On May 10 we arrived in The Big Peach – three fresh-faced #PardotQueens ready for Salesforce Connections 2016 (#CNX16). From the moment we stepped through the big glass doors at the Georgia World Congress Center, I knew we were in for an electrifying experience.

After the sticker shock of a $150 badge replacement fee (did anybody misplace theirs?), the conference opened with a keynote from Marketing Cloud CEO Scott McCorkle that focused on the theme “Year of the Customer” and all that entails. This idea was woven through every session: your potential clients are already online and have a world of options at their fingertips. Our businesses can differentiate by utilizing data and other tools from Salesforce and Pardot.

Georgia Representative John Lewis roused the crowd with tales of his civil rights activism side-by-side with Martin Luther King Jr. that had the entire room on their feet. Shock-and-awe was just getting started, though. Tuesday was a jam-packed day that didn’t wind down until Stevie Wonder closed his final bars at nearly midnight.

That’s how these fast few days went at CNX16 – crammed with information and overflowing with fun. We learned how to ‘Hug Your Haters’ with Jay Baer during one of the funniest and most applicable sessions. Cliff Seal taught us that ‘Nobody Cares About Your Content…Yet’ while delivering on-the-nose statistics related to content and relationship marketing. And we even saw a former onboarding client lead a session about their best B2B marketing campaign!

We learned not only how to make the customer experience better, but also how to make our jobs as marketers easier. Another one of my favorite sessions was a discussion panel with email marketing experts who answered our questions and taught us how to avoid the spam filter.

In between the delicious buffets and Lyft rides, we also caught the enlivening Pardot Keynote that drove home the customer message. At night we unwound at delightful restaurants with burgers, sushi, fried chicken and way too much champagne.

And finally, tired and packed with new information, we made the trip back to Charleston in our painted car. But first we got a peek at the Atlanta Pardot office on our way out of A-Town. It was wonderful to see where our partners work in a behind-the-scenes tour.

We perspired, got inspired and learned a lot about Pardot and marketing. We even made a few connections as well! Can’t wait ‘til next time.

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