound friends

THURSDAY, SEP 14 | 4:00 PM – 6:30 PM PDT | THE PINK ELEPHANT ALIBI
Register here

Dreamforce Virtual Event

Marketer’s (Virtual) Networking Event

Not heading to Dreamforce this year? We’ve got you covered.

Join us on September 14th from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET for the Marketer’s (Virtual) Networking Event to exchange ideas and share takeaways from buzzing topics, keynote sessions, and network with your fellow trailblazers from across the globe.

We discuss the magic of AI + Data + CRM as a group and then engaging in breakout sessions to dive even deeper.

Salesforce+ will be streaming select Dreamforce sessions and main keynotes. Don’t forget to tune in and bring your insights to the virtual networking event.
Register here

Let’s Be Friends Forever!

Pardashians

Join all the cool new Slack groups you learned about including our favorite, The Pardashians.
Apply To Join

MarDreamin’

Register for MarDreamin’ for free – a 3-day virtual conference focused on all things marketing on the Salesforce platform.
Sign Up For Mardreamin’

See You Soon!

Remember, this is just your ultimate marketer guidebook to Dreamforce 2023. Definitely leave wiggle room for changes in the schedule, crazy weather, extra snack and nap breaks, and great networking.

Feeling more of a party vibe this year? Check our SalesforceBen’s Ultimate Dreamforce Parties & Events 2023.

Want a quick refresher on last year’s marketing moment and events? Check these out:

And remember, you are not alone. This is an inclusive community of like-minded individuals who will be just as lost as you, even if they are seasoned Dreamforce professionals. Stop by and say hi!

Original article: Dreamforce 2023: The Ultimate Marketer Guidebook

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Dreamforce 2023: The Ultimate Marketer Guidebook appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-08-29T17:13:09+00:00August 29th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Events|

WITness Success 2023: An Inspirational Experience

WITness Success 2023 was undoubtedly empowering. As a first-time attendee, I found the experience to be quite remarkable. A gathering of women in tech and allies in Minneapolis, Minnesota, offered me and fellow Sercante employees the opportunity to learn and network with like-minded Salesforce professionals.

WITness Success is an annual event planned and hosted by the Salesforce Women in Tech user group with a mission to “empower, support, and invest in Salesforce Women in Tech.” With membership at 4000+ members and continuous growth, I only see this conference becoming more prominent and better as we move toward the future.

Empowering Women in Tech

There were a multitude of moments that left me feeling truly empowered, but there are a few that specifically stand out to me. I had the honor and privilege of being able to speak at WITness Success, which left me feeling like I could do anything, alongside an inspiring session I was able to attend that left me feeling a sense of renewed energy and confidence.

Accessibility in Digital Marketing

I was honored to be chosen as a speaker for WITness, and not only to be chosen but to be able to speak on a topic I am passionate about — accessibility in digital marketing

Was I anxious? Absolutely! Was I terrified I would mess up, or no one would show up? 1000%, yes! Did I power through, have a wonderful presentation, and have amazing discussions afterward? Sure did! The unknown can be fearful but also bring you to new heights. 

Women in Tech showed me that by allowing this experience and inspiring me to continue speaking and sharing my thoughts on such an important topic.

Microaggressions as a Woman in the Workplace

Shahida Robertson-Davis’ session on microaggressions left me in a state of awe. I never truly realized or registered what microaggressions were or that they were happening to me, and more importantly, they were happening to others around me, and I was silent. 

Shahida offered relatable examples, and insightful conversations during and after the session and gave us the tools to speak up for ourselves and others if needed. Overall, this was a great session to kick off my experience at WITness and left a lasting imprint I will carry with me.

Supporting Women in Tech

We ended our first day of the event with a tradition that spouted nothing but support and honor of fellow women — the Ally dinner. And at the end of that dinner, the Trailheart Award was presented to someone so deserving it came as no surprise. This was the icing on the cake to an eventful first day and left us feeling proud to be who we are doing what we do.

The Ally Dinner and Women’s Entrepreneur Panel

The cocktail hour and dinner to follow was a wonderful experience full of networking and exchanging of stories, hard truths, and a peek into the future. For me, it was the panel of female entrepreneurs that stood out to me. The panel was composed of Hayley Tuller, Tiffany Spencer, and Marisa Hambleton

These women shared about their support people and allies, and how they have achieved success in the world of technology, and how they continue to support and mentor other women in tech. 

For Hayley, it is through her work with her company, Navigators, and her work with Hiring Our Heroes

Tiffany is the founder of a non-profit, Tech Forward, runs her own consulting business, Tech Forward Solutions, and is the founder of Dreamin’ in Color; through this work, she inspires and mentors young men and women daily. 

Founder and CEO at MH2X, Marisa strives each day to empower men and women as they seek their best by helping them implement Salesforce solutions. 

All three left me feeling inspired and wanting to do more to support my fellow women in tech.

Guilda Hilaire Presented the Trailheart Award

Following the amazing panel of women, the Trailheart Award was given out in honor of the legacy Tami Esling left behind. This award is given to a woman in the Salesforce ecosystem who “gives to this community wholeheartedly and without the expected reciprocation of notoriety.” 

After speaking about the award, it was no surprise to anyone in that room that the recipient for this year was Guilda Hilaire, Director, Product Marketing at Salesforce. I was fortunate enough to have met Guilda for the first time at this conference (I was starstruck!), and she is everything that this award signifies and more.  To see so many people recognizing and sharing their support for Guilda, was something to behold. 

Congratulations, Guilda!

Investing in Women in Tech

When investing in women, that was the entire conference. Every opportunity and session presented itself as doing just that, providing support and guidance to invest in our future and our roles in tech overall and specifically within the Salesforce Ecosystem. However, two specific sessions stood out most to me and resonated with me as an investment — the networking and the coloring sessions.

Mentor/Mentee Speed Networking

Talk about making a spin-off of speed dating; this event crushed it! So many participants joined, and somehow, we worked out to an even number of mentors and mentees. The session was 90 minutes, but it flew by as we went down the line, collaborating and speaking with one another. I was looking for guidance on expanding my footprint within the Salesforce community and was driven to be a mentee for this round, though I could see myself joining as a mentor the next time. 

The entire experience was uplifting, and I got such great advice; plus I met a few people I could connect with. This session should be offered across all Dreamin’ events, allowing new and up-and-coming Trailblazers to network without pressure to create small talk. Dive into the conversation and get valuable feedback that you can expand upon beyond the conference setting.

Mental Health + Illness Group Coloring Session

Who doesn’t like to color? What an incredible experience it was to step away from the hecticness that every conference has to take a breath, talk in small groups or work alone, and simply color or do a puzzle, or fill in the crossword puzzle. 

This was exactly what I needed, a break in my day to calm my jitters, and I was fortunate enough that this session took place right before my speaking session, so I was cool, calm, and collected until I stood up at the podium and the nerves went all wacky again. But seriously, I think this was an awesome session sponsored by the Mental Health + Illness community group, and based on attendance, I was not the only one who felt that way. 

Taking time to invest in ourselves goes beyond our learning and growth, it includes our physical and mental health as well. We can’t be great women in tech if we aren’t taking care of ourselves.

WITness Success final thoughts

Was WITness Success worth it? Yes! Will I be attending again next year? Of course! The only question left to answer is whether or not I will see you there. I hope the answer is ABSOLUTELY!

Original article: WITness Success 2023: An Inspirational Experience

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post WITness Success 2023: An Inspirational Experience appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-08-29T13:13:06+00:00August 29th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Events|

Find Sercante at These Dreamforce ‘23 Sessions and Events

We are less than a month away from the tech conference unlike any other where trailblazers will “experience the magic of AI + Data + CRM!” There will be 1500+ sessions to choose from for Dreamforce 2023 and 75+ AI thought leaders jam packed into 3 days. 

Whether you are attending virtually or in person, it can be overwhelming to sort through all the options as you make your schedule. To help make it a little easier, we have highlighted a few sessions and events where you can find Sercante at Dreamforce to build the ultimate Dreamforce 2023 agenda!

Join us in person at any of the events listed in this blog post. Or sign up here for any of the Sercante-hosted Dreamforce events listed in this post. Also, keep watching this space when we announce details for our virtual Dreamforce networking party, which we’re hosting along with community friends during Dreamforce (Sept. 12-14).

Dreamforce ‘23 Sessions Featuring Sercante Experts

As you create your agenda this year, Salesforce MVP, Marketing Champion, and Golden Hoodie recipient, Ben LaMothe, encourages marketers to consider sessions that are outside of their typical concentration. 

An example of that this year is all of the AI and Data Cloud sessions there will be. With all the features coming out, marketers should continue to explore new ways they can leverage them for their daily operations to make processes more efficient, solve challenges, and reach new heights.

With this in mind, here are the sessions to have on your radar to find Sercante at Dreamforce ‘23.

Leverage AI Across the Salesforce Platform

Bookmark
Tuesday, Sep 12 l 12:30 – 12:50 PM PDT

This session is relevant for all trailblazers across all levels and product focus. From core to marketing, the experts are going to share how AI can help make all users more impactful in their day-to-day roles.

Role: All trailblazers
Industry: All
Product: All
Session Type: Campfire
Room Location Details: Einstein Community Campfire

Speakers

Marcos Duran
Marketing Operations Manager, Sercante

Marketing Cloud Release Highlights

Bookmark
Tuesday, Sep 12 l 1:00 pm PDT
Thursday, Sep 14 l 9:00 am PDT

Salesforce announced Marketing GPT earlier this year at Connections. Now, you can attend this session to understand how the latest features can help you and your team save time with AI, understand your data, and leverage it in your customer journeys.

Role: Marketing, Sales
Product: Marketing Cloud
Session Type: Theater
Session Level: Intermediate
Room Location Details: Moscone West, Level 2

Speakers

Heather Rinke
Salesforce Product Director, Sercante

Whitni Freeman
Lead Solution Engineer, Salesforce

Ruth Bolster
Product Marketing Manager, Salesforce

How Marketers Can Create Their Own Tribe at Dreamforce (And Beyond!)

Tuesday, Sep 12 l 4:30 – 5:00 pm PDT

Role: Marketing
Room Location Details: Community Networking Area

This is a session for ALL marketers! Attendees will get to share insights with their fellow marketing trailblazers, exchange war stories, and build deeper connections within the community that will lead to success.

Speaker

Marcos Duran, Marketing Operations Manager, Sercante

5 Tips for Getting Started with Data Cloud

Bookmark

Wednesday, Sep 13 l 12:30 – 12:50 pm PDT
Thursday, Sep 14 l 12:00 – 12:20 pm PDT

Role: Marketing, Sales
Product: Marketing Cloud
Session Type: Theater
Session Level: Intermediate
Room Location Details: Data Cloud Theater (Moscone West, Level 2)

Are you wondering if Data Cloud is right for you or has your team discussed implementing Data Cloud and you are searching for the best path forward? Then this session is perfect for you. Experts will discuss five realistic tips and takeaways that you and your team can use for implementing Data Cloud successfully. Covering the use cases, data ingestion, modeling, harmonization, and more, this session will help you kickstart your Data Cloud journey and advance with some best practices.

Speakers

Adam Erstelle 
VP of Technology, Sercante

Joyce Avila
Program Lead, Data Cloud, Sercante

Arvind Raman
Director, Partner Delivery Success (Data Cloud)

Dreamforce Agenda Building – Words of Wisdom from Marketing Champions 

As you are building the ultimate Dreamforce 2023 agenda, a piece of advice to keep in mind as you plan your schedule is to not overload yourself. Marketing Champions on the Road to the Home for Marketers series shared:

“Don’t overdo your schedule. Give yourself time in between sessions to absorb all the information.” – Shonica Mitchell, Global Marketing Automation & Community Manager at BrightDrop

“Don’t pack your schedule with 30 things. Pick your top sessions and leave room for the magic to happen.” – Jaime López

“Plan for the transition time in between sessions. It could take you almost 20 minutes to get from one session to the next. Also plan backups just in case.” – Pato Sapir

Therefore, make sure you have your goals set, so you know what you want to accomplish at Dreamforce this year and then prioritize the sessions you want to attend based on your goals, but still leave room for transition periods and spontaneous connections.

Sercante Dreamforce ‘23 Events (Just outside of the conference)

On Ben LaMothe’s Road to the Home for Marketers Interview he shared that he wished he would have attended more off-site events at a previous Dreamforce conference. He exclaimed, “There is so much going on outside of Dreamforce proper.” 

While the unforgettable tech conference is THE MAIN focus, the streets surrounding the Moscone Center will be filled with events, meetups, panels, roundtables, and festivities where trailblazers can enjoy more intimate spaces to network, form deeper connections, refuel, recharge, and advance their skills.

Here are just a few of the many events happening where you can find Sercante at Dreamforce ‘23:

Sercante Presents: The Home for Marketers

Where: Pink Elephant Alibi l 142 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Sep 12 – 14
Register Here

In collaboration with Stensul, Print For Less, Gridmate, Appinium, Goldcast, and The Spot, Sercante hosts The Home for Marketers, where marketers meet at Dreamforce. Located just around the corner from the Moscone Center, it’s the spot to create deeper connections away from the crowd, network and meet someone new or see a familiar face and reunite with friends. The team is hosting electric events and meetups all week designed specifically for marketers and all trailblazers alike!

As Kelli Meador, Senior Manager Marketing Operations at Grammarly said in her Road to the Home for Marketers interview, “It was the in-person connections with the other marketers that really made it be The Home for Marketers. All marketers are welcome.”

The Home for Marketers also has you covered with learning opportunities and solutioning sessions. You can sign up for a time slot at the Genius Bar and receive recommendations and best practices from Sercante experts. Located in the Learning Lodge, attendees can also discover the latest in marketing technology solutions to advance their operations and achieve their goals.

In addition to the invaluable connections and great learning opportunities, the Home for Marketers will also have complimentary food and beverages to keep you fueled and a lounge where you can recharge and either rest or have some fun!

Marketer’s Welcome Bash

Where: Pink Elephant Alibi l 142 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Monday Sep 11 | 6:00 – 9:00 pm PDT
Register Here

This is THE EVENT for marketers to kick off their Dreamforce experience. The ultimate Welcome Bash blowout, attendees will get to meet and be reunited with Salesforce MVPs, Marketing Champions, User Group Leaders, and hundreds of marketing trailblazers from around the world! Accompanied with your favorite beverages and delectable food stations, be sure to sign up and add this one to your calendar!

An Intergalactic Night

Where: 715 Harrison (formerly City Nights) 715 Harrison St, San Francisco, CA 94107
When: Tuesday Sep 12 | 7:00 pm – 12:00 am PDT
Register Here

The celestial soriée like no other, this cosmic celebration will take trailblazers on an exciting journey through the galaxy with stellar beats from a live band and spectacular DJ. Attendees will be dazzled by jaw dropping entertainment and sparkling decor as they indulge in out-of-this-world specialty cocktails and mouth-watering hors d’oeuvres. 

Dreamfest Pump Up Party

Where: Pink Elephant Alibi l 142 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Wednesday, Sep 13 l 4:30 – 6:30 pm PDT
Register Here

There is only one concert that will have trailblazers talking for decades… it’s Dreamfest! Join the ultimate pregame event and get hyped for all the excitement. Enjoy upbeat tunes from the DJ, make a toast with your favorite beverage, and fuel up with delicious snacks. Make one more cheers and meet up with your fellow marketing trailblazers before everyone heads in to experience the tech conference entertainment of the season!

Marketer’s Afterglow Party

Where: Pink Elephant Alibi l 142 Minna Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Thursday, Sep 14 l 4:00 – 6:00 pm PDT
Register Here

It’s the Dreamforce wrap up networking event designed exclusively for marketers. Get to see your fellow marketing trailblazers one last time as we prepare to say farewell to all the meaningful connections that we made. Enjoy complimentary food and drinks and raise a glass to an incredible conference and the trailblazer community until we all gather again next year.

See You At Dreamforce ‘23

The Sercante team is counting the days until Dreamforce! We cannot wait to connect with our fellow trailblazers and this amazing marketing community. 

We’ll have several members from our team there in person including Andrea Tarrell, Erin Duncan, Marcos Duran, Adam Erstelle, Joyce Avila, Adam Berry, Heather Rinke, and Jordyn Jaffer just to name a few. 
You now know our sessions, about the Home for Marketers, and where we’ll be. Come find Sercante at Dreamforce ‘23!

Original article: Find Sercante at These Dreamforce ‘23 Sessions and Events

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Find Sercante at These Dreamforce ‘23 Sessions and Events appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-08-17T13:51:58+00:00August 17th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Events|

Lessons Learned While Delivering Salesforce Training in Spanish

The majority of Salesforce training you’ll find in the world is conducted in English. But things are changing as the platform grows in other parts of the world. We’ve seen a few self-guided Salesforce courses and Trailhead content in other languages, including Spanish. But the options are limited when it comes to getting hands-on and instructor-led Salesforce training in Spanish or other languages.

In this post, we’ll cover the lessons learned while delivering a Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) bootcamp in Spanish so more organizations can offer training in languages beyond English.

How did the Spanish Account Engagement bootcamp come to fruition?

My name is Marcos Duran and I am a Marketing Manager at Sercante. In my role, I support our team with the development and delivering of Salesforce training to our customers. I have been a Salesforce user for almost a decade and Salesforce consultant for the past 7 years. 

Part of being a #MomentMarketer is that you need to not only stay ahead of the latest trends and hot topics but also bring your tribe with you. My old Spanish professor used to use the term “Compartir la riqueza” or “share the wealth” in English.

This year I decided that I wanted to challenge myself with creating and delivering an Account Engagement (Pardot) bootcamp 100% in Spanish. My goal is to support Spanish speakers in earning their Pardot Specialist certification

For a little bit of background, this platform gave me my “real” start in the ecosystem years ago. Although I am a native Spanish speaker, this is still a challenging feat since all the content has to be dubbed into Spanish and has to be tweaked to make sense technically and also culturally.

Here’s a hot take: Google Translate can get you 70% there, but that last 30% is what differentiates a speaker versus just dropping it into a translator. Before you say anyone can do that, I’ll ask why do you think more people haven’t?

This course lasted five weeks for a total of 8 one-hour classes. During three of those five weeks, we met twice.

Six big takeaways from developing a Salesforce training course in Spanish

Here’s a few lessons I learned along the way of doing this bootcamp. I hope they will help you plan better if you are interested in offering virtual webinars/programs as a user group leader or in your own organization.

1. Lean heavily on pre-promotion

A rule of thumb for webinars is that at least 50% of your signups won’t show. 

In my case, this was close to my final numbers. I ended up with a 30% signup rate between announcing the bootcamp on LinkedIn and getting people to actually sign up. 

Lesson Learned: My mistake here was that I didn’t have the form ready when I was gauging interest. As a result, I lost on that initial wave of hype. If you do this internally, get people to register once you gauge interest.

LinkedIn post I shared to see if people in my network have interest in Salesforce training in Spanish

And the poll I posted…

Question Translation: Would you be interested in a bootcamp to prepare for the Pardot Specialist exam in Spanish?

2. Reach out to your community

From promotion to content creation, I reached out to people in my network who had been through this experience, looking for advice. 

I received a lot of positive advice — special shout out to Lara Black, Daniela Galmes, Victor Alberto Pantoja, and Ben LaMothe for all their support. 

Thanks to their encouragement, I was able to support 30 students from 13 countries around the world in their native language with Account Engagement content.

Marcos Duran with fellow marketing Trailblazers from the Salesforce community

Lesson Learned: Message the people you know who can offer advice, introduce you to people in their network, or help you to promote your efforts.

3. Optimize your course content

This particular bootcamp was focused on getting ready for the Pardot Specialist certification

We used the study guide material from Trailhead to guide the format of our bootcamp and essentially focus on the goal of passing the exam. In addition, I provided our students live demos of the essential parts of Account Engagement (for the visuals), presentation decks, and links to documentation from the Salesforce Help Center for additional guidance.

Lesson Learned: Build your training course using resources from Salesforce. That’s who designed the exam you’re attempting to pass and the tools you’re using. So, that’s definitely the best place to start.

4. Encourage student engagement

This was my favorite part. To get our course going, I engaged our students with questions about their own experiences. For many, this meant comparing features with Marketing Cloud Engagement to help create the bridge between their experience with that platform and this new platform material. 

We had several long conversations throughout the course that really showed the real-life business challenges they were facing. Thank you to everyone who shared with us!

Lesson Learned: Have a sense of humor when things go wrong. Having to say automations in Spanish 30 times in one hour is not fun — it is definitely a tongue twister. Thanks to everyone for putting up with me as I searched for the correct words to illustrate my point. 

5. Send plenty of reminders

This is a tip from Google Calendars: send reminders close to the webinar start time. I would send out a message a few hours before class to remind students, “Hey – class is today, make sure you show up.” 

This was the hardest for me because through this course I would see our attendance numbers fluctuate. At the end of the day, I understand we all have lives outside of work. So it’s best to be patient and as helpful as we can with others. 

Lesson Learned: Keep on sending those course reminders. Your students appreciate them!

6. On-Demand

Finally, at the end of each week, I would send everyone the slides and recordings. I would suggest you do this once at the end of the course.

Lesson Learned: Offering the course recordings on demand is essential. Life happens, students may miss a session or two. This content is also a lot to take in, so giving the option to revisit is going to help your students to be more successful.

Changes I would make to future Salesforce training in Spanish

Now that you read a little about how this course went for me, you may be wondering what’s next?

Well, here’s a few things I would do differently:

  1. I would love to be able to do this in person to really give the students the most support I can.
  2. I would continue to team up with other Account Engagement rock stars and divide the work to ensure we bring in different experiences to the classroom.
  3. I would probably promote this a little longer than I did (initially we had just north of 100 people interested in Spanish Pardot training).

Other than that, I feel it always pays to help others power up. I look forward to continuing to support Spanish and English speakers on the Salesforce platform and continue to make the most out of their investment. 

If you are interested in watching the Spanish Bootcamp series please click here.

Sign up for marketing-focused Salesforce training courses

If you’re ready to take your strategy, technical, and creative skills to the next level, we have the marketing-focused Salesforce training courses you need.

You can join our regularly scheduled courses or ask us about private training options — like this one that was offered to Spanish speakers in the Salesforce community.
Check out our training options here.

Original article: Lessons Learned While Delivering Salesforce Training in Spanish

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Lessons Learned While Delivering Salesforce Training in Spanish appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-07-03T20:57:30+00:00July 3rd, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Real Talk, revive|

Introducing the 2023 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Dragon Edition

Congratulations to the 2023 class of Salesforce Marketing Champions! We are honored that some of our own Sercante dragons were selected as part of this prestigious group this year.

Let’s get to know them.

The Program: Salesforce Marketing Champions

First! What even is a Salesforce Marketing Champion?

Salesforce knows a career as a marketer can be a hectic, fire-emergency-filled job. You are communicating across departments, across the globe, and in large amounts of acronyms.

We truly enjoy our work, but sometimes it can be thankless. Salesforce provides this program as a way to recognize champions in the Salesforce marketing space and help amplify the marketing voice, both in and outside the Trailblazer Community. 

Champions are nominated through the community and have a wealth of knowledge in marketing and the Salesforce platform. Each champion is a #MomentMarketer, Googling their way to success, always learning and improving their skills through certifications, and truly demonstrating their strategic love through training sessions, speaking events, and content creation. 

We want to send another big congratulations to the entire Salesforce Marketing Champion class of 2023! See the complete list here

Don’t forget to check out the 2023 Salesforce MVPs, too — Congrats to The Salesforce MVP Class of 2023!

MVPs are similar to the marketing champions. According to the Salesforce MVP Code of Conduct, MVPs are “lifelong learners who go above and beyond to share their expertise and help the entire community succeed… [and] leaders in the Trailblazer Community who encourage each other, celebrate others’ successes, work collaboratively to make our community and the world a better place, and have a lot of fun along the way!”

The People: Meet The New Sercante Marketing Champions

Let’s meet the Sercante dragons who worked hard in their communities and made it into the Salesforce Marketing Champions class of 2023.

New Marketing Champion #1. Cara Weese

Thoughts about joining the program

“It is an honor to be named among such an esteemed group of professionals. I have been working in the Salesforce community for 10 years now, and I am excited to combine my passions for Salesforce and Marketing to help drive growth for organizations and fellow community members who are learning the Marketing Cloud platforms or looking to up their marketing game to the next level by providing advice, best practices, and through networking events.”

Fav tool!

“I don’t know that I can choose just one. I guess I would have to go with Salesforce Analytics and bucket all of the reports, dashboards, Intelligence, and B2BMA in one umbrella. I have a great passion for analytics!”

Something fun!

“I love books! Whenever I have downtime, whether that be traveling, sitting outside, or even working at my desk, I have to be listening to an audiobook. I also pick up books from time to time, but as a busy working mom, it’s often easier to listen. I love Fantasy, Mystery, YA Fiction, and Historical Fiction, but honestly, I could read just about anything.”

New Marketing Champion #2. Cate Godley

Thoughts about joining the program

“I’m excited to join the Marketing Champions program and connect with other marketers in the Salesforce community. I’m passionate about education and can’t wait to help more people learn how to effectively use and manage Account Engagement.”

Fav tool!

Salesforce Reports/Dashboards. I love data and getting to create my own reports and dashboards to display that data is one of my favorite things.”

Something fun!

“I love going to concerts, house plants, dogs, and playing board games. If I’m not doing something related to Salesforce I’m most likely doing something related to one of those things.” 

New Marketing Champion #3. Jacob Catalano

Thoughts about joining the program

“I’m extremely excited to be a part of the 2023 class of Marketing Champions with so many of my colleagues in the Salesforce community. Being included in such a brilliant group of marketers is a dream come true and I can not wait to learn and grow alongside some of the brightest minds in the Salesforce community.”

Fav tool!

Flows is one of the most powerful automation tools out there and I love when I can just take an hour or two and find new ways to use Flow.”

Something fun!

“I spend most of my time performing in musicals locally and playing golf. These two things are totally different but give me the most joy and let me step away from things going on and relax.”

New Marketing Champion #4. Julian Janssen

Thoughts about joining the program

“I’m really excited to be named to the 2023 class of #MarketingChampions alongside some of my amazing colleagues at Sercante, and be more involved in the community around Salesforce’s amazing marketing automation tools! This ecosystem has provided me amazing opportunities in my own career, so I am excited to give back and guide others in this space.”

Fav tool!

Campaign Influence: I love the Campaign Influence reporting models available in Salesforce. It’s an amazing tool to help marketing departments recognize and validate the value of how their campaigns help affect pipeline and realize revenue — a massive impact on most businesses that often goes overlooked.”

Something fun!

“I spend most of my time not working being a music nerd — going to concerts, browsing through records, playing guitar, or running to carefully curated playlists I have put together.”

New Marketing Champion #5. Kelly Ryan

Thoughts about joining the program

“I am so excited to be here! I have relied on this marketing community since day one in my digital marketing role, trying to connect all the backend dots across channels and platforms. I am honored to be a part of the Marketing Champions and share my knowledge with the next round of accidental admins and one-person teams!”

Fav tool!

Creuz Your Data! Long lists of data are the daily pain of Pardot and Salesforce admins. So why not make your life easier? Just copy paste the data, select if you need a comma or semicolon, and you are good to go!”

Favorite meme

Something fun!

“I really enjoy reading, especially historical fiction because I also love facts. I love getting literally lost in all the little local bookshops when I travel, too. I’ve been known to just sit on the floor and sift through huge stacks of old books until I found the ones with the most ridiculous titles.”

New Marketing Champion #6. Mike Morris

Thoughts about joining the program

“Since joining the Salesforce ecosystem, I’ve learned so much from members of the community, the team at Sercante, and the Marketing Champions. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to share my knowledge and help inspire the next class of Marketing Champions.”

Fav tool!

“I’ve got to go with Kelly on this one. Creuz Your Data is an awesome little app and has saved me countless hours. If you are building dynamic lists in Account Engagement or reports in Salesforce, check it out! I’m also very partial to the Protected Campaign Member Statuses app as a way to manage campaign members’ statuses in Salesforce.”

Something fun!

“I spend a lot of time in my office, so when I’m not working, I prefer to be outside. I enjoy hiking, kayaking, and running. I’m not very good at relaxing and prefer to be active.”

New Marketing Champion #7. Rich Feist

Thoughts about joining the program

“I can’t wait to continue my learning about all things Salesforce. I’m really looking forward to attending more events!  I honestly still can’t believe I get to be a part of this amazing program!”

Fav tool!

“My favourite Salesforce tool is Flows, I love what you can do with them. My favourite other tool is Pomodoro Marinara which is a great time-keeping app to keep you focused.”

Favourite meme 

Something fun!

“Favourite holiday location is a tie between Oaxaca and Sicily, the food and drink is insane!”

New Marketing Champion #8. Kirsten Schlau

New Marketing Champion #9. Laura Curtis

Repeating Sercante Marketing Champions

We’re super proud of our new Salesforce Marketing Champions. But let’s all take a moment to recognize members of the Sercante team who were named Marketing Champions in the past (once you’re in, you’re in for good) and are already seasoned pros when it comes to championing marketing for Salesforce.

Connect with the Marketing Champion Community

So what should you do with all this information? Definitely connect with this group so they can help you out! 

Salesforce Marketing Champions put themselves out there so they can be helpful to people in the community like you. They all write blogs, present sessions at Salesforce events, lead user groups, or answer questions online. 

Consider this your invitation to hit them up!

Do you need help from a marketing champion? Are you the next champion?

Ready to become the next Salesforce Marketing Champion? Keep an eye out for the call for nominations and applications here.
And as always, leave us a comment with your favorite tools and apps! Or let us know when you need help with something only a marketing champion can solve.

Original article: Introducing the 2023 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Dragon Edition

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Introducing the 2023 Salesforce Marketing Champions: Dragon Edition appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-06-10T12:50:18+00:00June 10th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Community Spotlight, revive|

Texas Dreamin’ Recap: May 2023

Deep in the heart of Texas, where the bluebonnets bloom and the sun works overtime, community members gathered in Austin to celebrate, share knowledge and inspire others with the impact of Salesforce. Powered by Salesforce community leaders from across Texas, the Texas Dreamin’ conference is committed to empowering “users, admins, developers, and partners by creating an energetic environment for strong connections, learning core skills, and building great careers.”

Team Sercante at Texas Dreamin’ 2023

The Sercante team had a strong showing with 8 attendees presenting 5 sessions! 5 of our team members were first time attendees of a Dreamin’ event, and we had 4 of our Marketing Champions present. The conference was held at the AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas at Austin campus, so a couple of alums on our team convinced us to brave the Texas heat and walk across campus for a school spirit photo in front of UT’s famous tower.

Conference Kickoff

We kicked off the event with a warm, Texas sized welcome from the event organizers, and we met the team behind ROCK, Ride On Center for Kids, the recipient of a $5,000 donation via the Community Give Back initiative. ROCK shared how Salesforce allowed them to focus on providing equine-assisted services to children, adults, and veterans with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges, declaring that “data drives the impact.”

Salesforce Vice President and CTO for Internet of Things, Charlie Issacs, then came on stage, filmed a group message to our friends at India Dreamin’, and launched straight into a lively Demo Jam. Pharos, an observability application for Salesforce errors,  was crowned the winner after their song-filled demo and we were off to join an array of diverse, insightful and thoughtful sessions. 

Sessions

Texas Dreamin’ hosted a variety of sessions around the Salesforce ecosystem, including guidance on career development, admin tips & tricks, developer resources, and marketing strategy. Below are some session highlights:

Keynote

Zayne Turner leads Architect Relations at Salesforce. A poet by education, her team creates resources and tools to help everyone doing architectural work with Salesforce create well-architected implementations.

With anecdotes about her own career background to guide the conversation, she spoke about how to become “disruption proof” in the face of great technological change. AI tools were the primary topic at hand, and she suggested proactively understanding this great paradigm shift with the Skill Up on AI , a Trailmix offered by Salesforce. 

Texas Dreamin’ 2023 Keynote

From her perspective, the key to being “disruption proof” is resilience, which often equates to being graceful in the face of adversity and keeping a focus on the big picture.

Five Critical Steps to Change Management

Zack Baker and Alycia Wright with Silverline CRM led a session on change management as a focused area of practice for Salesforce projects. The change manager is a role outside of project management, focused on supporting and enabling adoption of a finalized development project.  Their critical steps for approaching the process are Alignment, Communication, Training, Reinforcement, and Measurement – incorporating these steps and this role early in the development helps ensure adoption of the solution design. Some technical tools in the Salesforce ecosystem that can help support this include In-App Guidance, Knowledge Articles, and MyTrailhead.

Discovery as a Dialogue with Jodi Hrbek

Jodi Hrbek, Author of Rock your Role as a Salesforce Admin, led us through the 5G Framework, which is described as “an approach for conducting discovery sessions that ensures you’re solving the right problems with the right-sized solutions.” Jodi discussed the importance of rapport among stakeholders, and expounded on how the pandemic and remote work have exposed how critical rapport is when it comes to keeping a pulse on how others feel about a project to avoid going off the rails. She also encouraged us to make sure everyone involved agrees that conversations about ideas doesn’t necessarily mean you’re committed to moving forward with the ideas – getting everyone on the same page will help all stakeholders be more willing to have exploratory conversations.

Best Practices for Building Strategic Customer Journeys

Sercante’s Marcos Duran led a session introducing marketers in the audience to the concept of building strategic customer journeys. His advice was starting with a simple and realistic concept and prioritizing 3 key principles: Consistency, Personalization, and Real-Time Engagement. Marketers should review their data and content and pick a limited selection of channels to begin the process – then with internal alignment draw out the process on a whiteboard or in a flowchart tool. Taking these concepts into consideration in the planning stage will enable a smooth building and testing process in your marketing automation tool.

 

Marcos Duran presents at Texas Dreamin’ 2023

Fantastic Frameworks for Fast, Feature-Filled Flows

Salesforce consultant, Evan Ponter, led a great technical session on flow optimization. The key to his presentation was limiting the number of elements and queries in flow to ensure they run as smoothly as possible. He walked us through a variety of technical hacks to keep the elements – including limiting all before-save automation to a single flow, using lookups in formulas instead of “Get Record” automations where possible, leveraging record collection variables, and referencing the org url with API to make deployment between orgs easier.

Getting Creative with Lead Assignment using Flow and Apex

Sercante’s Erin Duncan and Jacob Catalano presented a clever solution to improve lead routing using flow and APEX. They covered how lead assignment rules work in Salesforce, along with the limitations on how the rules are only fired when the lead is initially created.

Their demonstration showed how to utilize a flow and APEX to trigger those assignment rules to run again and re-assign leads in certain situations.

Erin Duncan and Jacob Catalano present at Texas Dreamin’

Solve Your Reporting Challenges With Formulas

David Carnes from OpFocus takes us back to the basics of formulas in excel and of course Salesforce. It is clear that David enjoys this topic and was even able to share in a few secrets around Salesforce reporting like hidden operators, cross-block summary formulas, and formula prompts (shh, just don’t tell anyone). If find yourself hitting a wall with reports try one of these “hidden” prompts.

Solve Your Reporting Challenges With Formulas

How AI Neural Nets like ChatGPT are Empowering Salesforce Professionals

If you have been following ChatGPT, generative AI, and similar trends on LinkedIn, then you probably know Mark Good, Founder of AI Force Training

Mark shares the basics of ChatGPT and how it will contribute to the way that business continues to transform well into the future. He hit the message home by emphasizing on specific examples of how ChatGPT along with business leaders can put AI to work to help people become more efficient.

Examples included driving team learning, formula generation, and validation rule creation in the Salesforce ecosystem. If you haven’t gotten started with AI and GPT yet, we recommend you follow Mark on LinkedIn. 

Vendors & Sponsors

Between the sponsors that participated in the kickoff Demo Jam and the vendor alley way between session rooms, we got to see demos of a lot of awesome Salesforce tools that can supercharge your org. 

  • Copado – Copado is a DevOps tool that helps manage releases in Salesforce software development pipelines. This includes a comprehensive set of tools for managing development requests, ensuring thorough testing, and assistance in deploying configurations between orgs.
  • GetAccept – A Sales enablement tool that helps salespeople provide a great digital experience to buyers. Their demo jam showed off a sales person quickly customizing and sending a contract for signature based on well-designed templates through an easy-to-understand assembly wizard.
  • Pharos – Pharos supports admins and developers with dashboards that categorize and visualize any errors encountered in the org. This enables quick resolution by reducing time needed to unpack the error. 
  • RenderDraw – a useful tool for any company with complex catalogs or parts ordering interfaces. You can load existing product catalog imagery into the tool, then map diagrams into interactive links in the platform, creating a visual interface to construct quotes quickly with the appropriate line items.
  • Revenue Grid – positions their tool as a method to identify any potential revenue leaks or opportunities by increasing activity visibility in your Salesforce org.  Their activity capture tool goes a step beyond Salesforce inbox and Einstein Activity Capture tools by logging more info and relationships from email communications into Salesforce. They also provide pre built reports on productivity and a tool for organizing sales cadences.

Conclusion 

It was great to meet up with colleagues, customers,  and community members in Austin! As a community-led event, you can definitely feel the emphasis on professional development and learning from each other.

The sessions were nicely balanced between detailed technical guidance, overall business strategy, and suggestions on how to better personally present and manage your presence in the ecosystem. Overall, well worth attending if you’re a Texas Salesforce professional or looking to break into the industry – the conference is loaded with resources to help everyone find their niche and become successful on the platform!

Thank you to Tamara Buran for collaborating on this post!

Original article: Texas Dreamin’ Recap: May 2023

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Texas Dreamin’ Recap: May 2023 appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-05-24T17:48:15+00:00May 24th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Events|

Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Tips & Tricks

So, you’ve decided to take the next steps in your career and earn your Salesforce Administrator Certification. Yay!

This might be your first journey into the Salesforce platform or maybe you’ve been an Accidental Admin for years and are finally going to make it official. Either way, we hope this guide provides the extra boost you need to get started and pass! We asked our fellow #AwesomeAdmins and Sercante Dragons for their feedback on the exam, what they wish they had done differently, and what study strategies worked best for them.

Here are our favorite tips and tricks to passing the Salesforce Administrator Certification exam. Grab your go-to brain boosting beverage and let’s get started!

Step 1. Review the Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Guide

You probably have already looked at the exam guide a couple times, but do it just once more. Salesforce occasionally updates the exam guide and the test itself so it is always a good idea to review the most recent version (the last test update was June 2021).

Plus, Salesforce recently released a new certification for those looking to break into the Salesforce ecosystem and aren’t quite experienced enough for the Administrator exam. The Salesforce Associate certification is a great place to begin and you can get started here with our blog ‘A Pocket Guide to Earning the Salesforce Associate Certification’.

salesforce administrator certification exam

Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Outline

  • Configuration and Setup: 20%
  • Object Manager and Lightning App Builder: 20%
  • Sales and Marketing Applications: 12%
  • Service and Support Applications: 11%
  • Productivity and Collaboration: 7%
  • Data and Analytics Management: 14%
  • Workflow/Process Automation: 16%

Here is a quick link to bookmark the Salesforce Certified Administrator Exam Guide, which includes the exam overview, resources they recommend (free and paid), and a detailed breakdown of the topics you will see.

Bookmark these too! Both of these resources are the best  go-to study guides as they are Salesforce created and kept up to date. If you are overwhelmed by the amount of resources out there, just focus on studying and working through these. 

Step 2. Schedule Your Salesforce Admin Cert Exam

Nothing makes studying more productive (aka panic-studying-becasue-it-is-actually-happening-and-you-can’t-ignore-it) when you have a real date to prepare for. Yes, it will be scary to hit that schedule button. But it would be even worse to do all this work and never actually take the test. 

I promise that you are smart and capable, even if you are super worried! Once you get this out of the way, you can truly focus on the content without that hanging out in the back of your mind.

Choose your testing location 

One thing to consider is what type of test taker you are. Salesforce gives us the option of taking a test in person at a local testing center or remotely from the comfort of your or someone else’s home. 

Think about what makes you your best test-taking you. I prefer taking the certifications remotely online because I like being at my desk with my favorite chair in my comfy clothes and I don’t have to worry about traffic or a strange new place. Other team members prefer the testing center because it gets them out of their loud house of children and pets and helps their brain activate test mode.

Ready to schedule your Salesforce Admin certification date? Good! Do that here. Step two = complete!

Step 3. Organize Your Resources

The Sercante team are certification masters, and we all agreed that organizing your resources, study guides, prep decks, practice tests, etc., beforehand saves a lot of time later down your study road. Plus, they can act as a sort of to-do checklist of study tasks.

Here are some of our favorite resources that we’ve relied on.

Free Study Day

This is my favorite resource for all Salesforce certifications. You can sign up multiple times as well so I would recommend once at the beginning of your study schedule and then again close to your exam date. 

  • Salesforce Certification Days
    • Free, half-day webinars to help you prepare for your certification
    • About 1x every two months
    • Not recorded, no taking screenshots
    • Get a $40 test voucher code, can be used for retakes

Videos

Blogs

Trailheads & Trailmixes

Superbadges

Topic Problem Area Resources

Step 4. Take a Practice Test & Understand Where You’re At

You are smart! You know things! How else would you convince yourself to take the Salesforce Administrator Certification? 

So, this also means you probably know a good portion of the topics the exam will cover. Instead of deep diving into EVERYTHING, let’s focus on the medium confidence and low to no confidence topic areas. Remember to refer to the exam outline above to understand what will be on the test.

You can use this simple Google Sheet calculator for a quick confidence check: 

When you are ready, just jump in and take a practice test. Try to remember which one so this can be your truth beacon as your work through your study materials. By having this baseline score, you will be able to identify confident and if-y topic areas, plus get into the test-taking, Salesforce-speak brain space. 

Practice Tests

Be careful with relying too heavily on the questions and answers from these paid and free practice test resources outside of Salesforce. As the test and Salesforce ecosystem continue to evolve, some of these tests don’t update with it. Trust your gut and Google if you think something isn’t quite right. You can always ask the Salesforce Trailhead community to double-check, as well. 

Step 5. The Actual Study Step

Ok! Time to study!

Pace yourself and try to avoid last-minute week of the test full studying sessions. Yes, reviewing some key topics right before your certification might be helpful, but working through the Trailheads the month or two leading up to the test is probably easier on your brain and work/life schedule. 

I like to study one or two hours a day before and after my work day so it tends to take me more time to prep compared to teammates who schedule a couple of full study days the month of their exam. Try out different study schedules and find what works best for you! 

Keep in mind that you could prefer video courses to the text-based Trailheads or maybe you like creating your own flash cards with a study friend. The knowledge is out there, you just need to figure out the best way for you to unlock it.

Step 6. Rinse & Repeat

Once you feel like you have absorbed some more information or completed a couple of topic-specific Trailheads, give the practice test a shot again. This will confirm if you are focusing on the right or not quite right topic areas.

Remember, Salesforce certifications are difficult and are worded in Salesforce ways. Taking these practice tests and working through the Trailhead courses will help you understand how they phase scenarios, what they consider best practices for a standard organization, how they refer to their ecosystem, and hopefully, see which answers you can eliminate to reduce your answer options. 

Some Study & Test Taking Tips

  • Find keywords in questions that indicate the answer or what you can eliminate as an answer.
  • Keep in mind the names of Salesforce products, features, and functionality as they will try to trick you with similar-sounding answers.
  • Answers can put the Salesforce platform in a good light meaning the answer wouldn’t be something they don’t support or is outside of the standard packages (in most cases).
    • Example: How many records are saved in the recycle bin? The highest option was the answer.
  • Always refer back to the full question when you are starting to second guess yourself, there might be something key you missed when you first read it. 

Step 7. Go Eat A Snack & Take A Nap

There is only so much studying and memorization a human brain can handle. Especially with these Salesforce-style wordy technical questions and answers. We fully recommend taking breaks throughout your study journey and at least a couple of days leading up to your Salesforce Admin exam date. 

Remember to relax and breathe! You being overly stressed out is not going to help you pass the test.

Step 8. Pass The Salesforce Administration Certification Exam!

Trust us, you’ve got this!

The Day of Your Exam Tips

  • Make sure you read the requirements for your in-person exam or the online proctored exam.
    • For in-person tests, remember to arrive 15 minutes early with your ID, another form of identification, and your authorization code.
    • For online tests, double-check that your camera and microphone are working, that you have downloaded the correct software, and that your desk area and background are clean and without distractions.
  • Consider the amount of time you have as you go through the test.
    • Answering every question is more important than not finishing.
  • Mark questions you are hesitant about for review.
    • Salesforce has a built-in checkbox for this within the test – take advantage of it.
    • As you have time at the end, go through your marked questions.
    • If you start noticing that you are changing more than a handful of answers, you are probably in your head too much and overthinking things. It is best to go with your gut and your first answer unless you know for sure that it is incorrect.
  • Don’t be afraid to fail! You can always retake the Salesforce admin certification exam – trust me, I did. We recommend scheduling your retake within two months of your previous exam date so the information is fresh and you are still in testing mode.

Good luck taking your Salesforce admin certification exam!

Don’t forget to come back here and brag about your accomplishment and share any other Salesforce Administrator Certification exam tips and tricks for the next round of admins!

Original article: Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Tips & Tricks

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Salesforce Administrator Certification Exam Tips & Tricks appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-05-10T17:45:38+00:00May 10th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Real Talk, revive|

Marketing Goodies from the Salesforce IdeaExchange: Spring ‘23

Those of you who have been followers of The Spot for a few years now know that we have shared our favorite Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot) Ideas from the Salesforce IdeaExchange either in blog posts or the Pardashians Slack group.  

This tradition started in 2017 with Andrea’s initial post highlighting 8 ideas on the IdeaExchange that Pardot admins should upvote.  We’ve seen great features come to life in the most recent Salesforce releases (looking at Conditional Options for Completion Actions), and we’re hoping you can help prioritize ideas for future releases.

Salesforce has three releases throughout the year and uses their IdeaExchange to help drive which features are prioritized in future releases. As a marketer, you have most likely entered a situation where your team is requesting a solution that is currently not available in Marketing Cloud Engagement or Marketing Cloud Account Engagement as a feature. 

Your first stop is to see if this feature/solution has been mentioned or resolved via the IdeaExchange. Checking there first is going to help you understand how others have solved it, and then you can add in your own vote to the idea.

What is the Salesforce IdeaExchange anyway?

Back in 2006, the Salesforce #Ideaexchange was born as a way to involve its customers (big and small) in a modern effort to crowdsource ideas for its product roadmap. This ensures the community gets a platform to contribute their ideas and wishes — you know, a place where the margods can go for inspiration if you will as they build the world of tomorrow.

How does one enter their idea into the Salesforce IdeaExchange?

  • Come up with an idea and submit it to the exchange
  • You then get trapped and spend 2-4 hours going through other people’s ideas (definitely optional, but highly encouraged). 
  • If your idea gets enough votes (10+ points for you) then a product manager gets involved
  • The idea is developed and then delivered, and we all cheer!

Need more details? We wrote a little about the history of the AppExchange.

Top Salesforce IdeaExchange items for marketers

As Salesforce continues to work on improving their marketing automation platforms, our team has put together a list of ideas that we recommend you upvoting and adding to your wish list in hopes of getting them added to the top of the prioritization list.

Here is our current list of Salesforce IdeaExchange items that marketers should check out and upvote.

Salesforce

  1. Ability to Customize Campaign Member Status Values for all Campaigns

This feature would help with needing to update campaign member statuses for each individual campaign. We wrote about how to fix this with Protected Campaign Member Statuses.

Upvote >>

Marketing Cloud Engagement

  1. Access to a Marketing Cloud Engagement Developer Edition

This feature would help trailblazers gain hands-on experience working within Marketing Cloud Engagement without being a customer.

Upvote >>

  1. Include Dynamic Links in Engagement Split Activity

This feature would ensure Journey Builder engagement splits based on clicks can monitor the clicks on any dynamic link as well as static links.

Upvote >>

  1. Access to a Recycle Bin in Marketing Cloud Engagement

This feature would give Marketing Cloud Engagement admins the same abilities as the Marketing Cloud Account Engagement recycle bin.

Upvote >>

  1. Include the “De-Duplicate by Email Address” Feature in Journey Builder

This feature would give users the same abilities they have when sending a normal email through Marketing Cloud Engagement.

Upvote >>

  1. Allow Data Extensions as Suppression Lists in Journey Builder

This feature would allow marketers to use data extensions for suppression lists in Journey Builder instead of lists.

Upvote >>

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

  1. Track and Record Direct Replies to an Email Sent from Marketing Cloud Account Engagement

This feature would provide an additional, much needed KPI for marketers to be able to determine which CTAs are working for their emails that do not go directly to links or forms.

Upvote >>

  1. Reduce Errors Post-Sending Email

This feature would allow you to either recall or edit emails that have not been opened yet after an email is sent with an error.

Upvote >>

  1. Allow or Operational Email Sending in Engagement Programs

This feature would bring the operational email checkbox to the entire Engagement Program or individual Email steps to ensure those who need to receive these emails still are even when in an Engagement Program.

Upvote >>

  1. Audit changes to Marketing Cloud Account Engagement Assets

This feature would bring a tool similar to what Salesforce Admins have available to them to be able to view all changes made to lists and assets throughout Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Upvote >>

  1. Allow Variable Fields in SFDC Tasks

This feature would allow for more variability and customization when creating a Salesforce Task from within Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Upvote >>

  1. Notifications for SFDC Connector Errors

This feature would bring forth a notification system for your team to understand when there are Connector errors between Salesforce and Marketing Cloud Account Engagement.

Upvote >>

  1. BRING BACK “PARDOT”

This feature needs no explanation as many people are hoping we can reverse the name rebrand and move back to calling the tool “Pardot” at some point in the future.

Upvote >>

Analytics

  1. Ability to Include Cross Filters in Report Filter Logic

This feature would allow users to be able to use standard filters and cross filters together in a report with filter logic.

Upvote >>

  1. Reporting on Email Activity from Salesforce Inbox or Standard Inbox Integrations

This feature would bring email activity into the Activity records to allow for reporting between emails and other activities.

Upvote >>

  1. Allow Reference Lines on Dashboard Components

This feature would bring an amazing reporting feature to dashboards so marketers can include reference lines on any report chart within a dashboard.

Upvote >>

We Want to Hear From You!

While some Pardot admin recommendations get picked up and implemented faster than others, it all depends on community participation and perceived need from the Marketing Cloud product team. In fact, to help drive ideas, Salesforce created a prioritization system where you can see top feature suggestions across the ecosystem battle it out!

Are there any features or functionality you wish you could see? If so, let us know below. With a little bit of luck and support from your Salesforce Ohana, you might also uncover the secrets of the IdeaExchange and get your idea on the scoreboard.Don’t forget to vote for these ideas, submit your own and chat with us on Twitter, LinkedIn or simply subscribe to the blog. 

Original article: Marketing Goodies from the Salesforce IdeaExchange: Spring ‘23

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Marketing Goodies from the Salesforce IdeaExchange: Spring ‘23 appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-04-05T20:02:21+00:00April 5th, 2023|Categories: Community, New Features, Release Notes|

Congrats to The Salesforce MVP Class of 2023

Like many big software companies, Salesforce has an honor they bestow to most influential supporters. They call this the Salesforce MVP program. The Trailblazer Community team recently announced the 2023 Salesforce MVP program inductees, and we were thrilled to see many of our favorite marketing voices on the list.

Marketers don’t always get the recognition they deserve, which is why we’re on a mission to showcase all of the amazing things marketers do. We’re especially excited to highlight the people who are shining the limelight on Salesforce marketing tools for a change.

Background of the program

If you haven’t already noticed, there’s a whole lot to learn about using marketing automation and CRM tools. Salesforce does everything they can to make resources available to customers so the tools are easier to use and customize, but everyone learns in their own way. 

Sometimes we need real people who have been working closely with these tools to teach us what’s possible with them. (You know, like, other customers and people with an outsider’s perspective)

That’s where the Salesforce MVP program comes in. These are all people who share what they know about the platform and personally connect with others who are still learning. 

According to the Salesforce MVP Code of Conduct, MVPs are “lifelong learners who go above and beyond to share their expertise and help the entire community succeed… [and] leaders in the Trailblazer Community who encourage each other, celebrate others’ successes, work collaboratively to make our community and the world a better place, and have a lot of fun along the way!”

Here’s the MVP Hall of Fame and Member Directory, which goes into complete detail about the program.

How Salesforce MVPs are Selected

Wondering how people get a spot in the program? Here’s how the process works:

  1. Salesforce opens nominations for MVPs around November each year.
  2. Community members either self nominate or can share stories to nominate others.
    • Current MVPs do not need to take action, they are automatically reviewed for renewal.
  3. The Trailblazer Community team completes the first round of nomination reviews. 
  4. Then, the nominations go through a second round of reviews from a team of Salesforce employees who are active in the Trailblazer Community
  5. After that, current Salesforce MVPs provide feedback to new nominations and nomination renewals. 
  6. The Trailblazer Community team completes a final review before the Salesforce leadership team makes final calls and approvals.

The 2023 Salesforce MVP Class

Congratulations to everyone who was selected to join the 2023 Salesforce MVP Class! 

Aaron Crosman Michael A. Grandel
Andy Engin Utkan Mihoko Yamashita
Ankit Taneja Oleh Mykytyn
Asterisk Loftis Patricio Sapir
Ben LaMothe Phaneendra Arigachetta
Gian Piere Vallejos Bardales Rachel Park Brayboy
Johann Furmann Samantha Shain
Kannan Narayanan Skye Tyler
Kristi Brown Swati Taunk
Kristin Hubbard Thomas Theunen
Lilith Van Biesen Vicki Moritz-Henry
Maham Hassan Warren Walters

Marketers Who Made the New 2023 Salesforce MVP List

We were thrilled to see two people we know from the Salesforce marketing community who made the list. Special congratulations to Ben Lamothe and Vicki Moritz-Henry and thanks for all the work you do for the community!

In fact, we know these two MVPs thanks to their work with the MarDreamin’ conference. Both have presented at MarDreamin’ in past years and have contributed in other ways. 

Our team reached out to them to get their thoughts on their new Salesforce MVP honors. Here’s what they had to say:

Ben Lamothe

“Being selected as a Salesforce MVP is an honor and is truly humbling. Giving back to the Salesforce and Account Engagement (Pardot) Trailblazer community that has changed my life and given me so much, is so important to me.”

Vicki Moritz-Henry

“When I transitioned careers into Salesforce, I was astounded by how supportive the community was. There were so many people who encouraged, mentored and taught me over the years. I honestly wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for them. My motivation is to spread that impact and be that same person for others.”

Andrea Tarrell Added to the Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame

Last but most certainly not least, we wanna send a huge congratulations to the person who started this whole blog (and Sercante) in the first place. Andrea Tarrell has been an influential voice in the Salesforce community for close to a decade, and she’s served as a Salesforce MVP enough years for Salesforce to add her to the MVP Hall of Fame in 2023.

Launching The Spot for Pardot blog is only a small fraction of everything Andrea has contributed to Salesforce Trailblazer Community through the years. She’s spoken at countless events including Dreamforce, Connections, Dreamin’ conferences and user group meetings. Andrea even launched the first virtual conference for marketers on Salesforce in 2020 — MarDreamin’ (formerly ParDreamin’).

Keep being helpful and the rest will fall into place

The Trailblazer Community team received over 2,400 MVP nominations in 2023, so of course some people were disappointed to learn they weren’t among the 24 new MVPs who were selected. The most important takeaway though is to keep going! While the MVP program brings inherent benefits along with it (i.e. free entry to conferences, getting asked to participate in high-profile marketing content), the true benefit is that helping others helps you, too.

When the community grows, we all grow together. And there’s room for us all to be successful in the community. So, keep sharing what you know. Start a Salesforce blog (or you can write for this one!). Apply to speak at community events. Volunteer with a Salesforce mentorship program, like Merivis, for instance.

The possibilities to give back are endless. Tell us how giving back to the tech community has enriched your life in the comments section.

Original article: Congrats to The Salesforce MVP Class of 2023

©2023 The Spot. All Rights Reserved.

The post Congrats to The Salesforce MVP Class of 2023 appeared first on The Spot.

By |2023-03-18T14:50:56+00:00March 18th, 2023|Categories: Career Development, Community, Community Spotlight, Industry News|