Dreamforce: Day One
Day one is coming to a wrap here at Dreamforce 2015, and what a day it has been. Many (including the Cloud for Good team) were up bright and early to try and beat the registration lines at 7 am, and sessions started quickly after with the first beginning at 8:00 am.
The Foundation Zone, home for the Cloud for Good Dreamforce booth, is situated on level B2 of the Marriott Marquis this year and looks absolutely impressive. Those who walk in are greeted with large help areas for specific verticals within the non-profit and higher education space, and the front desk also includes a Genius Bar, where you can ask any and all questions around Salesforce.org. The Foundation Partner Theater is also situated at the back of the zone, with many great success stories and tips and tricks for Salesforce admins to assist their organization.
Today was also the Nonprofit Kick Off, with presentations on the state of Salesforce.org from Suzanne DiBianca and Rob Acker, as well as success stories from the Polaris Project, Sierra Club and the Mile High United Way. Some very interesting numbers came out of this presentation. Did you know that with over 8,000 nonprofit and higher education organizations in attendance, that Dreamforce is now the largest technology conference?
Across in the Moscone West (and in between are two Starbucks that are keeping me fueled) is the Admin and Developer Zones on the second floor and this year it’s ALL about Trailhead. The Admin Zone is in the southern side of the building, as it was last year. Former Goodie and now Salesforce Admin Evangelist with Salesforce Mike Gerholdt has done a wonderful job setting up a Dreamforce Admin Guide, available at the Info booth. Even better, for those playing along at home, you can use the Admin Guide to watch sessions when they come available from Dreamforce and complete the Trailhead journeys to collect your badges. A wonderful, well thought out idea and great way to learn Salesforce.
Finally, I want to introduce you to someone. Below is a selfie of one of the wonderful assistants (Donna), with me, who help make Dreamforce run smoothly. Donna has been assisting in the Buena Vista area for Dreamforce since 2009 … 2009! As with last year, I made sure to say hello, see how the year has been, and of course – get our annual selfie and hug. It reminded me of how much we should thank the many, many helpers who make Dreamforce the best technology conference in the world. Whether it be the white-shirt volunteers answering questions and giving directions, the volunteers bringing us the bento boxes, or the ones saying good morning and making sure we have a badge, this conference would not happen if it wasn’t for the incredible work that these people do. So, on Day 2, let’s all say thanks to one of the many workers helping to keep Dreamforce awesome for all of us. I’m sure it will make their day.
