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The parties were in full swing last night: dance-offs with Macklemore at the Quip party, a hip-hop legend got the beats going at Salesforce Platform’s 80s themed night, and Motown tunes filled the air as BOLDforce party attendees danced into the night. But Friday morning was a different story — it was a day for quiet and reflection. Powerful stories, personal empowerment, mindfulness, and meditation was how attendees closed out their final hours at Dreamforce ‘18.
The Future Executive Summit wrapped up two days of career exposure and skills development with an engaged group of 400 young people, aged 15-25 years old. The program today tackled hard issues in a fireside chat with David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting in Florida. Seeing the pain of his sister, who lost four friends that day, was the first time he truly understood sympathy, he said. “I felt a necessity to speak for people like [my sister] who couldn’t at that time.” Using the skills he learned in debate class, he began speaking out about gun violence and organized a record-breaking protest in Washington D.C. through the organization he co-created called March For Our Lives. The audience was moved and followed the session with a collective moment of silence.
Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, told a packed house on Dreamforce’s Personal Empowerment Day that “I can complete a project by dropping it.” Sacrificing what’s not important, limiting device usage, and allowing time to refuel is all part of her Thrive platform that advocates for a culture of wellbeing, her latest endeavor since founding The Huffington Post. Ever since her personal experience of collapsing from exhaustion in 2007, she’s made it her mission to dispel the myth that you succeed by burning yourself out. For Arianna, that has meant never seeing a single episode of “Game of Thrones” and giving up on the idea of becoming a better skier. We can all incorporate more of this perspective into our busy lives, as evidenced by the laughs and applause she received throughout the session.
Deepak Chopra started off his talk by asking a question and telling his audience how to respond. “Are you aware? The answer is yes,” he says, introducing attendees to the practice of meditation. “Be aware of that which is having this experience. It’s all happening in you right now.” Chopra presented his formula for happiness, which comes down to expanding your awareness, eliminating self-doubting beliefs, and choosing to make selfless actions and become more generous. Watch here.
American Buddhism mindfulness guru Jack Kornfield treated Dreamforce attendees to a powerful mindfulness session today. In teaching the audience how to infuse presence, intention, and awareness into everything they do, he also gave us tools to use in our daily lives. “When in conflict, take a deep breath and ask yourself what is my best intention before responding,” Kornfield advises.
Guitar in hand, singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher took the stage to talk about her life, how she transformed her pain into inspiration, and perform some of her most meaningful songs. “The more I focused on my purview, the more I noticed an immediate change to the outside. Being present — when I sit still — I learned that it gave me a chance to understand who I am. I gained a sense of where I am and where others begin.” See her talk here.
We hope you’re leaving Dreamforce happy, healthy, inspired, and loaded with information to take your career and business to the next level. Take the next few days to relax, and the next few weeks to process all that you saw, heard, and experienced. We’ll see you again next year for Dreamforce '19 on November 19-22, 2019.
