Trailhead - the best learning tool for Salesforce out there!

I am a huge fan of Trailhead. I have no doubt in saying it is indeed the "best" learning tool for Salesforce. Till Trailhead came there was only Partner training videos (which is only for Salesforce Partners), lots of docs and videos out there. Now there is Trailhead - one stop for everything. Other channels which I mentioned are still there, as Trailhead is in beta. The way it is structured - the contents, the challenges, the points and badges - is just perfect. For checking the challenges, one or more Developer Edition can be connected. Trailhead connects to this DE to validate if you have completed the challenge.

I have been tweeting about how good it is for experienced for brushing up and for freshers. We at Extentor, have in house training program for the freshers. Now, Trailhead is integral part of that. It makes the training so much easier and measurable. It covers from basics of Force.com to Apex and Visualforce basics to testing, including Chatter and Change Management.

Now, there are 16 modules. There are more awesome ones coming... soon, very soon. Check them out:

My favourite out of 16 are......................... all 16! But if I have to choose one, then it would be Process Automation.

 It has 5 steps:

1. Choosing the Right Automation Tool - Explains the various automation tools in Salesforce. There is a beautiful chart/table which breaks down of all the features and actions that are supported. It is super helpful in identifying right tool for specific use case.
2. Automating Processes with the Lightning Process Builder - This module enabled me to go for Lightning hands on. I took this much seriously than other modules. Boy, its a great tool, truly has lightning power. Point to note that this was released exactly couple of weeks before the famous #lightningdevweek.This module has the step by step instructions for creating automated process, in the awesome Lightning Process Builder. Here the challenge at the end of module is hands on, which is the best part of Trailhead. This challenge showed me that it takes less than 5 minutes to do task which used to take 30 minutes - 1 hour, writing triggers, test classes. Future is fast and bright!
3. Creating Wizards with Visual Workflow - I loved this module for the simple reason that it connected me back to Visual Workflow. I used it when it was released and for some weeks when it was hot. But had lost touch since I wasn't using this tool. The write up is awesome with steps to enable us to work with Flows. There screenshots which makes it much easier to understand and navigate. It has great hands on challenge, for which I had to take help from the Discussion Forum to resolve.
4. Automating Time-based Actions with Workflow - Again the instructions, the way of explanation is very good, again with screenshots, bullet points and videos. Then there is the challenge which was easy since I use workflows regularly.
5. Routing Records with Approvals - Similar to workflows, I regularly use approvals. But the module helped me to brush up my knowledge and make it stronger.

All the modules had an example use case, step by step instruction on creating it with each tool. Along with that each module also has "Tell Me More..." section in the end which provides additional information of each module. Also it has the "Resources" section with links to various articles, PDFs, in case if you are interested in learning deeper.

I am very much excited about the new modules and aim to contribute to topics to the Trailhead team. A big kudos to the entire team for providing Trailhead for us. You guys are awesome :)

Lightning Developer Week - Bangalore Salesforce Developer Meetup

#lightningdevweek

#golightningfast

#SalesforceDGBangalore

My goodness, what an amazing energetic week it was! This was as part of Salesforce's initiative to meet the power of Salesforce1 Lightning. Lots of buzz was created around this prior to the Lightning Week – week of March 9. This helped to spread the news in lightning speed! From the beginning I was keeping an eye open for number of RSVPs across all participating Meetup Groups. We, Bangalore Salesforce Developer Group, were always ahead. Finally we were the highest, with 500+ people registering (I am sure its a world record, in Salesforce world).

After lots of preparation and planning (which I have noted in the bottom of this post), the day (14/03/2015) arrived. We were given 200 (yes 200!) t-shirts from Salesforce. Thanks a ton to April, our pillar for all the meetups. I bet that was one of the key booster for the record number of RSVPs. Thanks to Tavant for the making the venue look awesome. We expected 50% attendance, as per our experience. To our pleasant surprise there were 300+ amazing rockstars attended :) As a surprise gift in return, along with Salesforce's Lightning t-shirt, attendees were given a kit which included 8GB pendrive by Tavant. It was definitely one of the key highlights. The remaining folks' email IDs and details were taken so that we can send the t-shirts when we get it.

First, I presented the welcome and introduction, which included about our meetup group, about agenda. Yes, I made sure that I announce about the highest number of participation and RSVPs. After that Tavant's Dipankar presented a brief about Tavant. Then I finally introduced and handed over to the presenters - Pratik and Kiran - Developer Advocate Engineer, India Developer Relations, Salesforce.com. They did a fantastic job in ensuring that each of the attendees followed the topics covered. Hats-off to both of you.

The covered topics were:

1. Lightning Overview
2. Lightning Connect - Hands on
3. Lightning Process Builder - Hands on
4. Lightning Components - Overview/demo
5. Lightning App Builder - Overview/demo

Feel free to click on the links above, which takes you to the tutorials. 

We agreed to keep the hands-on for Components and App Builder for our next meetup (April). Feel free to join our meetup group for exciting announcements.

Overall I am very happy and satisfied with results of the meetup. There were brilliant questions asked by the folks in between the presentation and during the hands-on. Bangalore crowd is always interactive and friendly. The folks grouped themselves to do the hands-on, since some of them did not have internet connection, which ensured the network/socialization was better. Great to know from the attendees that they enjoyed, as well as learned. Most attendees were able to do hands-on by themselves. It was great to see some rockstars finish the hands-on early and were able to help other folks. Kudos to you guys! In the end many of the attendees reached out to us with various questions regarding lightning, meetup agendas, sponsoring venues, etc. instead of attacking pizzas. Felt really good.

Some highlights according to me, presenters and attendees about this meetup:

• No. of RSVPs - 500+, No. of attendees - 300+
• Registration app for spot registration.
• Naming the event as 'Namma' (which means 'ours' in Kannada, local language Karnataka state)
• Hands-on is always interesting and is magnet for any tech event.
• The goodies - T-shirts, hoodies, pen drives.
• The Cloud Trivia - as always the most awaiting. The response was electric. I conducted it and asked more people to help me in identifying the first one amongst 50 (at least) hands raising at once soon after the question was asked.
• I had asked to vote for pizzas - Dominos or Pizza Hut. Majority had voted for Pizza Hut. We listened! [Salesforce Idea Exchange style :) ]. We brought more Pizza Hut pizzas and lesser number of Dominos pizza.

If you are organizing any meetup (especially if there are many attendees) following are some considerations:

• The basics: Ensure the venue has good internet connection (if not ask the attendees to arrange for internet), projectors, audio (microphones and speakers) are all working fine. Best if there are enough plug points for charging.
• Joining/registering for meetup:
• Registering (clicking on RSVP) for meetup is very easy. Folks tend to click on this and forget to update if they are not able to make it on the day.
• One of the feedback (thanks Sumeet Kawali), as well as from my experience, it is best that you create a registration app or a Google Form to capture more information. Most meetup groups(other than Salesforce) are using Google Form.
• Watch-out my blog - I am working on a small Salesforce app for this.
• Cloud Trivia: Prepare these questions in advance. Modify it according to the topics presented (there can be changes in plan). Have more than one person to identify the first person to raise the hand.
• Distribution of goodies/welcome kit: Always have volunteers do this. Don't allow attendees to pick for themselves. This is best done along with the registration.
• Snacks break: Again, best if the caterers or volunteers do this. If you let attendees help themselves, if the plan was for specific number of bottles/pieces then some last comers would miss. Encourage new people to socialize; request known faces to pull some shy members and talk to them.

We have noted some of the areas where, as organizers could have done better job, especially considering no. of people. We wont (& don't) repeat our mistakes!

I would be very glad if you can share your thoughts in the comments section.

See you in next meetup :)

Note: Photos coming soon..