Top 10 Things We Will (and Won’t) Miss with a Virtual Dreamforce
We’re still trying to wrap our heads around the reimagined Dreamforce to You 2020 event, which takes place virtually this year. It’s fantastic it will still be held given the travel, socializing, and gathering challenges of the past year. Participating in an online Dreamforce will be…interesting.
As we thought about this year’s event, our team reminisced about the overall Dreamforce experience. It’s always been great to chat with so many people in person and talk to manufacturers about their operational challenges. But it didn’t take long for us to come up with the top 10 things we’ll miss the most (and a few we definitely won’t miss) without an in-person Dreamforce 2020. And here they are, in countdown fashion!
#10 Buzz and Excitement: Dreamforce is by far the IT industry’s best event. You can feel the electricity in the air.
#9 Expo: Our expo booth is where we spend most of our Dreamforce time, talking with thousands of people over just a few days. We have a lot of fun getting our booth ready and showing off the latest Rootstock Cloud ERP capabilities. And, it’s always interesting to see how other companies are getting creative with booth designs and giveaways.
#8 Keynotes: Salesforce always has fabulous keynote speakers, from Michelle Obama and Michael Dell to Melinda Gates and Deepak Chopra. They are always top-notch and truly inspiring.
#7 The Trailblazers: Dreamforce draws partners, customers, and employees from around the globe. The diversity always leads to so many interesting conversations you would never get elsewhere.
#6 New Products: Getting a glimpse of the future with new Salesforce product announcements is always exciting. The innovations from partners, too, always bring so many new ideas and experiences. It also helps us see what’s interesting to our customers, which helps guide our own product advancements.
#5 Learning: There are so many opportunities to learn and improve your skills at Dreamforce. Just walking around the Campground lets you absorb new things and meet many interesting characters.
#4 Giving Back: Dreamforce always provides an opportunity to do something good. With all the learning and meetings and events, it’s easy to get lost in your own activities. But we do enjoy the opportunities to help a charity, pack backpacks, or buy books.
#3 Entertainment: Dreamforce offers more parties and concerts than anyone could possibly attend! Dreamfest is always an amazing event, with past headliners including Bruno Mars, U2, Alicia Keys, and Foo Fighters.
#2 Getting Together with Our Team: As much as we love our customers, it’s especially nice to connect with our Rootstock colleagues. We’ve been missing each other for most of this year, and we’ll really miss this chance to reconnect, brainstorm, generate new ideas, and celebrate our wins.
#1 Our Customers: We love spending time with our customers, learning what they’re doing with Rootstock Cloud ERP, and feeling their energy and excitement. It’s also great to build those personal relationships and friendships over coffee or dinner.
Wow, so many great things that we won’t get the chance to experience in 2020. We know it’s for the best, and this has been a challenging year, so we are truly happy that Dreamforce is happening at all. But as we got misty-eyed talking about what we would miss, our conversation took a bit of a darker turn. And then, we listed out the things we would not miss!
Standing: Standing in line, standing in line at 5:00 a.m. to see a guest speaker, standing at the receptions, standing at parties, standing to eat, standing at the booth, and all other reasons for standing at Dreamforce.
Sore Feet and Backs: See “Standing.”
Food: Getting a dinner reservation during Dreamforce is nearly impossible. You’re either stuck eating at 3:30 in the afternoon or 11:30 at night. We also won’t miss sitting on the floor to eat lunch (if you don’t want to stand). And, as much as we love the parties and receptions, there are never enough appetizers to go around.
Crowds: There are crowds everywhere and bumping and being bumped turns Dreamforce into a full-contact sport. The worst, ironically, happens outside. As you’re waiting to cross the street, you either have a Dreamforce backpack in your face or you fear you’ll be pushed in front of the Dreamforce bus!
Traveling: The planes, trains, and automobiles required to get to Dreamforce are always a hassle. But then trying to find a hotel room that is borderline acceptable, and with a nightly rate that doesn’t require special approval from your CFO, just adds to the challenge. We also won’t miss the standing, waiting for, and then missing the Dreamfest bus back to the hotel, and then trying to find a late-night Lyft ride.
Sleep Deprivation (i.e. Hangovers): Why are there so many free drinks at Dreamforce? OK, maybe this is more about personal responsibility than a fault of Dreamforce, but it made our list.
Dead Batteries: Ever try to find a power outlet at Dreamforce? At least you can usually find an open outlet at home. Just be diligent a family member doesn’t unplug it…
Seriously, we love Dreamforce! We’re excited for Dreamforce to You 2020, even if it’s virtual. And all of us at Rootstock look forward to seeing you next year at an in-person, non-distanced, super-fun Dreamforce 2021. (We’ve already made dinner reservations for next year and scored 10:45 p.m. Woohoo!)
