With Dreamforce fast approaching, now is the time to start planning ahead!
With over 170,000 people descending on San Francisco in little under 3 weeks, it’s vital to prepare and have a strategy in place. This way, you can maximize your time, target and prioritise sessions and avoid the fear of missing out.
Pexlify will be in attendance again this year and we’re looking forward to an exciting few days. As this is not our first time at the Big Show, we thought we would share our top tips to help you make the best use of your time.
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Download the Salesforce Events App - The Salesforce Events app is your one-stop-shop for all things Dreamforce. With Salesforce Events, you can make the most of your event experience using the app’s personalized agenda, complete schedules for every session, exhibitor profiles, and more. Use the Events app to: Get personalized session suggestions, find what you need using session filters, as well as access session details, including maps and walking directions, as well as share sessions with friends and coworkers. Download from now Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
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Be aware of the locations of the Sessions/Keynotes/Expo, etc. -
If this is your first time attending Salesforce, then this tip is of particular importance. Dreamforce sessions are held in numerous locations, primarily hotels, across a large area. The distance between session can be upwards of a 20-minute walk. For example, you might want to go to two talks in a row but they may be 15 minutes walk apart, thus meaning you might have to leave one talk early or be late for talk 2 or a mix of both. As most sessions are busy, by the time you reach the late session, you may not be able to get a seat or be allowed in. However, not to fret, some sessions are repeated so as mentioned previously, it’s imperative to schedule and plan ahead.
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Ask Questions - The great thing about Dreamforce is that it provides an opportunity for customers, partners, developers, etc to ask questions about all things Salesforce. In the sessions and areas like the ‘Developer Forest’, you generally have experts in the field who are knowledgeable and willing to share. You’ll also find customers who have done it before or may have implemented a similar solution to the one you are interested in. At the end, a session or demo is a great time to ask questions and pick the brains of these specialists.
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Tag Locations on Map - Tag the locations of the talks you want to go to on google maps, your hotels, food and anything else you want to check out in the area before you attend to save time during the conference. (to save time)
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Networking - Network, Network, Network! People are attending Dreamforce for a host of different reasons. Whether you’re in a partner, developer or customer, Dreamforce is a great opportunity to expand your network, meet like-minded people and possibly advance your own career. Remember….pack your business cards, you’ll need them!
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Comfortable shoes - Every tip, advice or blog post on Dreamforce will mention the importance of comfortable shoes. You certainly will be doing A LOT of walking every day and there may not be 170,000 seats available, so be prepared.
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Twitter handle on conference badge - Make sure to ask for your company twitter handle on your badge! In the business world, your twitter handle is just as important as your name, right?
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Early Sessions sign-up - One area that caught a lot of people out last year was the requirement to sign up for certain sessions. Keep an eye on the Salesforce Events app, as this allows you to sign up for the session.
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Get certifications (50% off) - Yes that’s right, you can get Certified at Dreamforce, and with up to a whopping 50% off the original price! There’s no better time to get certified and take your career to the next level.
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Watch Dreamforce Twitter and LinkedIn before, during and after. Make sure to keep up to date with all the social media posts to see what changes, extras are added and any special guest appearances.
Bonus Tip….To avoid queues or missing out all together, get down early to Marc Benioff’s Main Keynote Speech on Day 1. The theatre fills up fast and once full, people are moved into overflow areas with the keynote shown on screens.
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