I’m a groupie!
I’m so fortunate to be a co-leader of the Boston User group – the biggest and (in my opinion) best one out there. And I know I’ve blogged about user groups in the past. So maybe you feel as though you should go, but maybe you aren’t sure why. So here are my reasons for attending meetings as long as I have been.
Networking – The number one reason to go to you local user groups – the people! I’ve found the Salesforce community to be the most helpful one I’ve ever encountered. By attending a meeting, you might find someone who can help you fix a troublesome validation rule, or give unbiased opinion on a partner product you are considering. Or maybe you can pay to forward & help another user with an issue they are having. It’s like the Salesforce Answers site, but live!
Product Information – With three releases a year, and release notes that frequently are 100+ pages, it can be hard to stay on top of all the Salesforce platform can do. At the user group meetings, you will often have someone (maybe even a Salesforce employee) presenting on the most recent release or newest features (or if you’re lucky, a preview of an upcoming release).
Answers – Some what of a combination of the previous two points, but at a user group meeting, you’ll have the chance to ask a live person any questions you may have and (hopefully) get an answer. And sometimes, hearing the questions that other users have can help you to rethink about how your company is using Salesforce.
Free Goodies – And if all those reasons don’t convince you, you can often get some free Salesforce or partner swag at the user group meetings. At the Boston User Group, we even raffle off a Dreamforce pass or two every year.
These were my reasons for attending long before I became a co-leader, and are the reasons that I’m so thrilled to help run a group myself. What do you get out of the User Group meetings that you attend?
#community #usergroups #training #newrelease #learningSalesforce #freegoodies #dreamforce #Salesforcecommunity