Salesforce.com

It’s almost official and the word has gone out: I have stepped down from leading the Vancouver Salesforce.com User Group after founding it two years ago (follow the link above to view my message to the group). We started with 1 member and I am leaving with 191 on the list. While I didn’t go into my reasons for leaving in my letter to our members – I wanted to add a few thoughts here.First, it was a great experience. It amazed me how many people I met from all parts of the U.S and Canada and the opportunities that resulted from leading the group. I learned a ton. I learned about organizing and promoting events, about networking, about building relationships, my knowlegde of CRM vastly increased for obvious reasons and the list goes on.What a trip.For the past several months now I have been realizing that it was time for a change. It was obvious I was loosing steam and wanted to leave on a high note and see the group maintain momentum and continue to grow. I have also realized that in 2009 I am going to need to make some changes in order to pursue a couple of opportunities, one that has been offered to me and another that I will need to build myself. Often, in order to progress we must sacrifice something and the user group is the 1st in a series of things I will be giving up in the coming months.The user groups are a great idea and one of the many things Salesforce.com has done right as a company and I will be taking many lessons from my time working with them on to my own ventures down the road.So that’s that.Stay tuned for what’s next. 2009 promises to be a change filled and exciting year.

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Salesforce.com is hosting their Networking and CRM Essentials event in Vancouver on Friday Dec the 5th which coincidentally is my birthday. I will be speaking at the event on the customer panel, something I’ve had the privilege of being a part of now for the past three years. 

Here’s what to expect (direct from the Salesforce promo email):

• Learn the essentials of cloud computing and CRM from Salesforce’s experts
• Discover how quickly and easily you can get started with Salesforce CRM
• Interact with Salesforce CRM customers via the live customer panel
• See an interactive Salesforce CRM demo led by product experts
• *not from the email: get a free breakfast!

Register for the event here.

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Salesforce.com is becoming so popular that third party books are now being written about it.

I was asked this week to be a technical editor on a new book that will most likely be released in early 2009. I had to turn down the opportunity due to a new project I am working on (tough decision!) but have asked to interview the author on Salesforcetimes.com when the book is closer to being published.

Once I hear back from the publisher on whether the details are confidential or not, I will post an update.

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Or “How to save your company $15,000+ a a year”

Finally. What we’ve all been waiting for: Google and Salesforce.com have united. Continue reading here: Salesforce.com Google Apps integration.

Salesforce.com + Gmail + Google Docs + Google Chat + Google Calendar = your company is going to save big time and big money.

Contact me to learn more. I’ve already begun speaking with my clients about how they can make the switch to Google Apps and reap the rewards. More on this to follow.

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