Episode 13 Transcript:

Scott Billows (00:02.121)
Howdy, Tom. Hello, everybody. Welcome to our 13th episode of Bellarmar Bytes. And Tom, excited to have a conversation with you today about, I guess what some call the biggest technology event in the world, and that is Dreamforce. Dreamforce 2025 is right around the corner, and excited to have this convo with you. I guess maybe just for those that don't know you, because you haven't been on before, why don't you just do a quick intro and then we can jump into it.

Tom Kadota (00:31.534)
For sure. Hey folks, my name is Tom Kedona. I am the Solutions Engineer here at Belmar. I support our sales team and pre-sales team in solutioning high level estimations, timelines, project budgets, and all of that. And excited to be here and talk about Dreamforce.

Scott Billows (00:48.53)
Yeah, amazing. Well, Tom, you do an amazing job with our customers and Salesforce likewise do an amazing job inviting customers out to this event in San Francisco. So why don't we frame this up? Because there's people that have been to Dreamforce a bunch of times. There's others that have never been. And there's probably some that don't even know what Dreamforce is. I would expect that any of our customers that are using Salesforce would have been.

communicated already to by Salesforce and but I guess maybe just to frame this up. So Dreamforce is happening this year in San Francisco where it happens every year. It's happening October 14th to 16th right downtown San Fran. And as I had mentioned in the intro, it is probably the biggest technology event that takes place around the world. I think this year there are probably forecasting 50 to 60,000 people.

Last year there was, I read 40 plus thousand people there. I know a few years ago when I was there, I guess it's more than a few years ago now, it's pre-COVID, I think they peaked at something like 100,000 people showing up in the city of San Francisco, which is pretty crazy to think about trying to put that many people in hotel rooms and find, you know, feeding them and getting everybody.

well-entertained and educated while they're in San Fran. it's coming up pretty quick and we're gonna be there this year again. But really today I was hoping we could unpack a few things in terms of sort what to expect, how to plan for it, what you should do when you're there. So Tom, I know you were at Dreamforce a few years ago. And it's been a couple years I think since you were there last. But why don't you just.

chime in with, guess, was the experience like and what insight can you impart to those that are listening, for those maybe who haven't been before.

Tom Kadota (02:56.108)
Yeah, for sure. Dream Forces, as Scott mentioned, it is kind of the big tech conference of the year and it definitely...

feels like it. I found that there was so much to do in the whole campground area and all the venues. They really shut down San Francisco with this event. Not only just in downtown San Fran, but the surrounding areas for concerts and all that. They rent out the stadium for large events and things like that.

Amazing agenda is jam-packed So definitely, you know look ahead of time and figure out what sessions and keynotes that you may want to Attend but as well there's so many things outside of the official conference that you can attend You know, there's a lot of partner events that are being put on a lot of dinners a lot of parties a lot of things like that

and you just meet a ton of people, kind of either in the same seat as you or in adjacent roles at other organizations. And it's really amazing to see Salesforce put on such an incredible event for such a wide audience that everyone can relate to. Truly an unforgettable experience, especially for a tech conference. It's very grand, I would say.

Scott Billows (04:24.698)
Yeah, yeah. It's kind of interesting when I hear you say Tech Conference and then I overlay my experience of going to Dreamforce, which I think this year, man, I'd have to go back and count, but I think this is probably six or seven Dreamforces that I've gone to. it's kind of this mashup of Tech Conference and kind of celebrity rock star promotion. It's pretty wild for just sort of...

Tom Kadota (04:47.372)
Yeah.

Scott Billows (04:53.84)
You know, the tech scene is interesting when you walk around and see the people that are actually delivering the technology and partners like ourselves. I there's no real rock stars in the crowd, but then you've got just this aura that comes with it that Mark Benioff somehow stick handles getting some A-list folks out to this event. And Tom, you referenced the concerts and just sort of all of the buzz that goes on.

around the event. I Salesforce now is just this monster organization and they've got a lot of sway, a lot of cache in San Francisco and I guess maybe just to double click on a couple of the key dates that are important to think about. So if you are going to Dreamforce, it kicks off October 14th and it wraps up on the 16th, I believe it is, so 14th to 16th this year.

It kicks off like the 14th if you want to experience the whole thing, get into town the night of the 13th or the day of the 13th, get yourself ready, because it comes out of the gate pretty fast on the 14th. So a couple of key sessions that I just want to highlight. There are, I don't actually know how many, there's probably...

Well, hundreds and hundreds, maybe even there's more than 1,000 sessions. There's probably more than 1,000 sessions that are going on. So clearly you can't attend everything, but the ones that are very interesting, at least to us, ones that we'll be keeping an eye on this year. October 14th, 10 a.m. Pacific time is the opening keynote. that's when Mark Benioff spends a couple of hours just laying out the vision for what's coming next, the accomplishments they've had over the last year.

They're showcasing customers across a wide variety of industries, including the industries we're working in, in nonprofit and public sector. Following that is, actually the following day on the 15th is the nonprofit keynote. And that's happening at least as of right now. It's scheduled for 1.30 to 2.30 Pacific time. That's really insightful. For folks like ourselves, it's kind of a must.

Scott Billows (07:12.885)
participate event. You get to hear what's coming, the latest and greatest, again showcasing customer success that's been happening in the last year. So that's on the 15th of October and then Education Cloud keynote is in the afternoon starting at three o'clock Pacific. So and I don't actually have the public sector keynote in my notes but it's it'll be available on the Dreamforce schedule. So kind of each cloud, each vertical.

Each industry has their own keynote event of some type and they're usually well worth attending. then beyond that, there's just a ton of breakout sessions that are happening. I guess on that topic, Tom, what advice can you give to somebody who's going for the first time and is looking at their schedule and wanting to try to maximize the...

all the sessions that they're going to be able to participate in.

Tom Kadota (08:15.404)
Yeah, for sure. would say, depending on which role you're in, know, sale...

As an attendee, can really be maybe an administrator, a developer, an executive, a decision maker in your organization. And they have these sessions all tailored to these different roles. And I believe, and I can't remember off the top of my head, but in the Salesforce events app, or if you look up their agenda, you can filter by specific roles or specific sessions that you want to go. I would say definitely plan this out.

you know, on your way there or before before you go, there is an official agenda that will be finalized. Usually, you know, it's being tweaked up until the event, but you can use the official app, the Salesforce events app, which I used just through through your mobile phone. And it was really kind of my lifeline at the event and throughout the few days there just to bookmark the different sessions that I'm going to. So I'm able to see which ones are coming up and which ones I want to prioritize.

because you know there's some really useful, they're all very useful but there's some that were more important to me but at the same time I did want to see you know some some high-level celebrities talk I remember I was like you know what I do want to go to this campfire session to see Rainn Wilson speak and you

will I am speaking about AI as well. So definitely you want to make sure that you're searching for the sessions that speak out to you, that are important to you, both personally and professionally, and try to balance your agenda as well. You don't have to fill every minute of the day because you will be exhausted. There's a ton of people and your social battery does start to drain a little bit. So just identify those must-sees and make sure that

Tom Kadota (10:05.008)
ones that you really want to go to and make sure to collect your swag as well. There's a lot of free stuff.

Scott Billows (10:07.319)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it's not the truth. Yeah. So here's a little pro tip. Pack light and or bring an extra bag because you end up walking out every day with really cool swag that you get back to your hotel and you put it on. You lay it. I remember laying it out on the bed and like, how the heck am I going to get all this stuff back? So you're, you know, you're you may be forced to wear a couple of shirts or hoodies on the plane back just to get your stuff back. But yeah, that's good tip.

Do you remember how many steps you did? Were you into tracking your steps the last time?

Tom Kadota (10:45.582)
I think it was easily like 20,000 plus in the day. We were also walking from our hotel as well, so that definitely added to it. Yeah, but there are, I believe they do set up some shuttles, shuttle services to take you around or to different venues, so you can take a look at those as well. yeah, was definitely getting my steps in.

Scott Billows (11:11.265)
Yeah, isn't that the truth? know. San Fran is historically really nice in the month of October. So it's not too cool, not too hot. so just business casual is totally doable walking to and from your hotel and then throughout the various venues. I guess maybe on that front,

Salesforce occupy what's called Moscone Center, is right downtown on Howard Street. It's, I guess, the equivalent of approximately two blocks that they consume in terms of building. So that's kind of the official site where, sort of the hub of where everything happens. And then in the periphery around, kind of surrounding Moscone are a bunch of different hotels. And so they utilize the hotels as well for hosting sessions.

When you are planning your sessions, look at where they are because you could be in Moscone and then right after that at the Intercontinental, which is not far, but it's a block and a half away, but you've gotta kind of weave your way through tens of thousands of people to get to that next session. And so as you're planning your day, think about location where these sessions are at. And if you can, to arrange.

sessions in the same location, maybe in the morning and the same location in the afternoon. It just makes your life a lot easier and you're not battling the crowds. Let's talk about if you can't actually get to San Francisco. So we're releasing this approximately a month before the event. Maybe you can't get a ticket, maybe you can't, it's not in the budget right now to...

to take three or four days off your day job and head to San Francisco for a technology conference. If you can't go in person, Tom, what do we got in terms of options for seeing it online?

Tom Kadota (13:21.432)
for sure. Yeah, if you can't attend in person, think that Salesforce does a really good job of kind of streaming that experience online. They do have their streaming platform for showcasing keynote sessions and speakers called Salesforce Plus. It's a free streaming service.

You could just watch the recordings live or watch it on demand as well. A lot of the agenda items or agenda sessions that are going to be on there, you will see links to them in which you can watch it on your laptop.

Just like in person, you do want to plan that experience and make sure you're bookmarking which times these sessions go live. But you will also need to create your own Trailblazer account to log in and watch this. So make sure you block time on your calendar. Make sure you build that virtual agenda as well and create your account. you know, yeah, it's a big thing. It's a big push on social media as well.

You don't have the same face-to-face experience being in the crowds and being next to other like-minded folks. But if your organization is really into it, you can have watch parties, group streams, things like that. You can check out Trailblazer community groups online as well and just really leverage the tools at your disposal to tune in and be a part of the community.

Scott Billows (14:54.806)
Yeah, I think the last thing you've highlighted is actually worth mentioning again. So this concept of a watch party. So if you've got enough people in your organization that are passionate about Salesforce, it might be fun to do that internally as a team. I know we've done that with our team in the past. Certainly the keynotes, there are always big product announcements, big of vision casting.

So it just gives you a flavor for what's coming. So those are great to watch with other people because it spawns really interesting conversation after and you get to kind of noodle on what was discussed and even try to do some of your own forecasting in terms of kind of what impact is this going to have within your own organization. you know, doing it internally is cool. Another option if you're located close to a user group and most

Most cities around the world at this point, certainly within North America, have got user groups. I'm thinking of one that Tom, we've gone to a bunch in the past, which is the Vancouver user group. I'm sure I actually haven't seen anything from them as of yet, but I'm sure there'll be something happening where you can get together with others and participate in a Dreamforce-like experience, saving yourself the time and cost of traveling to San Fran.

Tom Kadota (16:09.422)
Mm-hmm.

Scott Billows (16:18.486)
Check that out and if you have any questions about how to get connected to any of these, can reach out to us and we'd be happy to point you in the right direction. All right, so that's a little bit about the dates, what the experience is like. Let's talk a little bit, Tom, about just sort customers going. What's the benefit for a customer?

Obviously there's sessions and there's other like-minded individuals that they can meet. give me some thoughts in terms of if a customer is thinking about going, what should they expect to come back with for that investment? What might they take back from San Francisco?

Tom Kadota (17:08.472)
For sure, yeah. I think that it's not just learning about things, sitting in sessions and listening to people speak as well. With that, you'll learn a lot about Salesforce's future roadmap with AI, automations, different platforms and different tools that you can use, but also learning and up-skilling is a huge thing at Salesforce. There's a lot of workshops and hands-on labs, and it's kind of like a big

university homecoming basically for Salesforce. So there's practical training for admins, developers, business leaders to immediately bring back value and skills from these sessions or these workshops that you're going to. And learning what's upcoming and what other organizations do in your industry focused kind of like track that you're on, whether that's nonprofit, public sector or education.

It gives you and your organization actionable knowledge right away. So on top of the networking and on top of the high level learnings of product roadmaps and things like that, you can really go and upscale your technical learnings on the platform as well. So it can be very tactical as well as strategic.

Scott Billows (18:29.203)
Yeah, yeah. I think I'd just add to that and say, Salesforce is one of, if not sort of the core technology platform that your organization is leaning on, it is, I'll use the word, it's validating. Like to go to Dreamforce, it really validates the investment that you've made. And not that you may need to be validated that you've made a good decision, but there is something about being around.

tens of thousands of other people who are, I would say, in a similar spot to you in that they're trying to improve their organization through technology. They're trying to deliver their mission more efficiently. They're trying to do more with less. They're trying to...

just really position the organization for the future. And they've made a decision that Salesforce is the technology to help them get there. When you get around other people, you're just gonna hear ideas and it's gonna open up your mind to the possibility that exists for your organization if you continue to make further investment. I would say just,

feedback that I've heard from customers in years past that have gone to Dreamforce, they've made an investment in Salesforce, they've implemented Salesforce, they've had success within a particular use case. And then they've gone to Dreamforce and they've, while they had heard it before, know, Salesforce can also do this, this, and this within your organization, they didn't really understand it until they actually got to Dreamforce and it just opens up their eyes to.

It's just this world of possibility. So it's really empowering to go and see just all of the different ways that Salesforce is being used and to be able to come back to your organization and in some cases just be able to execute almost a day after you get back on some of the ideas that you've learned. Obviously some of these are sort of longer term. They take budgeting and planning and

Scott Billows (20:47.868)
strategic mindset around execution of how you're going to go and implement these things. But there can be some really quick wins that you can pull back from Dreamforce and implement almost immediately. I'm endorsing it big time. If you can get there, it is well worth the investment. If you can't get there in person, Tom's shared just different channels that you can consume.

We're gonna be releasing content, we'll be sharing the latest and greatest that we're learning as we're there. And so, there's just gonna be whole bunch of opportunity for our customers to benefit from the investment we're making to going to Dreamforce this year. I do wanna just do a quick plug. We've got a partner that we recommend and have worked with a lot.

and they are called Fundraise Up. Fundraise Up is gonna be at Dreamforce this year. We've been invited by Fundraise Up to collaborate and participate. They have a lounge that they're sponsoring and so we're gonna have some customers that are joining us at that lounge. And so if you are in San Fran for Dreamforce, be sure to check that out. So a big shout out to Fundraise Up for.

inviting us and enabling us to participate in that and we're excited to be doing that this year. So if you're there, come and check it out. It's just outside of the official Dreamforce grounds. It's at a location that's a few blocks away. So we'll be sharing more on our socials and probably through email as we're getting closer to Dreamforce. thanks to fundraise out for.

their willingness to have us participate and we're excited to be there. Awesome. Well, Tom, guess just maybe three, two or three kind of key takeaways that you can leave people with as they're prepping for Dreamforce and based on your experience in going. So what are a couple things that pop into your mind?

Tom Kadota (23:04.162)
Yeah, a couple things that pop in my mind is just plan your sessions, wear comfortable shoes, and stay hydrated for the most part.

Scott Billows (23:11.944)
There you go.

Plan your sessions, wear comfortable shoes, stay hydrated. For myself, it is don't bite off too much because you're not gonna retain everything. I would advocate for do fewer sessions but go deeper into those, take notes, and build connections when you're in the room. Because that's another part of what we haven't really talked about, which is just the network effect of being there and meeting other people and just.

exchanging ideas, so don't bite off too much. Eat breakfast because the lunch lineups are long. Dreamforce does provide lunch. Food's usually pretty good, but the lineups can be long, so eat breakfast. And then number three is pace yourself because the first day is awesome, the second day...

Tom Kadota (23:53.901)
Yes.

Scott Billows (24:10.674)
I'd have to reference the schedule, but it's usually the second day they've got sort of that big party at night, and that's a late night. So just pace yourself because by the end of the second day, you're just like, holy smokes, I can't believe how tired I am, and I've got another day of Dreamforce to go. So just pace yourself, and you'll come back tired, but educated and inspired and excited about what you can do with Salesforce. So awesome. Well, Tom, thanks for doing this.

And if anybody wants to learn more about Dreamforce, just reach out. We're gonna be there again this year and excited to collaborate with as many of you that will be in person and also those that are gonna be online will be sharing stuff through our socials. So let's keep connected and thanks for doing this, Tom.

Tom Kadota (25:00.153)
Great, thanks Scott, appreciate it. Take care.