5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIOsaleslogistix.com/company/press/DF15.pdf5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO 1 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM ...
Post on 02-Apr-2021
3 Views
Preview:
Transcript
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
1 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
OPINION
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce Two thousand sessions. 150,000 attendees. Noise everywhere. So much to see, so little time. Here's what to do about it.
By David Taber Follow
CIO I Sep 11. 2015 7:03AM PT
Dreamforce is not just a trades how. It's practically a cultural
38
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
2 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
phenomenon (bring on the ukuleles!), and it certainly has a
significant impact on the economy of San Francisco.
Whether you go in person or visit via the web, you'll be subjected to
a mind-numbing array of stimuli. Probably 250 press releases,
hundreds of video streams, pod casts, interviews, CNBC segments,
all screaming "BUY BUY! BUY!!!"- either for the products or the
vendors' stocks. But all of that is in the vendors' interests, not really
yours.
The meat of Dreamforce is in the breakout sessions, not the
keynotes. If you're lucky you can take in 20 of those breakouts.
That's 1 0 percent of the total on offer, so you have to choose
carefully. Of course, everything important was filled up a month
ago ... but that's OK. Because of Tip No. 1: if you're a fully
registered attendee, go to the Dreamforce site and hit the Chatter
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
3 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
feed. Some of the session decks are already up there. Load 'em up.
And then there's Tip No. 2: go back to the DF Chatter feed every
weekend from now until Thanksgiving to download the decks, code
samples and other docs as they dribble in.
Of course, all this is begging the question: "What's important to
you?" Depends on who you are and your role. If you're lucky,
Salesforce has a pre-defined track that helps you filter and prioritize,
such as "sales leadership" or "financial services:' For most of those
tracks, the news is not jarring: Things just get better, you have more
choices, and maybe paying your vendors and consultants to get the
latest and greatest is in your future. (OK, "maybe" should be read as
"count on'~)
That brings us to Tip No.3: If you're a manager, your task at the
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
4 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
show is to figure out for the goodies you like, how much is
essentially "a freebie with some behavioral change" versus "a new
product with a new way of looking at things ... which means
training that borders on indoctrination:' Choose wisely.
[Related: At Dreamforce 2014, Salesforce joins the analytics
revolution with wave]
Not everything you're going to see at the show is "it just gets
better:' If you're a developer or IT strategist, there are going to be
some choices that send you down paths that will be painful to
reverse. SFDC has been really good about keeping technologies in
place and not forcing ugly transitions over the years. And they are
superb at encrypting painful messages into pleasant ones. Every
transition is going to be push-button simple. Everything is going to
be backwards compatible with just a couple of verb changes.
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
5 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
Uh-huh.
Your job as a technologist at the show is to identify the
euphemisms and decrypt the signal from the noise. With each
announcement that you are interested in, figure out what "difficult
choice" is being masked. And that brings us to Tip No.4: when
you're trying to really understand, ignore the slideware and get
straight to the reference docs. No reference docs? Go to a
developer's camp or other expert session and ask the techie about
the object model, the services, and the APis that are relevant to
your needs.
For example, Lightning really is flashy, it's well-thought-out, it's got
a new component model, and users will probably be begging for it.
It's in place on Salesforce 1, but even though it's not here quite yet
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
6 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
for the Web Ul there is documentation that will help you see things.
The technologist's dilemma is ''when do I get serious about
Lightning?" because in the not-so-long run you're going to have to.
So at Dreamforce, you need to get your head around issues like:
• If I have a ton ofVisuaiForce, what do I need to do to make it
Lightning-compatible? When do I need to start moving my
legacy Visual Force code off of that language, and which pages
go first?
• If I'm developing for both Salesforce1 and the Web Ul, what do
I need to do in my Lightning code so that it is (1) really, no
kidding, 1 00 percent functionally equivalent on the two
platforms and (2) tolerant of "compatibility drift" that happens
when the SF1 code base does the inevitable update that isn't
exactly matched by the browser code base?
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
7 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
• Lightning and Aura get their magical powers from JavaScript
(and associated libraries like jQuery). What do I need to do to
become a wizard with JavaScript?
• What JavaScript tools and debuggers should I be using?
• Should I change my development browser from Firefox to
Chrome (or the other way around)?
• What Ul design tricks and habits do I need to learn to create
really cool user experiences on both mobile and web devices?
• To what degree should my designs adhere to the strong MVC
model in Visual Force when I'm re-thinking my app for Lightning
components?
[Related: Salesforce's big opportunity is in keeping it simple]
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
8 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
The challenge with a show the size and scope of Dreamforce is
prioritization and filtering, managing your energy level so you stay
focused and enthusiastic. The parties don't really help, but they're a
welcome distraction. The Foo Fighters will be a great concert
(although it'll be hard to top Bruno Mars from last year). So here
comes Tip No.5: there's almost sure to be a cappuccino cart
somewhere on the show floor ... so scan your badge for sustenance.
David Taber
David Taber is the author of the Prentice Hall book, .. Salesforce.com Secrets of Success, .. now in its second edition, and is the CEO of Saleslogistix, a certified Salesforce.com consultancy focused on business process improvement through use of CRM systems.
5 tips to get the most out of Dreamforce | CIO http://www.cio.com/article/2983436/events/5-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-dreamforce.html
9 of 9 9/17/2015 9:27 AM
' Free Course: The Dark Side of Technology Careers
View l Comment
YOU MIGHT LIKE : :
Copyright© 1994-2015 CXO Media Inc. a subsidiary of lOG Enterprise
top related