By now you have no doubt read a bunch of blog posts or BuzzFeed articles on the “The 14 Things you should do at Dreamforce” or “The 5 must attend Dreamforce sessions” and perhaps you a bit burned out with all of the advice on what you should be doing, attending, seeing, eating, or tweeting about.
I don’t blame you.
So as a Dreamforce veteran and knowing we only have a few days until we are all on a plane for SFO I want to give you some easy, digestible tips about what to avoid so that Dreamforce is an awesome experience.
Don’t push yourself too far.
It’s very easy to ‘over do it’ on any given day- racing to sessions, piling in to the keynote, and partying it up at Green. Know your limits and know that missing something is ok. It’s not worth trying to see everything in a day only to spend the next day in the hotel room recovering. I know as an Admin/Consultant I spend a good portion of my day behind a desk pounding on a keyboard. At Dreamforce it’s just the opposite- you spend a fair amount of time standing, walking, talking. Knowing when to take a break, slow down, or skip a session will pay dividends the next day.
Don’t try to keep up with work email.
Send a message to your users that you will be out of the office and exactly what they should do if they need help. In fact, Becka Dente and myself have written excellent posts about this topic here and here. And if you haven’t sent this message- then do so before you leave the office TODAY!
Perhaps you are asking why I bring this up- last time I checked, and I could be wrong, your company didn’t pay for you to sit at a conference and read email. Take time out to absorb the content the speakers are providing, believe me we have all worked very hard the past 6 weeks constructing it.
Don’t skip a meal.
I have no doubt that your schedule will be hectic, and rushing from session to session it’s easy to pass by the lunch table or a restaurant. But trust me when I tell you – grab a bit when you can. Sometimes it be a bit longer than you expect in between meals. When in doubt it’s always a good idea to pack a protein bar or quick snack in your Dreamforce bag.
Don’t worry about missing something.
I go to a lot of events every year. One event in particular is as big as Dreamforce and that is SXSW, I love going to that event and really do learn a lot. One piece of advice that I got there is this – “Don’t worry about missing something, it’s all a trade off, so just enjoy where you are.” There is a lot going on at Dreamforce and everything is a trade off. If you go to one event, you will miss another one. But that’s ok. Enjoy where you are at and make the most of it..
