When I sat down to write this post, it became increasingly apparent that what made the Salesforce World Tour in London so special was far more than just the event, it was the people and the sense that we are all Trailblazers.
I could easily sit here and write about the great venue, the event planning or the showmanship displayed by Salesforce that made the event such a success but this is only part of the story. What really made an impression was the talent, knowledge and passion displayed by the attendees. It is these people that made the event so impressive and it is this sense of community that I am shamelessly proud to be a part of.
If you don’t want to read about it you can watch the video instead!
08:30
My day started early, and I made my way to the ExCel to attend “A Morning With The Lightning Champions”. We were each assigned a table and spent an hour discussing migration, fun features and business challenges that can be solved with Lightning. As Champions, our aim is to advocate, share best practices, and hopefully inspire and support you on your journey to Lightning. Here we are making our introductions:
Many thanks to Tomasz Lipski for recording the video and giving me permission to share it.
I’m in awe of the passion and knowledge demonstrated by everyone involved and their continued commitment to helping others. This program is all done on a volunteer basis and most of the Champions were also manning booths, helping during hands-on sessions and speaking!
If you have questions about Lightning or about becoming a Champion, you can get in touch with us anytime.
10:00
After breakfast it was time for the keynote and I was lucky to grab great seats with Chris Harris and Barrie Robertson.
I could mention the energetic performance by singer Fleur East, EVP and GM of Salesforce UK, Paul Smith, discussing their 
culture of “engaging all stakeholders” through four core values or the customer success stories from Pink and Barclays.
But what I really want to focus on is the important work being done by Heather Black and the Salesforce Supermum’s programme, for which Heather was awarded the coveted golden hoodie.
As a mentor for Salesforce Supermum’s, I can wholeheartedly say I think this is exactly the sort of thing we need to see more of. This programme helps mums (and dads!) become Salesforce Admins through a mix of webinars, Trailhead and a hands-on project, giving them the perfect balance of experience to secure a job. It’s all done remotely, during child friendly hours and avoids school holidays, making it completely accessible. Get involved here.
12:00 
If you read my blog post “Top 5 Tips for Salesforce Admins at Salesforce World Tours” you might have noticed I wanted to meet Salesforce Ben…and I did!
Ben doesn’t need an introduction; his website, Salesforce Ben, is the go-to Salesforce blog and one of the best community driven learning resources. Ben and co., are constantly providing fantastic content that benefits the entire community; I’m a firm fan and I bet you are too.
12:30
Salesforce World Tour is an incredible learning opportunity; with so many amazing sessions it was hard to choose which ones to go to! Post lunch I made my way over to the Admin Theatre to see some of my favourite community speakers and, as usual, they did not disappoint. Chris Emmett, Julia Doctoroff and Gemma Emmett all smashed their sessions with huge crowds in attendance.
Amanda Beard-Neilson and Claire Jones gave the most wonderful talk on the Salesforce Community and remained smiling throughout, despite the clicker refusing to play ball (it was a long day….much clicking was done).
14:00
At 14:00 you would have found me hiding under the stairs as I took a moment to prepare for my session in the Admin Theatre at 14:30. It was my first time speaking at World Tour and I was so excited to present “Top 5 Tips For Solo Admins”! Having been a solo Admin since 2014, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way that I wish I’d known sooner.
The key takeaway from my session was that solo Admins need to be proactive about getting involved in the wider community. It can be easy to feel isolated or overwhelmed but there’s a huge community of lovely people who want to help you. Be brave, reach out, and let the Ohana support you.
The feedback from my session has been overwhelming and I’m incredibly grateful for everyone’s support.
16:30 
Only in the Salesforce community could you put a shout out on Twitter in advance of an event, asking that a partner bring you some specific swag…I tweeted Resco and asked them to bring along my favourite lip-balm and they did!
While at the Resco stand, I caught up with Dale Kirkwood, a Trailblazer in his own right. Dale takes part in developing custom mobile apps for charities that support and educate women in Africa.
18:00
After the most incredible day we (trail)blazed our way over to the Validity after-party where we enjoyed pizza, beer and a magician! With all our volunteering and speaking commitments out of the way, we could finally let our hair down and fit in some Ohana time (typically involves food, drinks, selfies and many, many hugs).
We met Simon des Forges, a graduate of the Salesforce Supermum’s program, who initially just wanted to say hi and run but was commandeered and initiated into the Ohana! Simon is a testament to the success of the Supermum’s program and a fantastic addition to our community. You can check out his thoughts on the World Tour here.
Post World Tour
The parties continued into the early hours of the morning and come Friday, we all made our way wearily back to our respective homes. I’m now back in Bristol, solo-admin-ing (totally a word) and planning my next Salesforce adventure…
Photo and video credits:
@tomaszlipski
@SalesforceBen
@L_Botwright
@chrisEmmett
@B3llyg0d
@zra78
Callum Gardiner
The Everyday Admin 