A Force to Reckon With

Wow wow wow!

It has been an extremely exciting time in the Dreamforce app!  Not long ago if you’d asked if there was a mobile client for access to Dreamforce or if you wanted to know how to export your calendar after successfully building your schedule… I would have said “nope, sorry!”

Not anymore!!!

First you can now access the Dreamforce org through Salesforce Chatter Desktop and Chatter mobile clients.  The one catch I have heard so far is it is not working on the latest Mac release Lion for some people nor on iPhones.  However, if you’re on Windows or Android, it is your lucky day.  Since we still don’t have the full SFDC mobile client on Android, I don’t feel bad this doesn’t work for you fancy iPhone users. 🙂  This does not by any means replace the full Dreamforce mobile app that will arrive the week or so before the event, but it does give us something to use in the meanwhile.  Props to Brian Martinez for discovering and sharing the hack!

Basically how it works is like this– download and install the chatter desktop (or mobile) application.  When you open the app it will ask for a server (or go to the settings) and add this address:

https://dreamevent.my.salesforce.com

Follow the prompts on the screen, use your Dreamforce username and password when prompted.  If things are going well, you will see an OAuth type error.  This is expected.  Close out, try it again and it should work.  You may see it ask for permission for the app to access your account, say yes/accept.  Once you get the error, you can try clicking back in the app- that’s worked for me as well to get it going.
One of the other big requests is a way to export your Dreamforce calendar so you can update your usual calendar app (and use that to share etc).  Short of manually updating your calendar there was no other option, till now!  Matthew Botos of Mavens Consulting has put together a solution that will allow you to take the emailed version of your Dreamforce calendar and update your usual calendar software!  You can read more about it at Mavens Consulting Dreamforce Schedule Exporter.

Two solutions that come from the community because they saw a need, accepted the challenge, and shared what they discovered and created.  Where else do you find such amazing community members?!