The force that makes these dreams come true…

Another Dreamforce down. Another week of inspiration, rejuvenation, elevation, connection and excitement about the possibilities that lie ahead. 175K+ attendees, 18M+ online, tickets sold out in 17 days, ~$500M impact to the San Francisco economy, hotels at ~$1000/night, short staffed restaurants, out of coffee coffee shops, cabs/uber/lyft transformation into hot commodities, herds walking in every direction (like the 10 minute break between classes in college), lines around the block for important sessions (including people waiting since 4 AM to get into the keynote hall) and innovation/inspiration galore that has enabled this beast to significantly impact the Customer/Cloud/Digital space for 17 years straight (10 of which I have had the privilege and the honor to be part of :)).

What Dreamforce means to the Salesforce loyalists is hard to put in words - On the face of it, it’s the annual user conference. Which, like any other, possesses elements of learning, connecting and commercial activity, but the heart and soul of Dreamforce (as many would testify) is of a different kind. One that seems to be synonymous with ‘joy’ as that’s what is explicitly visible on the faces of the people walking around, sitting on bean bags, dancing to familiar tunes in middle of sessions (and on the concert night), getting inspiration from world leaders and in a general mood of giving and caring. It’s been called ‘Disneyland for Adults’, ‘the Greatest Place on Earth’, ‘the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ and much more by employees, partners, customers, alums and all other stakeholders that come together for the non-stop marathon. Being a loyalist, I too am in the same boat as I simply call it a feeling. A feeling that embodies an experiential sense of a slice of the world that comes together for the good of business and humanity and aims at promising not only a bright future for all but encourages all to lead better lives. A feeling that only this growing cult can fathom and appreciate and yearn to get once a year in San Francisco.

Dreamforce is about envisioning the future - The ever evolving and carefully crafted yearly announcements/enhancements on product/strategy continue to be the proof of impact of the themes that pave the way for more innovation and progress across the board. The themes that jumped out at me this time were Integration, Infrastructure and Intelligence. The integration side saw enhanced backend focus on tableau, MuleSoft, ClickSoftware to fill in some of the gaps that competitors offer and the front end saw a game changer with the strengthening of the partnership with Apple for Siri amalgamation as well as the Service Cloud Voice enhancement of transcribing voice calls. On the infrastructure side, the Amazon partnership will see faster processing times and greater elasticity of the cloud offering and for intelligence, more focus on Einstein as the engine for machine learning enabled growth for Salesforce. All in all, the enhancements further the cause of learning the customer in a much deeper sense and making the right tools available for the right engagement and beyond to cater to the next generation.

So why is Dreamforce so effective? Is Salesforce just good at putting up a nice yearly show or is there more to the engine that continuously crushes every metric and beats every street estimate to make this $120B Market cap/50K employee force unique? The truth of the matter is that so many business and life variables come together to form a cohesive and collective ecosystem of values that thrives in ways others are not set up to do. Meticulous focus on customer success, right product acquisition strategy, continuous investment into the platform, doubling down on the partner/ISV ecosystem, going deep on industry, furthering the culture of giving and lately ‘equality’ are some aspects of the fabric of the business at Salesforce and Dreamforce is a mere reflection and a demonstration of the willingness to do all this within the right value system. And it is this value system that makes Dreamforce so effective that customers get uber excited to tell their success story in a way that makes potential customers ask where to sign on the dotted line to become one. I guess doing good by all and making the right product has its own ups and one of them is that the product just sells itself successfully. And this happens all over Dreamforce.

So where does Dreamforce go from here? Well, since Marc and company refuse to take it elsewhere, it will probably continue to stay a San Francisco staple at least for the foreseeable future. If things stay on track, my guess would be that the ecosystem will continue to push every boundary of growth and make the impact that it always does not only on the ecosystem but on the partnership with the city of San Francisco. More hotels and buildings around Moscone would have to be roped in to accommodate this every fall (which everyone should be used to by now). Many Dreamforce templets have been tried, tested and solidified, many past mistakes/learnings have been rectified on the logistical, planning, showcasing and infrastructure side and seems like the time has come to just cruise on the already built Dreamforce brand and continue to build on top of it.

In the end, as the buzz of Dreamforce 2019 wares off and people get back to their normal routines (many celebrating Thanksgiving in the US), it is important to take a moment to reflect on some of the lessons from this unique experience that stays a reminder of excellence and continues to enrich our lives and of the lives of people around us for so many years. As Marc routinely suggests that the business of business is not just business. Its philanthropy, it's doing good for all people, nature, the environment and so much more. That is the real Salesforce secret sauce. That is the force behind these dreams and the force that continues to bring these dreams to reality in the form of Dreamforce year after year. And that, in true essence is that ‘feeling’ of the word ‘Dreamforce’ that many of us cherish and look forward to every year. May the feeling continue to grow, may the ecosystem continue to grow and may this force stay with you all for years to come. Happy Dreamforce all, see you all in November 2020!!!

Javaid Iqbal is the Co-founder & CEO of TransformX, a global consultancy in the digital customer transformation, disruption and innovation space. He has previously held leadership roles at EY, PwC and Salesforce servicing global Fortune 500 clients and government entities across the Americas, EMEA and APAC. He is also a Global Keynote Speaker.