Cloudy at #DF16: User Group Leader Summit

At Dreamforce 2016, Cloudy was excited to have the opportunity to attend the 2^nd Annual Salesforce User Group Leader Summit. Early on the first day of the conference, more than 200 User Group leaders from around the world gathered to hear the latest news for Salesforce User Groups, and to gear up for another year of learning and community with our local groups. Here is what Cloudy learned:

As of this posting, there are 382 Salesforce User Groups worldwide, with more than 650 User Group Leaders heading them up. The worldwide User Group Community is comprised of more than 96,000 members, an amazing number reflecting the 23% growth in user group membership in the past year alone! There are 8 new groups registered every month, along with 24 new leaders. Considering the User Group community has only been “Salesforce official” since 2005, these numbers are amazing!

User Group Leaders are a passionate and energetic bunch. We were privileged to hear a presentation from leader Cal Smith, who for several years has participated in “Dallas GiveCamp.” Dallas GiveCamp is an annual event where developers & designers donate time to create custom applications for nonprofits. Having learned from that experience, the Dallas Salesforce Developer User Group is now spinning up a salesforce-focused give-back event called Dallas GiveForce. Cloudy is eager to see what they are able to do with the hundreds of donated developer hours they are expecting to have on hand at their first event!

As befits all this energy and growth, Salesforce is devoting lots of new resources to support the vibrant and fast-growing User Group Community! User Group attendees will notice a new event management platform, and will benefit in other ways as additional teaching resources and support are made available to User Group leaders.

Cloudy has previously written about the Top Ten Reasons you should check out your local user group. No need to repeat the list here; suffice it to say that Cloudy believes that the collaboration and community of Salesforce User Groups, along with the online Success Community, are what sets Salesforce apart from other platforms.

That – and the swag!