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When you show up at Dreamforce on November 18, it may seem like some sort of magic act assembled everything you see. In reality, the process of creating the annual event is long and arduous. A million moving pieces are controlled by a very talented and patient group of people, but the process also involves the entire salesforce.com community. Here are some interesting facts that may surprise you about planning the big event:
People may not realize how far in advance planning starts. In fact, we have the approximate dates for the next 13 years. This is necessary in order to book our venues, and coordinate with other major events in the city of San Francisco.
Last year was the first for the Dreamforce Plaza. The effort to create the Dreamforce Plaza included work on the part of the city government, police, fire fighters, traffic control, Department of Health, neighborhood associations, local businesses, and more. The organizers wanted a central gathering point for the campus—somewhat like a university quad with entertainment, food, activities, programming, and even a flash mob. But not just any quad would do. The team secured 70,000 square feet of turf for the Plaza, the size of an NFL football field! And, of the 577 beanbags used at Dreamforce 2012, 180 beanbags were at the Plaza.
While we can’t guarantee you the 78 degree weather we had last year as the conference is in November, we can promise that the plaza will still blow your mind. We can’t share too much, but let’s just say that the new atmosphere and direction has never been done to this scale in the US before.
One of the big items that attendees
appreciate is the conference bag. It may
surprise you that tremendous effort and consideration is put into choosing and
designing the bag. A large part of it involves reaching out to the community. While
there was a messenger bag last year, feedback indicated that a backpack was
preferred. And as any customer company
would do, we listened and have a cool new backpack for this year’s attendees.
At Dreamforce 2012, we gave away 75 recycled bicycle chain luggage tags, 400 eco-friendly chocolate bars, and 250 banner recycled totes. While cabs and cars were regularly used, pedicabs helped by keeping 6,906 pounds of carbon emissions from entering the environment. They gave 5,866 rides to 10,133 passengers and pedaled a total of 4,933 miles during the conference.
Dreamforce has so many people, and so many devices that security is mandatory. In 2012 there were 24,000 hours of security coverage from move-in to move-out. There were also a total of 350 security posts on the campus and 423 total security positions. In other words, have fun, but don’t get too wild.
Want more information on how Dreamforce comes together? Missed Dreamforce Operations mavens Karen Reul and Catherine Simmons on Salesforce Live: The Road to Dreamforce on Tuesday? Check it out now:
To see the complete schedule and register for this year's event, go to www.dreamforce.com or click the button below.
