Dreamforce 2012

Marc Benioff Dreamforce 2012As Dreamforce 2012 comes to a close, we review the highlights of this years’ 4 day event.

First up we can only describe this as been the event to set the bar for all future cloud technology events. The atmosphere was pumping; the keynote speeches, inspiring and the technology, innovative.

And with 90,000 registered attendees, Marc Benioff was right in saying it would be the biggest event yet!!

The agenda for the event was apparent from the outset, with huge emphasis on presenting customer case studies to show how enterprises of all sizes can be successful at implementing social media and mobile applications.

Joining Benioff in this pitch was Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts, who promises that with their new Burberry World Live website, they will “test the boundaries” of the customer experience.

Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson and Benioff’s session proved to be one of the most popular at this years’ event.  They spent an hour having a candid and inspirational chat that left most of the audience positively chomping at the bit for more, and their message was clear; “It’s okay to make mistakes, as long as you listen and learn from them”. You can view their chat here.

We were also given an introduction to Communities and Chatterbox;

  • Chatterbox is Salesforce.com’s answer to Dropbox.  It is designed to allow users to manage and share files “in the context of business,” and is scheduled for release next year.
  • Chatter Communities for Partners, is aimed at connecting companies, resellers and suppliers in order to drive up sales, via a new partner portal.

But despite all this, Dreamforce went out of its way to prove it was all about being social and having fun, as we were treated to a musical festival, salesforce.com style.  With music from the likes of Quinn DeVeaux, The Limousines, Mother Hips and Still Flyin’. Get a taste of the full line-up here.

And, the lowlight….four days just wasn’t enough!!!