Enterprise Meets Polyglot: Jonathan Baltz on Salesforce and Heroku Integration
Enterprise Meets Polyglot: Jonathan Baltz on Salesforce and Heroku Integration
The Interviewer
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
The Guest
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
The Conversation
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
Hi, I'm Mike. I'm here at ChicagoWebConf again, and now I actually have the shirt so I can represent. I'm sitting here with Jonathan Baltz. Jonathan runs the Force.com and the Heroku user groups here in Chicago, and that's an interesting combination: Salesforce and Heroku. One's very lean and light, and the other one is a little bit more enterprise-oriented. Why the two groups?
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
I started organizing the Force.com developer user group in Chicago around April or May of 2010, and over time it became one of the most involved user groups in the nation. In the middle of 2011, Salesforce actually purchased Heroku, and I was asked to start one of the first Heroku user groups here in Chicago. Salesforce knows how big the technology community is here and they wanted us to be one of the first to build community around America.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
When you say 'involved,' what do you actually do at a Force.com meeting? I'm not too familiar with those—is it product presentations, or how to use the platform?
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
By involved, I mean we're continuously having meetings every month and we're active on Twitter and the internet. There are a lot of Salesforce groups, but not many *developer* user groups that go in-depth into the Force.com platform rather than just administration. We also have developer evangelists come talk or join us via Google Hangouts. Through that consistent involvement, we sort of make an impact and other groups look at us as a pattern.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
So other user groups in other cities are looking at what you're doing in Chicago as a model? That's an interesting position to be in. I imagine you get a different audience between Heroku and Salesforce, or do you see the same people in both?
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
Sometimes you get a few people who go to both. These are the people who recognize that Force.com and Heroku are becoming a polyglot platform where you can use different languages. They aren't just interested in one niche; they want to learn technology conceptually. Maybe the way someone uses Java on Heroku can be an idea they apply to Force.com development.
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
But generally, Force.com attracts administrators who want to learn development and hardcore Salesforce developers. Heroku gets a wide variety because it's so polyglot—supporting Python, Java, Ruby, Node, Scala, and more via buildpacks.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
So Force.com is a bit more pragmatic—'How can I make my work life better?'—while Heroku is more about exploration and 'Hey, this is neat'?
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
Yeah, 100%.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
I've had to touch Salesforce in the past and didn't always have nice things to say about it. Do you get people coming to the meetings with a chip on their shoulder about enterprise software? Sometimes people take their frustrations out on a corporate vendor more harshly than an open-source one.
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
Sometimes, but usually, people don't attend if they aren't interested in the topic. Most people who come are using it or want to know more. When someone shows up with that 'venomous' feeling, we usually talk to them and show them a better way to do it or point them to the developerforce.com boards. The community there is very helpful. The idea is: don't get frustrated, just ask someone.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
Along the lines of that 'venom,' I know Salesforce developers who have to take on so much responsibility because other team members lack interest or knowledge. Is there a sense of relief coming to a Force.com group? A 'blood brothers' camaraderie where you've done battle together?
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
There is some of that, but it's not really what we're looking for. It's not a close-knit support group in that way. It's more about the positive drive to learn more and see how others are working.
Mike Hall
Interviewer, community organizer at UGtastic
I think that's a really good point. Well, thank you very much for taking the time to sit down with me, Jonathan.
Jonathan Baltz
Organizer of Force.com and Heroku User Groups in Chicago
Thank you.
Critical Insights
durable
"The acquisition of Heroku by Salesforce in 2011 created a unique 'Enterprise-to-Lean' bridge in the Chicago user group scene, fostering a polyglot mindset among developers."
durable
"Developer-focused user groups for enterprise platforms (like Force.com) distinguish themselves by prioritizing deep-dive implementation over high-level administration."
durable
"Consistent monthly involvement and digital presence (Twitter/Hangouts) are the primary drivers of 'impact' and community leadership for local user groups."
durable
"The 'Don't get frustrated, just ask' philosophy is a critical cultural component for maintaining a positive community tone in enterprise software ecosystems."
durable
"Polyglot platforms like Heroku attract a broader, more exploratory audience than single-platform enterprise ecosystems, though there is increasing conceptual cross-pollination between them."