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So You Want to Present at a Sitecore User Group

Sitecore User Group presentation

A Sitecore User Group is a great way to introduce yourself to the Sitecore community, network with your fellow Sitecorians, and share knowledge that could help other members of the community. User groups can also be an excellent gateway into presenting on Sitecore specific topics. Local user groups are where any number of people hone their SUGCON and Sitecore Symposium skills, and they help individuals gain valuable experience in public speaking that is cross-applicable to a lot of professional arenas.

Public speaking is always nerve-wracking, but there are a few tips that I’ve discovered that I believe are almost universally applicable.

Topics don’t have to be game-changers to be valuable

Everyone wants to write the code snippet that fixes the Sitecore problems of the world, but your topic doesn’t have to be astonishing to be useful. When I ask why someone doesn’t present at a Sitecore user group, almost the first thing I hear is “I don’t have anything interesting to say.” I guarantee that isn’t true. As professionals we spend so much time immersed in our work that we forget that not everyone does the same things we do. In fact, hardly anyone does.

Tip: write down the top five things you do in Sitecore every single day and take a few minutes to search for documentation or blog posts on those topics. See what’s out there. The results might surprise you.

It’s good to be nervous

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten was this: if you’re not nervous, it doesn’t matter enough. There are a lot of tips and tricks on how not to be nervous before speaking publicly, but I think your nerves are a positive. And honestly, they’re not going anywhere. That’s a good thing; it means that you care about the subject and the community.

Tip:  Practice. Practice in front of your mirror, your pets, out loud in your house, and then ask a few of your coworkers to listen to your presentation during the lunch break and give you feedback. 9 times out of 10 they’ll have solid comments and ask the kinds of questions that you’ll get in a Q&A. There’s no such thing as wasted time when you’re practicing.

There’s never a perfect time to get started

If you’re waiting for the planets to align and usher in the perfect moment before you volunteer…well, there’s no such thing. There are times that are better than others (I would not, for example, suggest signing up to present for a Sitecore user group that’s scheduled for the day after a major project deadline), but the perfect time is never going to come along. Putting off presenting until the perfect time means that you’re unlikely to ever get started.

Tip: Find a local Sitecore user group and get your name on the calendar. There’s nothing like a commitment to get the ball rolling.

Having fun is a top priority


Finding a topic that you love is key. If you are passionate about what you’re presenting, that passion shines through. Enthusiasm is the Chemical X that transforms a presentation because it brings with it a level of engagement that can’t be generated any other way.

Tip: Take a look at that list you made. Consider which one you’d most like to discuss at a round table, or over tapas after a convention. That’s the topic you want.  

There are any number of reasons to present at a Sitecore user group, both personal and professional. The first step is the hardest. But after taking the leap, you’ll be surprised by how much fun it is, and how ready you are to do it again!

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Our Sitecore Call to Action: Empowering Women in Tech

Anyone who attended the Sitecore Symposium this year may have noticed another focus grabbing people’s attention above and beyond the innovative new ways that Sitecore is pushing its platform.  Often you will see a lot of different groups at the Symposium: Partners, Sitecore Employees, Clients, MVPs, Strategists, Technologists, Marketers, etc.  But this year one group stood out and made their voices heard: Women, and I feel honored to have been a part of that awakening.

The Sitecore world is a microcosm of the larger Technology world and has similar statistics around women technologists: not enough (somewhere around 10-15%).  Those of us who have been in technology for many years are aware of that and many of us have been complacent about it.  I know I was.  I was too busy to think about it and I didn’t see it as an issue.  My company recognized me and we have women in leadership and engineering roles.  We are compensated well and given opportunities for advancement.  I dismissed it without much thought.

In the last few years, as I joined the ranks of the Sitecore MVPs (Sitecore’s selective Most Valuable Professional program), I had been proud to be one of perhaps half a dozen women MVPs and an even smaller subset of women Technologist MVPs.  With each year there were a few more.  But the percentage to the whole remained woefully low, and now that I think about it, instead of being proud, it should have been a wakeup call to do more.

When we attended the MVP summit each year, the women would break the ice with each other joking about how we could use the bathroom without worrying about a wait.  Deep down, we were feeling a little intimidated and likely lonely.  Meanwhile, in the larger technology world, organizations and movements like Women in Tech, Girls Who Code, and Move the Dial have been raising awareness.  And as our MVP group got bigger, the idea of doing something to explicitly make it bigger started to take hold.

To be a Sitecore MVP means that you are a self-motivator, with a good balance of ambition, intelligence, and support.  Every single person who has achieved it likely has similar personality traits, regardless of the role they hold.  This means that it was inevitable that a mental shift was coming for the women involved with Sitecore.

It started out this year with Isabel Tinoco (fellow Sitecore MVP at Coveo) creating blog posts highlighting women MVPs. This was the first spark that got the group talking to each other.  Then as Sitecore put out their call for Symposium presentations, the flame of an idea was lit: bring together the women MVPs onto a panel presentation at the 2018 Sitecore Symposium and discuss empowering women in Sitecore, with the hope that our stories could help other women who had a love for Sitecore and Technology.

In the early summer, Amy Winburn started the Women of Sitecore group: an inclusive group for ANY woman interested in Sitecore (independent from the Symposium panel, although several women are involved in both and form much of the leadership team). A Slack group formed, a twitter feed was opened, #womenofsitecore, a  website created: http://www.womenofsitecore.com to host all kinds of helpful content, and Dua’a Abu Gharbieh created the most amazing Women of Sitecore logo.

Shortly thereafter, Sitecore (as an organization) also started pushing to support the idea of more women in tech, including the July kickoff and recognition of their internal Women of Sitecore program during their GSKO.  For Symposium, Sitecore organized a 2 hour plated luncheon with an inspiring guest speaker, Jodi Kovitz, CEO of Move the Dial, a non-profit organization dedicated to getting more women involved in technology.

Then the news came through that our MVP Panel session was selected.  Now we had to come up with how to fit the stories and life lessons from 18 women into a 45 minute segment.  We brainstormed and finalized 6 areas to be covered by 3 women each:

  1. Why having a community matters
  2. Why organizations benefit from enabling more women in roles of technology and leadership
  3. What are the barriers that women in tech feel that we as a community can help overcome
  4. In what ways may an organization be inadvertently creating a gender gap
  5. How women can balance a personal life with the demands from a career in technology
  6. How we can inspire and develop the newest generation of women looking to grow their careers in technology

It was an eye-opening experience planning for these topics, talking to the other women, and reading up on it all.  There are some companies that are better than others at inclusion, but ALL can improve in various areas of awareness.  Some women have personal situations that are better off to support them and others need help.  There is a lack of education in younger girls about what a career in technology even means, the opportunities that await within it, and that they can get into it and still be into the outdoors and fashion and daylight 🙂  As a company, it is in its best interest to have more women in the tech and leadership ranks.  There are proven success metrics to back that up.  And that company may be inadvertently sabotaging their ability to do just that!  Most importantly, I realized it isn’t just about whether I have been able to succeed, but that I have a responsibility to pay it forward, be there for others, and raise awareness.

Meanwhile, the snowball continued to get bigger and bigger.  Mark Stiles generously reached out to me and asked how he could help. He volunteered his excellent videographer skills and offered to film a few of us in a round table discussion while we were all gathered in Orlando.  Swag from tshirts, to buttons, to stickers were quickly thought up and executed upon in short order, women donating their own money towards the cause.  Sitecore started reaching out to find several women in the community for short video spots that would air at the start of the luncheon.

It all finally culminated in a whirlwind 4 days (5 days for MVPs staying later for the summit) at the Symposium in October.  Every women who attended spoke to what a difference it felt like this year compared to others.  Sure, we all thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Sitecore’s strategy, vision and the underlying tech, partaking in various festivities, and the good-natured competitive environment that is common for Sitecore partners while at such an event.  But there was something really special about this year, it meant more.  It’s hard to put into words.   Whether it was while practicing in the speaker room a few times with our 18 co-presenters, or sitting down to a cup of coffee at the breakfast tables reserved for us, or just sharing a quick moment as we passed another woman wearing a pin or tshirt, there was a shared comradery that crossed the artificial lines of role, status, and company.  We knew we had each other’s backs if we needed it.

Now we are back to our respective homes and caught up in our typical day to day routines.  This is where the hard part comes in, this is where we have to keep it up and keep being there for each other and the people who have not yet discovered this community.  This is where we continue to DO SOMETHING and turn the words into actions.  We push for changes at our companies, we visit the local schools and educate about how cool our field is before the girls get to college and have a major in mind, we reach out for mentors and offer up our own mentorship, we write blog posts, we support each other.  It’s an exciting time to be a woman in technology and I can’t wait to see what this group of amazing women does next!

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Moving The Dial at Sitecore Symposium

Group photo Sitecore MVP panel

Welcome to our Women of Sitecore live chat. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

JaxBaxter [Jacqueline Baxter, Digital Strategist]: Welcome to the first ever Women of Sitecore live chat! In honor of this momentous occasion, we’ll be discussing Sitecore Symposium 2018, which took place in Orlando, Florida in October. Easy question to get the ball rolling – how did this year’s Symposium compare to other years?

Sandy Foley [Sandy Foley, Technical Lead]: This Symposium was the best yet for me (5 attendances under my belt); not necessarily because of the session content but because of the camaraderie and bonding with the Women of Sitecore. What a nice change! At tech conferences, in general, I tend to be a loner.  This is perhaps due to being a minority and thinking I don’t have a lot in common with the male-dominant attendees.

Kelly [Kelly Brennan, Solution Architect]: I agree with Sandy, WoS made things so much easier for me in regards to socializing and feeling more comfortable.

Hetal Dave [Hetal Dave, Technical Lead]: I came back feeling empowered and inspired!

Kelly: Last year I was so angry with the lack of women on stage!

JaxBaxter: That was a glaring miss last year for sure. I was glad to see Sitecore making a concentrated effort to close the gender gap

Francine Anthony (Sitecore) [Francine Anthony, Head of Global Partner Marketing]: This was my first Symposium and thus I’m already spoiled. I’ve been with Sitecore almost 6 months and boy, what a fantastic welcome to Sitecore and the WoS

Amy [Amy Winburn, Sitecore Architect] Also the best one for me – I haven’t been in a few years and it’s really stepped up since the first Symposium/Dreamcore days. Also loved getting to meet people I’ve only spoken with online and make some new friends.

Deepthi [Deepthi Katta, Technical Lead]: This was my first ever Symposium. And I bet based on other’s feelings, I should say this is the beginning of many more awesome symposiums to come.  I enjoyed every bit of it in awe and meeting all the women for rehearsing for the panel was the best experience. It was filled with fun and laughs.

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): And to Kelly’s point, I had heard about last year’s Symposium

Amy: There were no women on any stages at the prior Symposiums I’ve attended.

Sandy Foley: Remember how you and I met in 2017, Kelly? My icebreaker with Kelly was that I was trying to be the ‘first woman MVP’ to finish the SC9 test but she finished it first!  It’s hard to find moments like this sometimes.

Kelly: Haha and when we finished the test we got a t-shirt. And I asked if they had women’s ones

JaxBaxter: “Unisex means men’s” was the tweet of the conference for me!

Kelly: I don’t have the body shape for unisex t-shirts

Deepthi: On that note, I loved wearing the special T-shirt for our panel discussion. We got so many compliments for that shirt including Paige

Amy: Very limited-edition shirt as it turns out!

Kelly: But I also loved getting to know new people this year. And meeting people in person finally. I loved hearing people’s stories on stage at the move the dial panel has well. I wish it was longer and we had more time to talk!

Amy: Yeah, I felt the same way about the MVP panel – there was a lot to be said and not enough time, but that’s why we have these spaces now.

JaxBaxter: Exactly. In that same vein, there was definitely a level of camaraderie and ease this year that I attribute almost entirely to the Women of Sitecore group. And that makes sense, since this was the first official year of Women of Sitecore; is there a memory associated with it that really stands out in your mind?

Sandy Foley: Getting to meet everyone in the Speakers Lounge and practicing.  I truly listened during that moment and welled up with tears a few times.

Amy: I mean, I’ve just been thrilled at everyone getting involved. I saw someone walking around with one of our pins and I had no idea who they were…it just made my day.

Deepthi: Yes, and the morning breakfasts were fun too, although woke up late and could not join them all

Amy: I was really glad we could get that organized and going! Next year I hope we can take up a ton more tables

Kelly: Mine was the Champagne toast we had on Wednesday before the party. I wish we could have all made it! (Next year?)

Sandy Foley: We definitely need to plan a few small gatherings next year.

Amy: Ooh, Kelly – that too. I have a lot of great memories, and it’s entirely due to this group

Deepthi: Yes, I would have loved to join. It is just hard to get out of the room once in PJs

Kelly: Oh! and the women I met who told me how much they enjoyed our panel and how they felt encouraged and inspired

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): The positive vibes of pulling together the Women in Digital panel is something that still stands out for me

Sandy Foley: Oh yes!  It was shocking to me to be at a conference and see the room filled with a majority of women.  Definitely different energy.

Amy: It was great. I was so excited to see representation and discussion around it!

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): WoS energy was palpable! I met so many new friends. So many hugs, warmth, and inspiration.

Hetal Dave: For me it was just cool hanging with all the awesome ladies! This was my fifth Symposium and the BEST one so far!

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Ditto Hetal!

Deepthi: Move the Dial was also a great event to bring of us together

Amy: (also, this glass water bottle is my most used swag ever)

Deepthi: I have that bottle next to me now, it helps me drink more water everyday

Hetal Dave: I broke my water bottle at the airport. A kid rrraaaannnnn into me.

Amy: oh noo

Hetal Dave: But he was soooooo cute…I did not get mad! I was like…eh…it’s okay!

Deepthi: That is sad, I had left mine under the lunch table and I think Una gave one to me after the panel

Amy: I packed mine carefully…though I regretted not keeping the box to help just in case

JaxBaxter: Every year I think “this time my suitcase will be lighter coming home from Symposium” and every year there’s so much cool swag that it never happens.

Hetal Dave: I know right? I loved the bag though…. super cool. My son was like – why they had to put Sitecore MVP on it? And I was like your mommy worked hard for it.

Amy: I was super jealous of the bag. But the jacket is nice!

Sandy Foley: Didn’t go home with a Hedgehog 🙁

Hetal Dave: Me neither!

Amy: Jax hooked me up…and now I have one beside the one from.. the first symposium;)

JaxBaxter: I can maybe hook you up too Sandy. I have connections….

Hetal Dave: Added to the list for next year – steal a pillow and whatever else needs stealing!

Deepthi: Yeah I actually missed on some good goodies like the Hedgehog. And Sitecore pillow.

Amy: Yes, I had no idea the pillows were meant to be taken, and I didn’t want to steal

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Hetal, you’ll have to fight me for that pillow – he he… OK a WoS logo pillow!

Amy: Haha, Francine, I can hook us up there!

Sandy: We definitely need WoS pillows!

JaxBaxter: I would DO BATTLE for a WoS pillow!

Amy: Consider it done! You won’t need to battle!

Deepthi: Everyone gets one, unlike Sitecore pillows

Hetal Dave: Oh yeah…WoS pillows please! With that same cool logo we had on the T-Shirts! The pillow itself would say like: DO NOT MESS WITH ME!

Amy: I’ll get us pillows!

JaxBaxter: YAY! Ok, every year Symposium raises the bar in some way (or in several ways). This year I thought the presentations particularly were stellar. Did you have a favorite? And what made it stand out? (yes, that is me pulling us back on track)

Hetal Dave: So true! I came back with so much learning and my heart filled with the memories of my newest coolest friends!

Sandy Foley: I’m so bad at picking sessions!  There were so many that I wished I would have attended.  For the ones that I did attend, it’s a toss-up between “NetCore and 9.1 architecture” and “Where Machine Learning Meets Social” … Netcore: I liked the history of the Sitecore architecture and better appreciate the move to NetCore.  For Una’s ML session, I left the session more interested in diving into data science and marketing, in general.

Hetal Dave: I have that feeling always…no matter how much I try to go to them all! Wish I could clone myself! And then merge back too!

Amy: My favorite was the MVP panel. Aside from that, I really enjoyed Una’s session Sandy mentioned ‘Where machine learning meets social’ – and combined with Jason St. Cyr’s panel on Ethics around it all – it was really informative and gave a ton to think about.

Hetal Dave: Right….the #MoveTheDial lunch and Women MVP Panel were just so inspiring! I still get goosebumps!

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Regrettably I missed a lot of the sessions due to legwork for my session and partner meetings. ☹

JaxBaxter: Seconded on Amy’s presentation picks – both of those were highly informative and brought new perspectives to my thought process.

Kelly: The MVP panel was an all-round highlight for me.

Deepthi: I loved the MVP Summit and of course our panel

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): At #MoveTheDial remember the young lady who spoke up asking for a mentor has reached out to me and we had our first session yesterday. So the goodness continues for me

Kelly: I’m organizing a webinar for her and her coworker Courtney on the 19th as well for anyone that wants to learn about Glass. I’m typing up the promos for approval today. I’m so glad you had your first session Francine!

JaxBaxter: That’s fantastic! It’s really wonderful to see the ripples from the event continuing to spread out

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): I’ll also be at the #MoveTheDial conference next week and will see Jodi, Heather (Sick Kids) and Allison (Valtech, Sitecore MVP and fellow panelist) The gift that keeps giving

Amy: I think you’ll have a great time, I’ve really enjoyed attending conferences focused on women in tech – it’s a very different set of attendees and very cool vibe.

Hetal Dave: Wish I could join too….next time!

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): Yes. The livestream is happening though. Paige will have a feature. Join if you can

Hetal Dave: Yes. I am going to. Just listening to these conversations give me fire to keep running for a higher goal! :fire:

JaxBaxter: It was such a great Symposium for so many reasons: I personally adored spending time at Hogwarts.  Best Symposium 2018 memory overall? Ready, GO!

Sandy Foley: Hanging with Hetal at the parks!

Hetal Dave: I loved the lazzzyyyyyy sailing in the Cave of Pandora…Thanks to Sandy and Liz Spranzani!

Amy: Ooh, that’s hard.. I’m gonna go with champagne with Kelly

Kelly: I can’t pick one. I say Symposium and MVP Summit 2018 was my highlight 😛

Sandy: Deepthi, Isabel and I left the hotel and had South Indian … so good!  We have to go off-site as a group next year!!

Hetal: You are making me miss you all over again Sandy!

Francine Anthony (Sitecore): There was so much that I loved about Symposium! The keynotes. Seeing my rock star CMO in action. Women, women all over

Deepthi: Loved Paige and her appreciation to the panel at several occasions

Amy: Haha yep, it was great – this is the first time i was sad a conference was over! 😉

Hetal Dave: I loved all the sessions…especially the commerce ones by Dan, Kelly and Ishraq. Some of them were nice but not for me…you know what I mean!

Deepthi: I liked Una Verhoeven’s session as well, she was awesome

JaxBaxter: Ok….last question. What advice do you have for women who’d like to present at Symposium 2019?

Sandy Foley: I haven’t presented yet (fingers crossed for 2019 …) but I understand that it’s necessary to present at least some version of your SYM presentation at user groups once or twice before submitting.

Amy: Do it! Women generally don’t apply for things unless they’re certain of success. Apply anyways and take the chance! Though, that’s not true actually, Sandy – some of my coworkers were accepted without ever presenting anywhere

Sandy Foley: good to know!

Amy: But probably not a bad idea to help

Kelly: I haven’t done much presenting either. I submitted mine on a “I might as well” whim

JaxBaxter: I submitted to my first SUGCON because I couldn’t get any of my co-workers to throw their hat in the ring. They all said, “if it’s so easy, you do it!” So, I did. Being brave is key.

Sandy Foley: For 2018, Deepthi and I gave a lot of thought to what we wanted to present and went back and forth with Jason a few times to try to better our chances; we weren’t selected.  We’ll try again next year!

Amy: I’m hoping to present next year. I’ve been on super-secret projects until now, so I’ll finally get to be more public about whatever cool things are happening!

JaxBaxter: I think that’s the key – to put your name forward and don’t stop trying. User groups are a great way to practice public speaking skills. And I would say this – there’s a tendency to believe that the things you have to say aren’t interesting or useful. I have never found that to be true. You have something valuable to add

Amy: And we’ll have online user groups with this group people can present through also!

JaxBaxter: I am VERY excited about that! And on that happy note, this concludes our first live chat. Thank you everyone!

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The Value of Having a Mentor

“The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” – Steven Spielberg, director.

When I look back on my career so far, I have been extremely lucky in the jobs that I’ve had. Not only have I had some pretty amazing bosses and worked for great companies, but with each job that I have had, I have built and expanded my skills, landing me in a position that I truly love: Director of Digital Strategy.

I can’t take all the credit for how I’ve gotten to my dream job. I have had mentors – both inside and outside of work – that have helped my find my path and supported my professional growth.

Now everyone will get something different out of a mentor-mentee relationship, but I wanted to highlight some of the benefits that I have gained from having a mentor in hopes that it will either inspire you to become a mentor, seek out a mentor, or both! Continue reading “The Value of Having a Mentor”

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The road to becoming an MVP

The road to MVP

As the year is slowly approaching to an end, the famous question raises again: how does one become a Sitecore MVP?

What is the Sitecore MVP Award?

The Sitecore MVP is an award given to the individuals who have contributed to the Sitecore community and Sitecore throughout the year. This page https://mvp.sitecore.com/about provides a good overview of categories and the basic list of requirements.

Continue reading “The road to becoming an MVP”

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Getting Started with the Women of Sitecore

It’s been a slow (but steady) progression to our kick off at Sitecore Symposium 2018 in Orlando, Florida. Not only did we get started with a breakfast meetup on Ada Lovelace day, but we started seeing women (and men) popping up all over the place with Women of Sitecore enamel pins, glittery stickers and Rosie Symposie t-shirts. What started as idea, has grown into a community with a great deal of support and commitment to growth. Amy Winburn (if you didn’t learn about data sources for Sitecore fields from Amy, the person that taught you did) got us started by launching the idea, initial website and slack channel that saw the leadership team connect together. Whilst this was happening a group of female MVPs connected through Isabel Tinoco and submitted a session proposal for Symposium that was (eventually) accepted and saw 18 of us on stage discussing the challenges and benefits of being a woman in technology. Continue reading “Getting Started with the Women of Sitecore”