It seems just the other day that we were decking the halls with bells of holly, enjoying a steaming mug of egg nog, and enjoying the holidays. With the new year, comes the budding of Spring, the scent of new life, and fawns frolicking in the hills chasing butterflies as they lazily drift on the warming winds of change. Spring also signals the next release of Salesforce and the Force.com platform, better known as Spring 11.

To kick things off, the Spring 11 Preview webinar is scheduled for January 18th. The release webinars are a great way to get an overview of the latest features, additions and some cool samples. For many of us who also use it as part of our (re)certification process, I typically download the preview release notes  posted here, and sign up for a pre-release org to help me follow along with the webinar. 

In summary, here is my new release checklist. Hopefully it helps in your preparation too:

1. Sign up for the Preview Webinar.

2. Make sure I complete my re-certification exams in preparation of doing the Spring 11 exam.

3. Sign up for a Pre-Release Org.

4. Read the release notes of the new release (it's amazing what little gems you can find in there!).

Spring 11…..bring it on!