I'm expecting all kinds of news this year at Dreamforce, between everything mobile and ExactTarget in the Marketing Cloud. This is my 3rd time at Dreamforce, I went in 2008 and again last year.  My trip here from Boston was kind of a disaster, but that had no impact on the three things great about arriving at Dreamforce:

1. Bigger than Last Year

I feel for the event team. At the end of every Dreamforce attendees always say, "That was huge! How can it possibly get any bigger?" And yet they do. In 2008, arriving at SFO I noticed the signage in the airport, an indicator of a huge show. This year, signage at JFK Airport in New York was mentioned on Twitter. That's a first for me.

I've also never seen event ambassadors on the streets more than 10 blocks from the venue giving direction and advice. It's mind blowing that they're taking over a major metropolitan downtown.

Last year closing down the street and astroturfing it was a big deal, this year, there's a dome over it in case we get rain. As a father, I know it's not a party until you set up the bounce house. Speaking of parties...

2. Parties

Having great events, including Green Day and Blondie, and some events even happening before the opening keynote, gives you a chance to catch up with friends, which is a big part of why return attendees love this event.

3. The Energy

For myself and many attendees, this is a chance to meet with "our people." I've been at more than one company where management knew I achieved results but didn't understand my day to day. Getting a chance to talk with people who handle the same challenges and share the same successes, makes this the most fun I have at work all year.

John Wall is a marketer and founder of Marketing Over Coffee. He will be commenting daily about marketing and technology developments at Dreamforce 2013. He has my own Safe Harbor statement: I am not an employee of Salesforce so if anything in my posts causes trouble, please don't let it reflect on them. He is not the basketball player, and he doesn't mind being confused with him, and actually enjoys the jokes that arise from comparing a young NBA player to a middle-aged white guy. 

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