Dreamforce (DF) is one of the biggest software events worldwide. It’s been held in San Francisco since 2003 and is organized by Salesforce.com, the world’s largest 360° CRM. 2022’s edition has the particularity of being the first one after two years of mainly virtual events.  

This year, Dreamforce is open to the public; however, it’s already sold out a month before, and +170,000 attendees are expected.  

Luckily, Salesforce.com is aware of DF’s popularity and has set up a full professional streaming app, Salesforce+, allowing those who aren’t coming to enjoy the event as well.  

Preparing for Dreamforce

An occasion of such dimensions can exceed one’s capacity of keeping up, both mentally and physically. Therefore, we are sharing Inclusion Cloud’s experience and the good practices we usually follow to get the most out of this event.  

As we see it, it isn’t just about scheduling and preparing. The first step when attending Dreamforce is understanding what’s its potential for you, your business, and your career. Besides having fun, what are the most outstanding aspects of such an occasion? How can we get the full benefit from it?  

Whether they are attending the event or participating online, DF is an opportunity for everyone in the tech industry. One that you should seize.  

As Salesforce.com claims:  

● 87% of attendees learned something that helped them accelerate business growth. 

● 89% of attendees saved time by learning something that created efficiencies in their business. 

● 86% of attendees solved business challenges with something they learned at Dreamforce. 

● 83% of attendees discovered a new tool or product that helped them or their business. 

* Results are based on a survey conducted from May 25–June 1, 2022, and completed by 725 U.S.-based attendees of Salesforce.com events 

So here are our best tips to succeed in this year’s DF:  

1) Be open to networking

Dreamforce is a space for sharing experiences and knowledge; be open to give and receive in the same amount, and remain as friendly as your schedule allows you to do so. Rewards will undoubtedly show up.  

Although Dreamforce began as a closed event for the Salesforce.com community, nowadays it’s grown far away from this conception. Today, DF is a software-oriented event that hosts speakers with many different and innovative perspectives, as much as wide topics. Due to its openness, DF is an occasion to see the main trends in the technology world, rather than a monolithic Salesforce.com approach.   

This is something most experienced attendants have into account, but it is worth repeating: Dreamforce is an event where people are open to meeting each other and sharing ideas and experiences. Be a part of it and don’t be closed to what you already know!  

2) Take home everything you can: focus on learning

Many participants are certified and senior professionals, and one of Salesforce.com’s main aims is education. For this reason, there are hundreds of activities focusing on training attendants on different aspects of the Salesforce.com environment (which is particularly big) and many other tools.  

From these different activities, we like to highlight those called ‘hands-on’, in which top professionals guide you through different aspects of the interface showing tricks, shortcuts, and best practices to help you make the most of the tools you are trying to master.  

3) Balance planning and going with the flow

Such big events are usually unapproachable without planning. There are hundreds of activities and speakers reunited in three days, which is overwhelming for almost anyone.  

However, planning the whole trip isn’t a possibility either, as there are many (happy) encounters you won’t be able to foresee. For this dilemma, Inclusion Cloud’s strategy after a couple of DF experiences was to combine a big deal of strict planning with regular blank spaces in our calendars.  

This way, you’ll be able to both enjoy what you knew would appeal to you and some of the things you’ll get to know by recommendation. It’s a good idea also to have spare time to offer someone you have just met and would like to talk to for some minutes. In this sense, we highly recommend using Calendly or any equivalent tool, so you can easily schedule short meetings with new contacts you make.  

And in the end, if that block of time is left blank, you’ll be thankful for being able to rest for a while.  

4) Enjoy where you are

The hybrid nature of nowadays events has come to stay. And one of its advantages is the possibility of saving activities for later on. In the case of DF, Salesforce.com has developed a whole app that helps attendants both organize their trips and watch many of the talks online.  

For this reason, we strongly recommend prioritizing presence. Enjoy the activities that won’t be recorded and speakers who will be more difficult to reach again. Even when you have a strict schedule, there will be discoveries made at the moment that will tempt you to stay there, and you won’t regret doing so.  

Remember, the main aim of the event is to share time with other people of the same interests, and that can only happen if you let circumstances do their part.  

Extra tip: propose follow-ups

The amount of things that can happen during those three days is astonishing. This was a true problem we ran into: starting to chat with someone interesting and hearing the alarm for another activity or talk, then missing the possibility to keep further contact.  

Everybody is busy, excited and a bit overwhelmed during DF. In this sense, social media weren’t fully a solution, as the initial enthusiasm got rapidly cold, and starting a new conversation from scratch was a bit strange once we were out of the event and back in the routine.  

Therefore, we came up with a specific solution: using scheduling apps such as Calendly or Koalendar, and having the reflex of offering booking links to the people we wanted to keep in touch with. Not for that same week, but for the following ones. This way, we could create commitment outside the DF aura, and forge lastable relationships with people that were as busy as we were at that moment.  

Besides, offering a way to book a call whenever the other person found convenient proved to be a great act of confidence and good disposition, as it wasn’t invasive at all, but neither shallow nor impersonal.

Are you ready for Dreamforce?

We hope you are looking forward to this event with the same enthusiasm as we do. And even if you are willing to be a part of Dreamforce and still feel a bit lost with the huge amount of activities and speakers, don’t panic.  

Besides traveling there and covering the different news on the spot, our team will be recommending the best activities through a selection from our experts.  

Follow us on Linkedin, and get our coverage in real time!