Higher Ed, Salesforce Collaborate at Impact Conference

Westmont’s Center for Applied Technology (CATLab) joins forces with Salesforce to host the Impact Conference on Thursday, Aug. 11, in the Global Leadership Center on campus. Keynote speakers include Peter Coffee, vice president for strategic research at Salesforce, and Lupita Knittel, president of 7Mindsets, an education technology company. To register for the free conference, or for more information, please visit westmont.edu/impact.

The Education Trailblazers Association holds pre-conference Salesforce workshops covering a wide range of topics including form assembly, data security, admissions and advancement customer relationship management (CRM) on Aug. 9-10.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for higher education executives to gain valuable insights into Salesforce processes and network with other executives with similar visions,” says Zak Landrum, director of CATLab, CRM and data services. “I’m looking forward to sparking collaboration among higher education institutions, sharing with colleagues and uniting the education sector through the common language of technology.”

In 2018, Westmont became the first school to create a program like CATLab, which creates innovative technology solutions for the college using the collaborative efforts of faculty, staff and students. A summer program, CATLab employs students to work on these solutions, giving them substantial professional experience and providing a bridge to internships in Santa Barbara and employment after graduation. “By allowing students to create our Salesforce infrastructure, we’re pioneering a model that provides low-cost technology solutions to Westmont and invaluable experience to students,” Landrum says. Much larger universities, such as UC Santa Barbara, have begun to adopt similar programs.

Santa Barbara residents may be interested in attending the community portion of the Aug. 11 conference from 2-5 p.m., which focuses on local Salesforce users and technology companies connecting with nonprofits to solve urgent systems problems.

“I’m most excited for the opportunity to put on a national conference organized and staffed by students,” says incoming junior Simeon Michelson. “Impact offers a unique chance for Westmont students to support a national dialogue.”

Education Trailblazers Association, Blackthorn, OwnBackup, Cloud for Good, Mogli and Servio Consulting sponsor the conference, which Westmont and Salesforce co-host.