Dreamforce 2015 will mark my tenth voyage to the city by the bay to attend this magnificent conference. As such, I have some random thoughts in no particular order that I will state here, forget I stated them, and repeat them any time I have had a beer and/or missed a nap.
These are not “tips” or “tricks” or directions on how to pack. This is just important stuff that your generation needs to know about… so put down your walkman and give a listen.
- I begged my supervisor to let me attend #df05 but he asked me to hold the fort while he attended. Despite this, I am still friends with him to this day… which is very big of me.
- The first year I actually attended, 2006, the entire conference took place inside Moscone West. I’m not certain we even filled all of it.
- It wasn’t until the first time the Foo Fighters played the conference in 2008 that the gala looked more like a concert than an awkward school dance. INXS and Train had previously played and one could easily approach the stage without touching another human… but, you know, why would you do that.
- Dreamforce Europe was a thing; it happened once in 2008. I felt the venue was a little awkward and there was a bit of a language barrier when networking yet still it was more sophisticated, because it was european.
- In 2009 keynote attendees found novelty wind-up clacking teeth toys on their seats to celebrate the release of Chatter. I gave mine to a friend sitting next to me because he has two sons.
- I watched Neil Young drive a Lincoln Continental with a trunk full of batteries on stage and proceed to talk about electric car feasibility. We all thought he was off his rocker.
- They didn’t always close down Howard Street. You had to wait for a light to stop traffic to cross from North to South. Attendees did not always realize this. Damn walkmans.
- You people take platform-as-a-service for granted. I was there in 2007 when they announced Force.com. They played this video and it blew my god damn mind.
- Metallica was awesome, although most of the crowd looked like they were attending a funeral. I heard there was a little bit of jostling at one point right up front, but I didn’t see any. A lot of camera phones though, I bet they watch those videos a lot.
- I once bought a coffee at the starbucks on 4th. Now it’s just a pipe dream.
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