A Force to Reckon With

I told you I’d share with you why going to Dreamforce was the best advice I’d ever received, so here are my experiences from #df10 as a first time attendee.

Wow.  No– WOW! For starters the Dreamforce app was my true introduction to Chatter as my users have been very slow to adopt it.  You can read hundreds of posts about Dreamforce the convention, the Event.  You can view sessions from previous Dreamforces and see the value of being there first hand.  Announcements, information, knowledge sharing, networking- all of these are part of the experience.  Getting to meet and see what different vendors can add to your instance is a great benefit as well, especially when you’re looking for something specific or just inspiration.  All the usual reasons one would attend a trade show.

I know what you’re thinking– so what?  How is Dreamforce different than any other trade show?  What makes it so special to have made such an impact on you?

The app!  The Dreamforce application!  The best kept secret about Dreamforce is the Dreamforce app.  This is the heart and soul and hopefully the core for future conventions.  It is what takes this trade show and turns it into the Event of the Year!

Here are the top reasons why I love the Dreamforce app:

1. Session scheduling with the Agenda builder.  There are some kinks to work out, but getting to reserve a spot in the sessions I was most interested in attending helped me ensure I got the most out of my attendance.  The guide was helpful to see what was aimed towards admins versus developers versus users versus beginners versus advanced users.  If you couldn’t figure out a session to attend, you didn’t even try.
2. Session groups.  Wow! The session organizers who utilized the groups the most made the event.  Many used the app to get feedback from attendees regarding topics they wanted covered/expected to hear about.  Owners were able to give users more information about the session so you had more than a title and brief description to decide if you wanted to attend.  With the number of sessions and the rarity of session times- this was a huge benefit.  It was easy to help weed out sessions that were more basic than what I needed or may get into topics beyond what I was looking for at the time.
3. Let’s call this number 3, even if it is an extension of 2 because it was so revolutionary.  During the session, you could interact with the session organizers and other people in the room through the group in the Dreamforce app!  A great way to take questions, immediate feedback for the organizers- easy to see what people were excited about or needed some clarification for.  After the session many organizers also posted their decks to the group or other materials to share.  It was amazing and revolutionary. I don’t want to attend another convention or trade show without a feedback feature such as this.  I will, but wow, will it be lacking.

And the absolute best reason to get involved is the people you’ll meet.  I covered this in my last post about my Salesforce valentines but it bears repeating.  Wow wow wow!  The biggest benefit of the Dreamforce app for me was getting to know other admins and users of Salesforce.  It was amazing watching chatter grow with the addition of various groups and seeing the sense of community grow with groups like Awesome People and Challenge Us being developed outside the regular tracks and session groups.  These alternative groups provided great places to meet new friends and utilize chatter to colaborate- the perfect example is Chatter Bingo.  If you have access to the Dreamforce website, them click on the Chatter Bingo link at the top of the page to learn more.

For me, the access to the Dreamforce application prior to the event was worth the cost of attending the event before I’d booked my flight.  I know SFDC is preparing the app for #df11 and I can’t wait to get in there and start the fun all over again!

Dreamforce link