This September, the Craftsman team in our Boston office attended Northeast Dreamin’, a user-run Salesforce conference. The event brought together over 500 Salesforce end users, implementation partners, and employees for two days of learning and networking. As someone who has spent over ten years in the Salesforce ecosystem it was exciting to see Northeast Dreamin’ debut in 2018 and witness how the event matured in its second year. These Dreamin’ events are a different flavor than Dreamforce and the World Tours. They are built and managed entirely by Salesforce users who take time from their busy schedules to plan event logistics and handpick content as a service to the greater community. Their efforts prove that Salesforce is indeed more than a software platform. It is a community of like-minded peers that have much to learn from each other.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by Northeast Dreamin’. I have been to Salesforce-run events that often focus on sales and customer satisfaction. This was totally different. There was a focus on building both hard and soft skills.

By showcasing real use cases, attendees had the opportunity to learn directly from other users. While Salesforce can tell you how to use Lightning Components, it’s the users who will put that into a real-life context. This way you can see how it is actually done in ways you didn’t originally think about.

Drew Blackman, Developer + Business Analyst, Community Development

 

In addition to the first-hand learning, Northeast Dreamin’ served as a reflection of the Salesforce ecosystem at large. It was refreshing to see nonprofit community members attend, represent the sector and learn from the different sessions. Some of the content was certainly catered to the nonprofit community. And, even the more broadly reaching topics offered a learning opportunity to those in the social sector. Topics spanned new automation tools in the Winter ’20 release, Lightning Experience tips, and getting creative with Lightning Components, among many others. All of which are relevant to nonprofits who want to truly leverage the platform’s capabilities.

 

It was exciting to learn how blockchain technologies are being leveraged in the education space. When I hear blockchain I think Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. While the concept is the same the use is radically different. The keynote speaker, Phil Kormany, VP of Innovation for Salesforce, showed how students can carry digital credits across colleges and universities using the inherent trust of blockchain. Soon paper transcripts will be a thing of the past and I am excited to see what opportunities this opens up in the education sector.

Luke Thorson, Practice Lead, Youth + Education

 

Through events like Northeast Dreamin’ users can learn about features and tools as well as network with like-minded peers. The skills-building and creative use cases that my colleagues mentioned only represent a small portion of the unique learning opportunities offered. I am looking forward to seeing the growth of Northeast Dreamin’ year after year and hope that other user-run events will continue to cultivate.

 

 

 

Visit Salesforce’s community events page to find a conference close to you.