Starting a community was a plan I have had in my head for a while now but never acted on – with what was going on in the world: a pandemic, a war, and an economic crisis. The list never ends with reasons to delay, so I stopped waiting and plowed ahead!
And at the end of August, I got the mail titled “Welcome to the Trailblazer Community Group Program!” I got accepted! But … oh damn … now I have to push on!
What's in a name
So let’s get one confusing part out the way. The group is called “Salesforce Developer Group, Hasselt, Belgium,” but the only reason for that is the rules of engagement with the Trailblazer Community Groups.
The actual name for the group is: “Benelux Salesforce Commerce Cloud Community.” Ok, that name might not be “the best” either, but it describes the group’s goal a lot better!
Community Group Leaders
Setting up and running a community is not easy, and that is why I will not be doing this alone! To ensure the group will continue to thrive, not depending on one person to keep it alive, I will do this together with two others!
A big thanks to them for making this community happen!
Wouter de Boer
Wouter is the lead Architect at Wolfpack Agency, designing solutions for Salesforce B2C/B2B Commerce Cloud, Service Cloud, and Marketing Cloud.
With 7+ years of knowledge of the Commerce Cloud (Demandware), he started as a developer, giving him a deep technical understanding of the platforms he works with today.
Kiran George
Salesforce technical/solution consultant with a deep affinity towards Ecommerce and the Salesforce platform’s omnichannel possibilities. Working with SFCC/Demandware since 2011. Still fond of working with pipelines. Currently living in Amstelveen, NL . Co-Founder of CommerceForz.
Thomas Theunen
Thomas started in 2011 as an Intershop Commerce developer and, after seeing the light six years later, switched to Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud.
Spreading his wings, Thomas learned about multiple products of Salesforce over the past few years to implement multi-cloud projects (Commerce, Service, and Marketing.) Leading a team of 60, Thomas is currently the Head of Commerce at Forward.
Since 2021 Thomas is also a Salesforce Instructor for the ARC300 (B2C Commerce Architect) course and, since 2022, the recipient of the first Belgian and Commerce Cloud Golden Hoodie.
Besides keeping himself busy with Salesforce during working hours, he owns a Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud Blog: https://www.rhino-inquisitor.com/, where you can find the latest news about the platform!
The goal
The main goal of this community group is to gather all Salesforce Commerce Cloud enthusiasts in the Benelux:
- Developers
- Merchandisers
- Project Managers
- Business Analysts
- Job-hunters
And what about products? Anything within the Salesforce Commerce Cloud range of products:
- B2C Commerce Cloud
- B2B Commerce Cloud
- B2B2C Commerce Cloud
- OMS
- OCI
- Commerce Marketplaces (Atonit)
What about people outside of the Benelux?
As the language of choice will be English, global attendees are more than welcome to join the Hybrid and Virtual meetings!
When is the first meeting?
Very soon! The first session is scheduled for the 6th of October!
What will be the topics?
The topics will range from technical workshops to networking events. Some ideas that I have for topics are:
- How to get started with B2C Commerce Cloud?
- How to get started with B2B Commerce Cloud?
- B2C vs B2B vs B2B2C
- The future of Salesforce Commerce Cloud
- OMS and Commerce Cloud, how does it work?
- How does Composable and Headless fit into the Salesforce ecosystem
- How to get certified
- ….
Have ideas in mind of your own? Then join the 6th of October session or leave a comment!
Looking for speakers!
Have something to share with everyone; no matter where you are, I want to make it happen! So please send me a mail at [email protected] or contact me on LinkedIn.
