Shluchim Introduced to the Cloud

Photos: Itzik Roytman/COLlive

A full day of workshops and sessions on Thursday offered participants of the International Kinus Hashluchim a chance to grow and learn.

Meeting at the Marriott hotel in Downtown Brooklyn, halls and corridors on the second level were filled with Chabad rabbis greeting each other and exchanging ideas.

Businesses offering services to Shluchim set up shop on site for direct contact with their clientele. Notables were the Rabbi Shmuly Gutnick‘s Magnetic Car Menorah and Mendel Wolowik of Judaica Engraving International who offered L’chaims at his stand.

But it’s what is discussed behind the closed doors that perhaps provide an understanding of what your typical Chabad center is dealing with on a daily basis.

There were sessions on negotiating contracts, “healthy accounting practices,” counseling community members, understanding addiction, marketing methods and perfecting adult education classes.

A highly anticipated session was the one titled “Preview: A Revolution in Database and Data Management,” during which Chabad.org unveiled a database for Chabad centers that is cloud-based.

“This debut is the culmination of two years of research and planning,” explained Mendy Ezagui, the Project Manager who thanked his colleagues and Starbucks coffee to helping him move forward.

“This system comes in response to so many requests we have received from shluchim for a very long time,” he said. There were over 100 people who tuned in online to watch the unveiling, in addition to the jam-packed room.

Custom-built on the Salesforce platform, they introduced the data collecting program as versatile, secure, stable and accessible on a variety of devices. Its options were used to perfection by the team that got Barack Obama elected.

“This database will revolutionize your networking and community building,” Ezagui promised, pointing out its focus on the bottom line of Shlichus – tracking the advancement of activities, religious practices and finances.

He mentioned how Salesforce.com is currently ranked the most innovative company in America by Forbes magazine and best known for its customer relationship management (CRM) product.

“There was a lot of energy in the room,” Ezagui commented following the session. “I think the message and vision of this product was received very well by shluchim. I heard the term ‘this is a game changer’ from several shluchim.”