But really the entire company has a role in producing Dreamforce. A small, core team of full-time staffers are dedicated to planning the event, says Donner. Planning an engaging experience for that many people is a big deal. The four days of Dreamforce bring a huge influx of people to the City by the Bay, filling up every hotel room and Airbnb in the area. Planning the world’s largest software conference “Every year we say, ‘This year is going to be the biggest and best Dreamforce ever,’” says Salesforce Vice President and Dreamforce Event Chair Brigitte Donner, “and somehow, we actually make that happen and raise the bar.” Leaders in business, politics, entertainment, sports, and more are featured speakers, and technology of course takes a front seat. Today, Dreamforce has 171,000 registered attendees signed up for a four-day celebration of the Salesforce Trailblazer community, all focused on how business – and every attendee – can be a change agent in the world.
Back then, a few more than 1,000 people gathered at a single San Francisco hotel for 50 or so sessions on how a startup company with a cloud-based CRM application could help companies grow their sales. Dreamforce has come a long way since its first edition 16 years ago.
