The Conference May Be Over… But the Work Isn't

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over a month since True North Dreamin’ 2026.

After two incredible days of learning, networking, and community, many people head home, catch up on work, and start looking ahead to their next event. But for our volunteer organizing team, the work never stops.

We are very proud that TND is built by the community, for the community. That also means we spend just as much time after the event reflecting, reviewing, and planning as we do leading up to it.

Looking Back to Move Forward

Over the past several weeks we've been reviewing attendee, speaker, sponsor, volunteer, and organizer feedback. We're incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to complete our surveys and share their thoughts.

One of the most rewarding things to read was how consistently the same themes appeared:

  • Practical, real-world learning

  • Friendly, approachable speakers

  • Meaningful conversations and networking

  • A welcoming community atmosphere

Those comments reminded us why we do this in the first place. We've also been taking a close look at the things we can improve.

Some of the work already underway includes:

  • Reviewing potential venues for TND27, but also keeping the current venue on the list.

  • Completely overhauling our sponsorship prospectus based on lessons learned this year.

  • Updating and refining our internal processes and documentation.

  • Restructuring our Board to create a smaller, more sustainable leadership team.

  • Beginning planning not only for TND27, but also laying the groundwork for TND28.

Every conference teaches us something, and every year we try to make the next one a little better.

The Community Doesn't End in May

True North Dreamin' is more than a two-day conference, which is why one of our core values is to help support the Canadian Salesforce community throughout the year.

Whether that's through local Trailblazer, Mulesoft, Tableau and Slack Community Groups, our own Slack community, the resources on our website, or this very blog, we want to help people stay connected, continue learning, and share their experiences long after the conference has ended.

With that in mind, we are looking for community voices.

If you have an idea for a future blog post, something you've learned, a project you're proud of, or lessons you'd like to share with the community, we'd love to hear from you. One of our goals is to make this blog a place where community members can share their own experiences and knowledge, or help connect you to a local user group as well.

Celebrating Our Community

Today (June 30) also marked another exciting milestone for the Salesforce community with the announcement of the 2026–2027 Salesforce MVP class, MVP Hall of Fame inductees, and renewed MVPs.

We're especially excited to see so many familiar faces recognized—including several members of the True North Dreamin' community who have spoken at TND over the years, volunteered, or helped make this year's event possible.

Congratulations to everyone who was recognized this year. Your willingness to share your knowledge, support others, and strengthen the Salesforce ecosystem is exactly what community is all about.

We're proud to have so many of you as part of the TND community, and we look forward to seeing what you accomplish next. You can find the full announcement blog here.

2026–2027 Salesforce MVPs connected to TND

New MVPs

  • Ali Waguespack

  • Kristyna Turner

  • Sally ElGhoul

Renewed MVPs

  • Aaron Crear

  • Kathleen (Kathy) Waterworth - (TND Board Chair)

  • Melissa Shepard

  • Shari Carlson

  • Thiriyambagasarma Sothinathan

Hall of Fame Inductee

  • Melissa Hill Dees

Helping Shape What's Next

Thank you to all of your who completed our location survey for TND27. Your feedback is helping us determine where we'll meet next year within the Toronto area while we continue building a sustainable path for future events across Canada.

Thank you again to everyone who attended, volunteered, spoke, sponsored, and supported TND26.

We're excited about what's ahead, and we hope you'll continue the journey with us throughout the year.

And finally, with Canada Day tomorrow, we'd like to wish everyone across Canada a happy and safe holiday! 🇨🇦 Thank you for helping make this community what it is, and whether you're spending the day with family, friends, or enjoying some well-earned downtime, we hope you have a fantastic Canada Day.

We'll see you back here next month with more TND updates as planning for TND27 continues.

Kathy WaterworthComment