London's Calling

One of the main reasons I chose Toronto over Vancouver was because I would be much closer to Europe, and could visit all the time if I wanted... yet seven years have passed, and I was still yet to make the journey... In fact, my favourite uncle lives in London - he's literally my closest geographical relative, so when I first found out about London's Calling, I decided that I was going to attend!

Having never been to London, I obviously wanted to pack as much sight seeing in as possible, and managed to even nab tickets to see Hamilton! It's funny that I've been able to see Hamilton on two separate occasions, both on trips to Salesforce Community events.

Appy and I even went to Buckingham Palace and managed to be in the right place at the right time and saw the Queen leaving! I actually saw her face and her snappy bright orange hat and jacket. This amused me even further when I was chatting with Londoners who said they've never seen her in person!

So despite getting lost on my way from the tube station, I made it to Skills Matter. It was wonderful to see some friends from across the pond, and finally meet some others that have only been twitter buddies! Of course I ran into some friends from North America, and had a great time spending my time with the wonderful Lizz Hellinga.

London's Calling is a really neat conference. To start with, the space is really cool. CodeNode is London's largest space dedicated to technology events, and really add a special feel to the day. All the rooms are "key" themed, with the bar aptly called "SpaceBar".


The content was literally world class, with presenters flying in from all over the world. The day was off to a great start with hugs from friends - old and new, and the opening session from the kick ass organizing team. The time was then right to then head off to my first speaker session of the day, Goodbye Cloud Flow Designer, Hello Flow Builder from Claire Jones, who was a total champ and filled in at the last minute.

Up next was a session I've been excited to catch for a while from Salesforce Sister Lizz Hellinga, Admins are Critical Change Agents. Lizz and I then some some time getting acquainted with the wonderful sponsors who make events like this even possible, before a traditional English pie for lunch. I would call it "tiger style" with mash, mushy peas and gravy, but I'm sure others will correct me. The main thing was, everyone had a pie - I'd heard all sorts of horror stories of PieGate from 2018's event. #PieForAll!




 


Just enough time to do some #LightningChampion booth duty before Callum Gardiner and Danielle Ahmed's session How do YOU Stand Out?, before Lizz and I fell in love with Stacey Torman and her Embracing and Activating Your Personal Brand session. I should have known I would like Stacy's session - she took a photo of my shoes earlier in the day!

Next was my for my final speaker session of the day by way of Louise Lockie and her Learn to Leverage the power of SOQL for Admins session - something I'm hoping to put to use after some time to breathe (and maybe when I haven't been on 4 international trips in a single month...)

And if all of those insightful sessions didn't sound like enough, it was time for the Closing Keynote from Dr. Anastasia Dedyukhina, Mind Hygiene: how to take care of your brain in the age of digital distraction. This was bar far the most eye opening session of the day, and I highly recommend checking out her Ted Talk, and anything else you can find!

So if my ramblings were not enough to let you know, I loved this event! Any one thinking of attending next year, I would highly recommend it, just make sure you book early as the waiting list ended up quite substantial!



Extra special fun - this blog has the same title as the accompanying song!
Soundtrack: London's Calling - The Clash

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