With more than 170,000 attendees from 78 countries at the September 2015 event, Salesforce’s Dreamforce is the world’s largest software conference. As attendance has grown steadily from the event’s inception in 2003 (when there were just 1,300 attendees), organizers have developed new solutions to ensure individual attendees can have a worthwhile, relevant experience in the midst of a potentially overwhelming event.
In partnership with experience marketing agency George P. Johnson, Salesforce relies on a mix of attendee data, one-to-one assistance, and design strategy to meet the needs of the large, diverse audience.
Using space at San Francisco’s Moscone Center and in nearby hotels and other venues, organizers created 19 experience zones that each provided specialized information.
“Some of the zones are targeted to specific audience groups such as developers and small and medium business owners, some focus on products such as Analytics Cloud and Marketing Cloud, and others deep dive into industry verticals like the Customer Success Showcase and Government Zone,” said Catherine Simmons, senior director of strategic events for Salesforce.
Each zone was designed to meet the needs of the target audience. “For example, the important thing for the developer persona is they prefer a hands-on, tactile experience, so that’s what we give them,” said Scott Kellner, vice president of marketing for George P. Johnson. “There were literally tables upon tables of people building apps right there in the zone.”
In addition to the zones, organizers created events within the larger conference tailored to audience sectors, such as an Executive Summit, a Startup Summit, and a Women’s Leadership Summit. In the weeks leading up to the conference, Salesforce sent customized emails to attendees suggesting areas to visit and which of the 1,600 sessions to attend based on their specific interests, industries, and job functions.
While the schedule and navigational information is all available in the conference’s mobile app, Simmons said organizers were “simultaneously focusing on the human touch” by encouraging Salesforce employees to look for opportunities to help customers at the event. They also relied on more than 330 employees from George P. Johnson who assisted at the event and an additional 2,000 docents and ambassadors trained to provide assistance to attendees.
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