5 Developer Tips & Tricks for Dreamforce ’15
Dreamforce 2015 (#DF15) is right around the corner. For developers, both Dreamforce veterans and first-timers, it is important to be prepared for all that Dreamforce provides. Dreamforce is such a large conference, and it covers a large array of different topics, including marketing, sales, development, etc. Having such a wide range of topics can be daunting, so it is important for each person to know their speciality and have a good idea where to spend their time to get the most out of the conference.
Plan your time, but not all of it
One of the easiest mistakes to make when attending Dreamforce is planning to do everything. You log into Agenda Builder and completely book your time, jam packed with sessions. The problem is that Dreamforce is so much more than scheduled sessions. Spend some time in the DevZone (#DevZone) and Admin Zone (#AwesomeAdmin), doing hands-on training, getting some nice t-shirts, and getting some training materials. Also, you need time for lunch. Make sure to stay hydrated and energized. It will be a busy week!
Socialize and Network
You may have noticed I am linking several hashtags through this post. Social media plays a large role at Dreamforce. Believe it or not, when 100k+ people descend upon downtown San Francisco, it can be hard to find certain people you may want to meet. By utilizing the hashtags and interacting with others, you can find out what is going on around the conference without physically going to each part of it. This will let you see what is happening at the DevZone while you attend the Expo (and vice versa). On top of that, if you see someone tweeting about a session or conference event that you are attending, you can quickly ping them and meet up. Dreamforce provides a very unique opportunity to network with a large array of fantastic people. Make sure you break away from some of the content at times to enjoy that.
Use Trailhead
Last year at the Dreamforce, Trailhead was announced at the Developer Keynote. This year, you can use Trailhead to prepare for Dreamforce. The Salesforce team recently launched a new module, Get Ready for Dreamforce, full of information that will help you be ready when the big week comes. I personally helped provide some advice and having gone through the module I can say that it is all very useful.
Attend Important Developer Sessions
Finally, despite the fact that I have urged the need to remain flexible and not book all of your time, there are a few sessions which you should definitely attend.
- Apex Enterprise Patterns
- Tuesday 1:30pm to 2pm – Moscone West
- Implementing the Apex Enterprise Patterns may be one of the single best things to do for a code base on the Salesforce platform. Learn from a world-leading expert on enterprise development on the Force.com platform, Andrew Fawcett, author of Force.com Enterprise Architecture.
- Salesforce Developer Keynote
- Thursday 10:30am to 11:20am – Moscone West
- We are lucky to have a fantastic developer relations team in Salesforce. They are some of the best presenters I have seen, and this session always delivers with great new reveals and fantastic advice. Learn about the next big thing on Salesforce (and most likely what you will be working with for the year to come).
- Meet the Developers
- Friday 12:30pm to 1:10pm – Moscone West
- This is my personal favorite session. This is a Q&A session with the people behind the platform, the ones actually building what we work on every day. Have a burning question that no one seems to be able to answer? Bring it with you here, in the unrecorded talk with the developers who build Salesforce.
Certinia is also proud to have several sessions by our R&D team, Sales team, and Marketing team. All of these sessions are worth consideration. Also, if attending the daily Dreamforce sessions isn’t enough, we will be hosting a Certinia DevTalks during the conference as well.
Take a deep breath and enjoy it
It is going to be a fast and wild ride, but make sure you step back every once and awhile to enjoy it. There is so much to do, don’t worry if you miss a few things. Just be sure to get out there, learn what you can, speak with whoever you see, and have a great time. Dreamforce is one of the best conferences out there. Enjoy!
