Bristol DUG Report: January Trailhead Smash!

The Bristol Salesforce Developer User Group had its first meetup of 2016 on Thursday 7th January at the BE offices building in central Bristol. In this meetup, we took part in a "Trailhead Smash". The premise was simple, log into Trailhead, the Salesforce learning platform, and complete as many badges and gather as many points as possible as a group within 2 hours. 

The points started flying in think and fast, with the newest trails proving the most popular (If battle stations were built this quickly in Star Wars, the films would have been over in 5 minutes!!). For some developers, it was the chance to try out something completely new, while for others it was the opportunity to go back and complete some of the existing modules and earn those precious badges.

A few hours, drinks and pizza slices later, our members had managed to rack up a fantastic 8 new badges, scoring over 11,000 points on challenges. A superb effort in such a short amount of time. After a brief wrap up and prize giving for most points achieved, everyone left full of enthusiasm and Trailhead badge fever. I must admit, as soon as I got home, straight away I fired up my laptop and finished the module I had started during the DUG. Hooked!!

I'm a massive fan of Trailhead and really enjoy going through the modules, particularly the practical exercises. However, I had never tried using it in a group context. Throughout the meetup I found it really fascinating to see the different approaches that developers had to completing the challenges. This became especially visible during the advanced formulas module, I saw functions used in ways I never thought possible!

Make sure to check out Trailhead if you haven't already. Also, take a look at my previous blog post for a deeper exploration of some of the more recent badges, particularly focusing on the Apex integration module, one of my favourites, a must for aspiring and expert developers alike.

Finally, while on the subject of User Groups, if you are UK based (or fancy a well worth it trip from elsewhere), then check out the LONDON'S CALLING full day event on 5th February in London. It's a unique Salesforce event, completely organised by the Salesforce community for the Salesforce community. It will be a day full of great content; Erica Kuhl and Peter Coffee are the Keynote speakers at the event, alongside experts from throughout the community ready to share their real life experiences and tips. Not to be missed (unless you booked a stag do in Bulgaria on the same date D'OH!).

If you use twitter, you can follow the event through @LDNsCall

See you at our next meetup, details on the Bristol Salesforce Developers group page

Thanks to everyone who came along, Happy Trailing!!! 

PS. Photography and pizza ordering credit to Simon Lawrence, thanks! :D