Top 10 Reasons to go to Dreamforce 12
The most anticipated event of 2012 is upon us and no I am not referring to the Olympics! For those of us Salesforce geeks, I am of course referring to Dreamforce 2012. In a few short weeks thousands of people will be migrating to San Francisco to attend the biggest and baddest Technology Conference in the World. As I have done each of the last few years, here are the top ten reasons to attend this event.
#10 Shuttle Buses
Last year was the first year that the size of the conference expanded to hotels around the Moscone Center. With so many people it got a bit rough figuring out where things were and also the time it took to get there. This year there will be shuttle buses to help people move about the “Dreamforce Campus”. In addition they are adding more registration locations in the Hilton Union Square to help speed up the process.
#9 Expansion
Salesforce has said that this year will be bigger then ever and the “Dreamforce Campus” is gonna grow. With sessions and activities in hotels close to Moscone and Union Square including Marriott Marquis, Hilton Union Square, InterContinental, Palace Hotel and Grand Hyatt Union Square there will be more to see and more to absorb.
#8 Red Hot Chili Peppers
They are not Metallica but I am going to bet they will put on an amazing show with a lot of energy. Even better is that the venue has changed from the Moscone to the Civic Center. For those who were denied last year due to capacity issues, this should solve that problem. Not a bucket list band for me but it should be fun.
#7 Swag
Who doesn’t love good old fashion SWAG (Stuff We All Get)? With the conference growing in size and over 350 partners in attendance, I would think there will be some really good ones. Rumor has it that the famous “Safe Harbor” T-Shirts and the “I ♥ SF’ t-shirt” may be floating around.
#6 Keynotes
There is nothing better then getting up on that Wednesday morning with the wonder of what Marc Benioff is going to say. He never disappoints with his announcements, demos and his cloud computing vision. In addition we are getting treated with keynotes from Sir Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin) and Jeff Immelt (CEO of GE). There is one other special guest keynote speakers but he gets his own number in the countdown.
#5 Gen. Colin Powell
I know Gen. Colin Powell has spoken multiple times at Dreamforce but he always delivers. His speeches are always inspiring and give me chills. I will listen to him over and over and cannot wait to see what has to say this time.
#4 CloudFocus Weekly
The best podcast on everything cloud related reached a milestone of 100 episodes and will be on display at the Arkus booth (#334) in the Cloud Expo. You may be able to meet Justin and Jason and there are rumors floating they may do the show from the Expo floor.
#3 Reunion
I have had the opportunity to go to Dreamforce for multiple years now and I cannot tell you how amazing the people are. I have created such lasting relationships for business as well as friendship. Though some live in complete other parts of the country or world, this week brings us back together and with the Dreamforce portal open all year, it gives you great opportunity to setup meetings and events.
#2 Tony Robbins
Personally this would be #1 since I am a huge fan of Tony but we will put it as the runner-up. As part of your ticket to Dreamforce you get a three hour session with maybe the greatest Life Coach in the world? Sign me up. Only problem I have with this is it is only 3 hours.
#1 Education
This will be the top reason for going to Dreamforce no matter what. If Salesforce is critical to your business or if you are thinking about it, this conference is a must for you. You get access to over 650 sessions, hands on trainings, certifications, blueprint clinics and other educational opportunities. There are 200 more sessions this year than last.
Another year and another top ten reasons to go. If you would like to discuss this further or need help planning our your week, please feel free to hit me up in the Dreamforce portal or tweet at me at www.twitter.com/Salvatoriello.
