Hub Heroes: July 2015

As we approach the two-year anniversary of the Power of Us Hub community, we are going to start profiling monthly some of the community members that make the Hub such a fun and useful resource.

“Hub Heroes” are nominated by their fellow community members. Want to nominate someone who has helped you in the Hub? Complete this form.

For July, we are proud to highlight the contributions of three of our members. You can find them regularly in the Hub answering questions, hosting Foundation office hours, leading user groups, and sharing best practices. Thank you Christian Carter, Margaret Fako, and Kieren Jameson for all you do for the community!

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Christian Carter
External Relations Manager, Intiman Theatre

Two Truths and One Lie about Christian

1. My 4th of July menu is all grilled seafood (crab legs, lobsters, scallops, mussels, and oysters!).
2. I hate bi-valve mollusks.
3. It took two friends and a car to purchase my grill and get it home.

Why is community important to you? What motivates you to contribute?

The Hub Community has completely changed my ability to use Salesforce. It has taught me so much about the platform, what it can accomplish and how to do it. It’s also helped me develop my own style of teaching and helping, refine my written communication, and become a better admin through sharpening those skills. But it’s not just about me, there’s an altruistic component too I swear! By helping out other admins on the Hub, I can make a difference at many different organizations who are changing the world in many different ways. Talk about impact investing!

+ Follow Christian on the Hub.

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Margaret Fako
Business Architect, Interlochen Center for the Arts

Two Truths and One Lie about Margaret:

1. I built a boat.
2. I have a large collection of high-heels.
3. I have a motorcycle and tattoos.

Why is community important to you? What motivates you to contribute?

I come from a family of professional musicians and am a former musician myself. A musical ensemble is its own kind of community. In an ensemble, you are there to work together, lean on each other, learn from each other, and (hopefully) attain something amazing as a result of working together. As a young musician, this was my first experience of being part of a community.

In my second career, I have found that working alone is slower, less efficient, and gives you the opportunity to give up and lose motivation. We are surrounded by a community of Salesforce users who we can lean on and learn from. The collective wisdom is unbelievable and should be taken advantage of. The Salesforce community at our fingertips gives us the opportunity to seek advice and support, share our experiences with others who care, and be accountable to others to keep improving and innovating.

I have found myself to be somewhat shy in the Salesforce community – no doubt overwhelmed at the number of smart & accomplished people all contributing for the greater good. It takes time to find your place and voice. I contribute because I want to give back and help the community to continue to be a place where everyone can ask their questions, find answers to their problems, participate in inspiring conversation, and overall feel like they are a part of something bigger.

+ Follow Margaret on the Hub.

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Kieren Jameson
Digital Solutions Manager, ETR

Two Truths and One Lie about Kieren:

1.  I’m a world champion ballroom dancer.
2. I never forget a name but (don’t hate me) I have trouble with faces.
3. I love to paint and have turned my branch office into a gallery.

Why is community important to you? What motivates you to contribute?

I can’t tell you how much community means to me. As a solo admin (and one of the few tech workers in my agency) until I found the Salesforce community I was very isolated. It’s so important to me that it was one of the first things I blogged about (The importance of Community and Why You Deserve to Find It!).

To me, community is the thing that feeds my tech soul. It makes me feel useful beyond my four office walls. I feel like I have an invisible cheering squad standing behind me every day. I can’t tell you how wonderful it felt when I meet someone In Real Life (IRL) that I’ve only talked with online. It is like meeting an old friend, because, well, they are.

I have to say, that although I’ve been a tech worker for over 20 years, there is really nothing like the Salesforce community out there. It is truly the most welcoming, collaborative, empowering community I’ve ever been a part of.

So why do I contribute? Because I want to give back the community support that I’ve experienced. I want to help people connect with others who can make their work easier and more fun. Let’s face it, our community is a blast! I especially love the Girlforce and Girly Geek communities. Those are some wonderful and welcoming women. The Salesforce twitter community is also amazing. I remember when I first was working on Trailhead, and I posted that I’d completed a unit or got a badge, the response was amazing. I swear that there were people hovering over twitter just to give encouragement. It felt so good to have a personal connection with people who work for and with Salesforce. I just want to pass that feeling on to others.

Beyond all the touchy-feeling goodness that I get from the community, I also get some real, practical collaborations from our community. I’ve connected with other women who are interested in teaching women to code. I’m doing a panel and two presentations at Dreamforce with people that I “met” through the community (some of whom I haven’t met IRL).

I guess my parting words will be that there are some amazing men and women (and folks in between) in our community that go the extra mile to help others. I’m happy to be one of them.

+ Follow Kieren on the Hub