Soapbox Engage Blog

I've been to more than a few conferences this year. Most conferences I attend are squarely focused on either the Joomla! or non-profit technology communities.  That tends to be my comfort zone.  So when I decided to join Melanie and Tim to do some crosstraining and Joomla! evangelism at Salesforce.com Dreamforce 2010 conference, I had no idea what to expect.

The result:  after four days at Dreamforce I was completely exhausted, my mind was swirling with possibilities, and I'd shaken more hands than a politician walking a rope line.  Thank goodness for the "cloud" beanbag areas in San Francisco's Moscone West.

[caption id="attachment_1214" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="PICnetters and SaaSy at Dreamforce 2010"][/caption]

There were more than a few times I asked myself, "is this a rock concert, or am I at a technology conference?"  DJs were spinning in the lobbies of all the conference halls (Dreamforce took over all three of the Moscone conference halls in San Francisco), SaaSy and Chatty (Saleforce's mascots) roamed the halls with big smiles, and the rain didn't keep anyone from staying to see Stevie Wonder, will.i.am and apl.de.ap, and President Bill Clinton make appearances.

But seriously, it wasn't a rock conference.

I came to the event with four main interests:  (1) understanding how non-profits could best utilize CRM tools like Salesforce.com, (2) learning how organizations would like their websites and CRM tools integrated together, (3) networking with fellow friends from the non-profit sector, and (4) learning best practices from business development and sales professionals from outside our non-profit world.

PICnetters Ryan, Tim, and Melanie sitting on the Dreamforce cloud beanbags.

During this week, I'll chronicle my Dreamforce experience through these four areas, providing some insight for those that weren't able to attend this "rock conference" experience.  While I won't be able to replicate the energy at the event, I look forward to sharing some good lessons learned.