C2C Monthly Recap: August 2022

Each month, C2C shares the latest news from the team and the best highlights from all of you here in the community. Read on for the most essential C2C updates from August 2022.

The C2C team has been on the move! We've been unveiling a number of events with the help of our partners, Google, and other members who have joined us to share their journeys and connect with each other. The stories shared at these events are valuable across many industry solutions being created with Google Cloud technology, but we also have a focus on having fun!

New York

At Google's office in Manhattan's Chelsea Market, C2C hosted a half-day event all about Google's culture of innovation. Speakers from Google delivered interactive presentations on topics including Google's core values and how to inform these values with the principles of DEI, culminating in an innovation workshop that prompted small groups to develop new products to meet emerging needs in the future of work. Afterward, an open networking reception catalyzed numerous customer connections. En Szu Hu-Van Wright of Chili Piper discussed virtual event planning with Boris Sotnikov ( @bSotnikov ), CEO of KraftyLab, and Kristian Smilenov ( @kristian.smilenov ) of Prime Holding made numerous new contacts, including Geoff MacNeil of Crowdbotics.

"Typically when we talk to our customers, especially in a one-to-many format, it tends to be about product," said Jessie Hochhalter, Google Cloud Global Culture & Recognition Lead. "So I really like the fact that we got to talk about the people, the processes, the culture, the DEI, those sorts of things, and not just talk about the product and what's next with Google technology." Read more below:

Chicago

C2C's 2Gather event in Chicago - - the first face-to-face event for the Google Cloud Customer Community in the Midwestern US - - brought together speakers Paul Lewis, CTO of Pythian, Vrinda Khurjekar, Senior Director of AMER Business at Searce, and Meiling He, Senior Data Scientist at Rockwell Automation, for a conversation about cloud-hosted AI and ML solutions. Meiling had never heard of C2C when she was asked to fill in last-minute for her manager Francisco Maturana, but she found the experience to be a pleasant surprise. "I think it was so fun," she said. "I learned a lot from the perspective, the questions, the answers. It's so nice to be around people like Lilah and Paul. They're so knowledgeable and outgoing."

The guests overwhelmingly agreed, including former C2C Executive Director Jeff Branham, now Director of Industry Alliances at Salesforce. "It's a great place to connect with other professionals, business and also technical, and it's a really wonderful experience," said Henry Post of US Bank. "Great food, great presentation, and great people." Read more here:

Healthcare and Life Sciences

On August 23, 2022, C2C welcomed longtime colleagues Paul Novak ( @paul_novak ), CTO of Community Health Systems, Steven Michaels ( @Steven Michaels ), Vice President of Technology Services at Intermountain Healthcare, and Michael Ames ( @michaelames ), Managing Director of Vertical Markets at SADA, for an inaugural 2Inspire event introducing the new Healthcare and Life Sciences community on the C2C platform. The guests unanimously agreed that the event and the group represent essential community-building opportunities for decision-makers in the HCLS space. "Having that type of collaborative capability to talk to people who have been there and done that, and to share ideas, and to share lessons learned, is so powerful," said Paul.

Michael echoed these sentiments via email in a follow-up after the event. "Customer-led, industry-specific communities are an essential complement to vendor- and technology-focused communities as Google Cloud pushes deeper into the enterprise. But it takes leadership from within the industry to make it happen in an authentic way. It was a pleasure to speak with Paul and Steven, two honest and forward-thinking health IT leaders about their experiences with Google Cloud. I look forward to C2C facilitating many more such discussions." Read more about the event here:

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Trying to catch the wave of that energy? We're eager for more, and we hope you can join us as we add more cities to our list.

Not quite ready to travel and be part of an in-person crowd? We have plenty of virtual connections to join in on.

Browse all our events to speak directly with presenters and share your thoughts in open conversation with other C2C members.

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C2C Research

We're unveiling a piece that's the first of its kind at C2C: a research report on our community! This is only a preview of what we learned, but you have the option to download the full report. Click the link to read an overview and key findings.

Congratulations again to our July C2Champions,  @malamin ,  @JoeyMaller_UCC , and  @sebastianmorenoe . Learn more about these outstanding community members in this post:

We also want to highlight some other excellent conversations happening in the communities:

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Of course, the beauty of everything we do is having one central place for all Google Cloud users to come together to solve problems, connect and re-connect, and have access to everything from C2C. We strive to continually improve the experience you have here in the online community, so here's the latest on what we've delivered.

You may have noticed some cosmetic changes around C2C as we continue to showcase our updated brand styles. We want the look and feel of the community to reflect the enthusiasm and ingenuity of Google Cloud users. New images, colors, and layouts are popping up throughout the community, but our big reveal is -

-  the new C2C home page!

Take a look. 

It's bright. It's shiny. And most importantly, it's featuring the community members who continue to shine as we deliver on our events, content, and conversations. With the update, you can navigate through what makes C2C the community it is.