How do you get 171,000 people to be at the right place at the right time? (No, this is not the start of a joke!) It’s hard enough directing your team to the right conference room for a meeting. Imagine what it’s like to get tens of thousands of people to navigate 3,300 sessions over most of downtown San Francisco!

If you’ve been to Dreamforce, you don’t have to imagine this scenario—you’ve lived it. Back in 2015, we saw that Dreamforce was only going to get bigger, and we knew we needed a mobile app to help our attendees navigate this experience.

We’d used conference apps for Dreamforce in the past, but they never quite measured up to our standards. We needed an app that was engaging and user-friendly. It had to be available on iOS and Android, and it needed to integrate with all our backend systems we use to run Dreamforce. The solution? Build it on the Salesforce Platform.

The Evolution of the Salesforce Events App

The first iteration of the Events App built in 2015 was built with Salesforce’s Mobile SDK, which provides mechanisms for authentication services and data retrieval. The app allowed attendees to:

• Search for sessions by session name or by speaker
• View session details, including maps and directions
• View and participate in event Chatter feeds

For Dreamforce 2017, we brought the full force of Salesforce to the Events App. We introduced Einstein Recommendations into Agenda Builder, providing attendees with personalized session recommendations based on their industry, role, and interests. SMS and in-app messaging, powered by Marketing Cloud, allow us to send targeted messages and alerts to attendees, such as reminders for upcoming sessions or important announcements. And with the help of a native Service Cloud integration, attendees can get support right from the app, with the help of a self-service Knowledge Base, Live Agent Chat, or SOS video calls. 

An Events App For Everyone (Not Just Dreamforce!)

While Dreamforce is the largest event powered by the Salesforce Events App, it’s certainly not the only time it shines. Attendees at any Trailhead Live or Salesforce World Tour can use the Events App to make the most of these experiences by downloading it from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, and registering for the event. Eager to learn how we built the app that creates a world-class experience for every event attendee? The latest story in our series of interactive stories, Inside Stories: How Salesforce Uses the Salesforce Platform, is all about the Events App. Check it out to learn more about how we use our own technology to make Dreamforce incredible.

Salesforce really does run on Salesforce, and we’re excited to continue our interactive series of stories showcasing how we solved these challenges with the Salesforce Platform. It’s called Inside Stories: How Salesforce Uses The Salesforce Platform. This series explores eight different apps showcasing the power and flexibility of the Salesforce Platform to solve everyday business challenges, improve employee engagement, and boost innovation.

Go inside the Salesforce’s employee app development strategy with Inside Stories. Look for more stories of apps built on the Salesforce Platform in the coming weeks.