Blog
December 6, 2016
Editor’s note: This dispatch is from ACF Senior Consultant Ryan Shanahan, who attended his first Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) Sprint in Boston in September 2016. These sprints provide an opportunity for members of the Salesforce.org community to gather and collectively work on improvements to NPSP.
It started like any other ‘conference’. People showed up thirty minutes prior to start time, drank their coffee, ate their breakfast snacks and conducted intimate conversations on what’s new, how’s the family, etc.
At 9:30 am our fearless leader who passionately dubbed himself as “the Captain” circled us up for introductions and to go over the goals for the next two days. Introductions went rather fast with faces full of smiles. As this was my first time at one of these Sprints, I quickly learned that this nonprofit sector of Salesforce is a close knit family, so introductions are rather pointless (except for me, that is). After we laughed our way through introductions, it was time to go over our ‘Kindagenda’. Yes, you read that correctly — the “Kindagenda”, as in “kind of an agenda.”
The Nonprofit Success Pack Sprint was not any run of the mill conference or seminar that you’d expect. This Sprint was more about getting your hands dirty, building things and supporting the common user. Therefore, a simple ‘”agenda” would not–could not–work. Everyone who attended brought their own special unique skills and it was our job to help make the NPSP the best it could be. The two days were laid out very plainly and relied on the attendees to make it successful.
9:30 – 10:00 AM: Opening Remarks
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM: Sprint
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 – 5:00 PM: Sprint
In the beginning of the Sprint, we laid out what areas of the NPSP could be improved and we broke out into those specific groups pertaining to what we wanted to work on. There was the Documentation Group, the Coding Group, the Video/Help Group and the very impressive Reporting Group. I am a little biased towards the Reporting Group as that was my group and because, c’mon, everyone loves more reports!
Once we all were in our groups and sprinting, the conference room turned into a perfectly oiled machine. Documents were being feverishly scripted to help users with common workflows and diagrams. Code was being constructed to provide more automation. Videos were written, directed, filmed and edited on the spot, producing simple self-help solutions. Finally, Reports–ah, the best group of them all (remember, I’m biased). In our group of roughly 8 we collaborated on what types of reports would be best for users to access on the fly. Once determined and our list created, we began cooking up marvelous reports with splashes of filters, dashes of formulas and a pinch of cross-references.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The afternoon of our second day we all completed our Sprints and joined together again as one giant family. Each team shared their accomplishments and together we celebrated our successes. Each goodbye ended with “see you at the next Sprint!” as colleagues shook hands, hugged and fist bumped.
For me, it was the first of many NPSP Sprints. And be on the look out for the upcoming NPSP release because our documentation, code, videos and, yes, reports will be there!
