Hello, dear readers!
I can hardly believe it’s been a year since I began my blogging adventure. It feels like just yesterday I had a loose idea of starting a blog in my head, unsure of what to expect. But here we are, 365 days later, with so many stories, experiences, and connections made along the way. I want to use this momentum to take a stroll down memory lane and reflect on this past year and where my blog has lead me to.
The Beginnings
It all started in middle of 2023. The idea of creating a blog had been dancing around in my mind for some time. I have two former colleagues who also started their blog few months earlier, which I really liked. For myself, I hadn’t yet gathered enough courage. But I could just not get the idea out of my mind. I bought my domain paulinekolde.info (it took me sooo many days to decide between .de, .com, .tech and .info) and set up my blog on WordPress, in secret. For the first few weeks, I was my blog’s only reader. It was my little corner of the internet, a place where I could write down out my ideas without any pressure or expectations.
The Turning Point
Few weeks went by, before I reached out to Megan Walker, my blogger rolemodel, for her feedback. To my surprise, she loved what she saw! Not only did she offer invaluable advice, but she also featured my blog in her newsletter. And just like that, on the 8th of August, my blog was officially introduced to the world. Talk about a grand debut!
The Fun and Challenges of Blogging
Blogging has been an incredibly rewarding experience, but it hasn’t been without its challenges. Crafting each article takes a lot of time and effort. From brainstorming ideas to researching, writing, editing, and translating each post is not a one hour task. Also, I had no clue about blogging before, not even WordPress. I watched tutorials and read through best practices of how to write good articles and what to do about SEO. But it’s also a lot of fun!
One of the biggest challenges has been finding a balance between quality and quantity. It’s tempting to churn out content just to keep the blog active. But I want content that is valuable and helpful to the community. So sometimes ideas just float in and in other weeks I am just silent waiting for the next cool solution to write about.
Engaging with the Community
Launching the blog was just the beginning. Soon after, I started engaging more actively with the community. This engagement opened up so many doors and led to incredible opportunities. Let me give you some examples.
The 90 Days Mentoring Challenge with Mark Smith
One inspiring experiences was participating in the 90 Days Mentoring Challenge with Mark Smith. It was Megan again who encouraged me to enroll. And it was a whirlwind of learning and networking. I met so many amazing people and gained new perspectives that have shaped my journey. I have a long reading list now with all the books that Mark recommends and I am a really lazy reader when it comes to books. So I will probably read through all of them before I retire. All in all, this challenge opened up new opportunities and set the stage for what’s to come.
My First Speaking Engagement: DACH Powerthon in Hamburg
Another milestone was my first speaking engagement at the DACH Powerthon 2023 in Hamburg. I spoke about event management in Customer Insights on the hybrid event. It was a saturday and the online meeting of my session wasn’t really visited, actually I remember that there was just one person. But I was onsite with great people from the PowerPlatform Hamburg User Group (PPHHUG) and their support was overwhelming. And it gave me the confidence to pursue more speaking opportunities. Btw, the amount of pizzas we ordered that day was also overwhelming.
Global PowerPlatform Bootcamp
Next up was the Global PowerPlatform Bootcamp, also powered by the PPHHUG. It was another cool experience, filled with learning and sharing knowledge. I attended some interesting sessions from other speakers. It made me realize once again that it is so important to think outside the box and get inspiration from others in order to do a better job in your own projects. My hightlight that day: The organizing team let me play lucky fairy for the raffle. Fun fact: Can you draw your own number for 400 tickets with announcing it before? Yes you can..oops
The Color Cloud Experience
And who could forget the unforgettable experience at the Color Cloud?
I loved every moment of it, the drag and cabaret show at the Pulverfass, my talk, “Trigger Me Softly,” and the joint presentation with my colleague Alex about Customer Insights Data. I haven’t been to many conferences (yet), but this was definitly the best one! And I’m sure it will stay that way for a long time to come.
Dynamics 365 Summit in Lisbon
In April, I had the pleasure of attending the Dynamics 365 Summit in Lisbon, where I conducted a full-day workshop on Customer Insights Data and Journeys. On the second day I talked once again about triggers in realtime marketing journeys. It started a little disastrously. The beamer did not work, i couldn’t show my slides. But time was running. Neil Parkhurst was the speaker performing after me, he already sat in the room (which made me quite nervous, because with his blog I have learnt for my first certification in 2017). So, I have improvised and danced a little in front of my audience. Some people can dance their names, i can dance my slides. And when I came to the point of showing the demo the beamer luckily worked again.
Lisbon is a beautiful city, and the summit was an such a nice experience. I stayed longer for a little workation to enjoy the city and food a even more. The conference was a success, and I left with a heart full of wonderful memories and sun in my heart.
User Group Engagements
In the beginning of 2024 I was approached by Malin Martnes from the Customer Experience User Group. She asked me if I wanted to support the group with Vivian, Mats, Dilyana, Guro and an admin, which of course I wanted. Shortly after my engagements with german speaking counterpart user group followed together with Christian Schipp and Mario Hain. Being a part of the Customer Experience UG and the DACH Customer Insights User Group is great. I love seeing how the community helps each other. There is so much knowledge out there in the world that should not stay hidden, so the UGs are a great place to share that.
The Highlight: MVP Award
Of course, the highlight of this past year has to be 
receiving the MVP award.When I woke up in the beginning of June, I checked my phone and saw the email, I couldn’t believe it. I checked the sender of the email several times to be sure it wasn’t spam. And I don’t know how often I rechecked the email to see if it is true. This recognition means the world to me. It’s been a lot of effort, but every bit has been worth it. And now I find myself among a great group of other MVPs in Germany, Europe and worldwide.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next?
As I look to the future, there are so many exciting things on the horizon. Next up is the Nordic Summit in Oslo, followed by the Scottish Summit in Aberdeen. I’m also looking forward to more user group meetings. And let’s see what else is lurking around the corner.
Final Thoughts
This past year has been a full of experiences, learning, and growth. From secretly starting a blog to engaging with the community, speaking at events, and receiving the MVP award, it’s been just incredible. I’m grateful for every moment and excited for what the future holds.
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has followed, supported, and encouraged me over the past year. Your feedback and enthusiasm are what keep me going.
Currently, I’m under the Moroccan sun, savoring every bite of the local cuisine, but don’t worry, I’ll return with plenty of new posts soon!
Yours Pauline
2 Responses
A fantastic achievement! Keep up the amazing work Pauline 🙂
Thanks, Mark!