Today Salesforce kicked off their annual Dreamforce conference – their larger-than-life industry event that gets bigger and better, year after year. This year is unlike any other as Dreamforce came to life in a digital-first experience that brought live and on-demand content to Trailblazers around the world on Salesforce+, their all-new streaming service.

Since Qualified is a platinum Dreamforce sponsor, we were lucky enough to have a few Qualified folks in the crowd, while  the rest of us tuned in from around the world. Day 1 kicked off with Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s live keynote “Welcome to the Trusted Enterprise” and the rest of the day was jam-packed with inspiring speakers, sleek product demonstrations, and engaging fireside chats. 

Here’s a roundup of our main takeaways from day 1 of Dreamforce

1. The future of events is digital-first

Consumer applications like Netflix, Disney+, and Peloton have changed the way we consume content. We now live in an on-demand world, where viewers can watch whatever they want, whenever they want. Salesforce+ followed suit, bringing the sleek, personalized, on-demand viewing experience to a B2B user conference. This is the future of B2B events: digital-first experiences with binge-worthy episodes tailored by interest and role. ‍

Salesforce+ made an impressive debut with 4 channels, dozens of live sessions, and hundreds of on-demand sessions. This week the streaming platform expects to garner the viewership of over 15 million online attendees – absolutely incredible. ‍

2. Salesforce invites every company to become a "Trusted Enterprise”

In Marc’s opening keynote, he recognized that we’re in a trust crisis; in an always-on, ever-connected world, customers have developed a mistrust in the companies that serve them. Salesforce has developed a playbook for “The Trusted Enterprise,” designed to help businesses earn the trust of their customers, employees, partners, and communities. This playbook has five main pillars:

• Trust: Whether you’re an SMB or an enterprise, Trust always needs to be a companies #1 value. This is the foundation for success.
• Customer-First: Companies who put the customer at the center of everything will thrive. Salesforce’s Customer 360 helps companies have a single source of truth across sales, service, marketing, and commerce and deliver meaningful 1:1 experiences.
• Digital Headquarters: Companies who embrace a remote-first environment will cultivate a more inclusive and more productive workspace. Slack needs to become the primary channel for how companies foster communication between their employees, as well as their partners and customers. 
• Health and Safety: As we continue to navigate the pandemic, technology will enable us to come together safely. Health Cloud 2.0 arms government entities, communities, and companies with more data and will help them to return to “normal life” safely. 
• Sustainability: Companies must prioritize the planet. It’s time for every company to take a pledge to focus on sustainability and contribute to a better future.
  

3. Slack is the new digital headquarters

On the heels of the Salesforce acquisition, Slack was the star of the show. It was a core part of the keynote narrative, and their CEO Stewart Butterfield took centerstage in his own session to unveil new product innovations and spotlight customers like IBM that are using Slack to supercharge connections in the workplace. 

Slack creates an accessible and inclusive way to work by giving your company an easy way to meet with your fellow employees, customers, and partners. It creates an environment where everyone belongs and feels like part of one big team; plus, it allows companies to be agile and move quickly. Slack debuted some powerful new features like clips, an easy way for team members to quickly capture and share video recordings in-app; it also demonstrated Slack Connect, an easy way to meet with people outside of your organization. Tamar Yehoshua, Slack’s Chief Product Officer, showcased the power of the Slack product in this 5 minute demo video. 

Our “boots on the ground” team had a blast at the event – check out these photos for a behind-the-scenes look. 

#DF21: Social highlights

Twitter was buzzing all day and the #DF21 hashtag was lighting up; here are our favorite social moments!

During today’s opening keynote, Marquita Sidibe shared her inspirational story of supercharging her career with the help of the Trailblazer Community and Salesforce Pathfinder. She was given the first golden hoodie of #DF21.

Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor, President and COO, took to the stage to emphasize today’s trust crisis. It’s imperative for businesses to be a Trusted Enterprise and it starts with putting the customer first.

From onboarding and training to engaging with customers, Slack-first sales wins in today’s digital-first world.

Reunited and it feels so good. We were grateful to have the opportunity to be back in person at #DF21 and spend time with old friends and new.

Is it really Dreamforce season if Marc isn’t rockin’ a bold pair of shoes?

That's a wrap on day 1!

Don’t forget to tune into Qualified’s session on Salesforce+: “How to Drive 10X More Pipeline with Target Accounts.” In this session we break down how you can leverage the power of Sales Cloud and conversational sales and marketing to meet with VIPs in real time, right on the website. Plus, Qualified’s Chief Customer Officer Dan Darcy sits down with Kyle Christensen, CMO of Zuora and an incredible customer, to talk about how they’re putting this to practice and seeing incredible results. 

One day down, one and a half more days to go!