{"id":20435,"date":"2020-06-18T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=20435"},"modified":"2020-10-19T13:59:05","modified_gmt":"2020-10-19T20:59:05","slug":"sarah-franklin-on-delivering-a-virtual-event-with-community-and-collaboration-at-its-core","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/sarah-franklin-on-delivering-a-virtual-event-with-community-and-collaboration-at-its-core\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Franklin on Delivering a Virtual Event with Community and Collaboration at its Core"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Overnight, companies have had to reimagine and pivot their businesses in response to COVID-19. A full 51% of people<\/a> have shifted to work-from-home since the pandemic began, and organizations that once focused primarily on brick-and-mortar are now having to rethink that approach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As EVP & GM of Platform<\/a>, Trailhead<\/a>, and AppExchange<\/a> at Salesforce, Sarah Franklin is focused on supporting developers as they go through this pivot, evolving their businesses to an all-digital, work from anywhere model \u2014 and doing it fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic turned digital transformations into digital imperatives (69% of people<\/a> say it will permanently change the nature of work), condensing multi-year processes into sprints where developers bear the brunt of the load and need to make these transformations happen overnight. \u201cCompanies need to build solutions in days, not months, without sacrificing security, scalability, or quality,\u201d says Sarah. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TrailheaDX<\/a>, Salesforce\u2019s major developer conference, is traditionally one of the venues where the developer community comes together to find and develop solutions to new challenges. With COVID-19 however, TrailheaDX and all the other in-person events that foster this sense of connection and support are obviously out of the question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response, Sarah and her team have built a fully virtual TrailheaDX to deliver on the key elements to help everyone learn, connect, give back, and have fun together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. What is TrailheaDX?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

TrailheaDX is Salesforce\u2019s annual developer conference for anyone looking to grow their Salesforce skillset and innovate with the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform. In the past it has been a multi-day event that we\u2019ve run in San Francisco. COVID-19 means that for our fifth installment, we\u2019ll be completely re-imagining the event as a virtual experience on June 25th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll still have a fantastic keynote where we\u2019ll hear from customers and Trailblazers who are rapidly building solutions for their businesses in our new normal; we\u2019ll have customized role-based channels for developers, admins and architects; and live Q&A sessions with Salesforce execs like Parker Harris and Bret Taylor, as well as product managers and engineers..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we know TrailheaDX doesn’t exist in a vacuum. This event will take place during a period in which racial injustices are at the top of the agenda for everyone. We’ll be hosting a fireside chat with a luminary to address this issue directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. What are the opportunities as TrailheaDX goes virtual?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The most exciting opportunity to me is the removal of barriers to entry for our community. TrailheaDX is for the first time open to everyone, across the world, for free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re watching in Morocco, you’re going to have the same experience as someone in San Francisco. That’s never happened before, and that’s really exciting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, everybody in the world can have access to the developers who build Salesforce products. People can tap into all of this expertise from anywhere, and that’s a key thing for me: bringing the whole community together globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So in addition to the insights you\u2019ll get from our speakers, attendees can participate in more than 40 sessions geared towards their areas of focus – whether they are a developer, architect, entrepreneur, or admin – as they plan for the present and future of their organizations. What\u2019s more, they can connect with Salesforce experts, network with their peers, and skill-up – just as they always have at past TrailheaDX events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q. As a virtual event, how are you working to maintain the sense of community that has always set TrailheaDX apart?<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m fortunate that I get to spend so much time listening to and learning from our Trailblazer Community. And it\u2019s really clear to me how much that community needs each other right now. And for me personally, I am committed to listening, learning, and being an active ally and taking action that drives impactful change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TrailheaDX is always a key gathering point for our community, and a huge focus this year has been to ensure that sense of community is maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re making sure that every one of our main sessions will have live chat capabilities throughout, with our product managers and subject matter experts actively engaging with the people tuning in. I am hoping we can listen and learn from each other, and bring in perspectives from thought leaders to enlighten us. <\/p>\n\n\n

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