In 2006, I walked into Dreamforce as a newbie working on the Salesforce training team as the Training Coordinator. Part of my responsibility was to help promote our first-ever New Feature class that would be held before Dreamforce. We had a room that would hold 100, and we were hoping to fill at least half of the class. We were very pleased when we reached our capacity weeks before the event. Yes, 100 people came through training that year, and 10,000 customers attended Dreamforce. I was impressed by the size of the crowd, and didn’t think we would ever surpass those training numbers at an event again. Fast-forward to Dreamforce 2015, where we delivered training to close to 13,000 customers—more people than even attended the first event overall!

As a 10-year veteran of the event, I can truly say that a lot has changed. It’s not just the size of the event, but the impact we’ve made on our customers. I have met many people whose lives have been changed by participating in Dreamforce, and so many whose careers have been enhanced by the Pre-Conference Training, Certifications, and HOT (hands-on-training) sessions we offer. If you’re heading to Dreamforce 2016, here’s what you should know about training and certification.

Pre-Conference Training:

Our pre-conference training is on fire! Literally. Several years ago, we actually had a computer catch on fire during one of our classes. No one was hurt, the instructor didn’t miss a beat, and all the students had an awesome story to tell their colleagues back at home. Lesson learned— nothing stops our Instructors from training you on how to connect with your customers using Salesforce.

This year, our pre-conference training starts on Saturday, October 1^st, where  we are offering one-, two-, and three-day training classes that provide a deep dive into specific topics, such as Administering Salesforce, Marketing Cloud, Building Lightening Components, or Getting Started with Reports and Dashboards. These full-day courses, taught by our Certified Salesforce Instructors, include hands-on exercises and group discussions to help you solidify the topics and concepts you learn. 

And while we hope never to have another fire, we like to keep training exciting, so we will be hosting a meet and greet party on Saturday for our customers who join us for this early event. It will be a great opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with our experts, mixed with a little fun.

Certification:

Ten years ago, the idea of offering Certification Exams as part of the conference offerings hadn’t even crossed our minds. But customer demand had us rethink our strategy, and we kicked off certification in 2008. Christina Major (the Americas Delivery Manager) and I hit the road in May 2008 for a 5-city certification event. We held 4 exam sessions per city, with a goal of getting 500 people certified by Dreamforce in November. Not only did we have 500 people certified, we had another 300 come to Dreamforce a day early and take exams. To celebrate, we hosted the First 500 party, where only Salesforce Certified Professionals could attend. Certification was so popular at Dreamforce that customers were offering to buy our staff blazer with the flaming certification logo.

If you have you been thinking about sitting for one of our industry-recognized certification exams, Dreamforce 2016 is the place to do it. Not only will have you a chance to study with your peers, we will also offer certification study halls (NEW to Dreamforce this year) with experts on hand to answer your questions. And, you’ll get to take advantage of the “Dreamforce Only” special pricing of 50% off your exam, and will go home with bragging rights when you pass your exam.

You can register for certification when you register for Dreamforce and pick your exam time when Agenda Builder goes live. Exam sessions will start on the Monday before the main event kicks off and will run all week.

Hands - on Training Sessions (HOTs)

When we say HOT, we mean HOT! Our 1-hour and 2.5-hour Hands-On Training sessions (included in your Dreamforce pass) that run throughout the conference have been known to fill to capacity the day Agenda Builder opens. Our HOT sessions have always been popular, some with standing room only. In fact, for several years in a row we received stern warnings from the fire marshal and had to clear the back of the classrooms. Since then, we have added extra rooms to help with the demand, and keep the local fire marshal happy, but there is always a line of customers hoping for no-shows, so if you register for a session I suggest you arrive with plenty of time to take your seat!

Be sure to save the date on your calendar to complete your agenda as soon as it’s open. If you don’t get into the first session, don’t worry, as we add repeat sessions throughout the conference.

All the sessions are presented by a Salesforce Certified Instructor and include hands-on exercises that you do in your own org that you can continue to use after Dreamforce is over. What a great way to reinforce and review what you are learning! This is your chance to learn from the experts, collaborate with peers, and get your questions answered.

Reflecting back over my 10 years at Dreamforce, I have seen incredible changes, announcements, and offerings launched at Dreamforce that have helped drive success for our customers. I have seen amazing seminars led by experts, and customers who share their unique Salesforce stories. And I have seen thousands of people come to Dreamforce to learn and leave with information for life. It makes me proud to work for Salesforce U, where I have personally experienced the positive impact that training and certification have had on so many of our customers. They are so dedicated to their training journey that I know I will see them each year, and look forward to catching up with them.

Want to start learning from the experts now? Visit Salesforce University for more information.