Finally, the dust has settled from the whirlwind that is Dreamforce. The emails are caught up on and Salesforce dreamers have been able to recover from the four exhausting but exhilarating days of learning, networking, and (of course) partying.

Speaking of parties, on Wednesday night, Sertifi hosted our very own small VIP Dreamforce dinner party at 2-Michelin Star restaurant, Lazy Bear. Sertifi partners and customers alike enjoyed fifteen intricate and incredible courses. The night was a culinary adventure that made for a truly unique and unforgettable experience.

In addition to our VIP Dinner, Sertifi’s Customer Success Manager, Peter Laspas, attended the full conference for the first time. We quizzed our pal, Peter, to hear all about his experience and get an idea of what he took away from the conference. Check out what he had to say.

What do you believe was the overarching theme of Dreamforce this year?

Definitely artificial intelligence or AI. The Co-Founder of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, declared in his keynote that we are in the 4th industrial revolution which is using Intelligence around everyday items like cars, watches, even tires. Yes, smart tires! They are tires that communicate with the car to alert you when to pull over if they are about to blow out. Crazy stuff.

A lot of people are excited about that and how intelligence can enhance our products/lives. However, I found many other attendees felt very weary about AI because of how this can impact job security in key blue collar sectors.

If you have seen the movie Terminator 2, then I can understand the concern some folks have about AI!

What was your number one take-away from Dreamforce?

For me, it is that “Loyalty” has given way to ”Community.” This means tht no one is going to stay with their vendor because they are simply loyal to them or have been with them for many years. They will talk to their colleagues, counterparts, other vendors. And if they learn about another solution that is a better fit, they will jump to it. People are constantly hearing and learning about other solutions. We need to ensure our customers are getting the most value from our solution and that they experience true customer success, which is enabling them to do their job better because of our products. We listen to them and deliver a quality product and service. That is what helps make a strong brand and creates brand ambassadors. When this happens, they will be more than happy to spread the good word about us to their “Community.”

Did the week ignite any new ideas for you to implement? If so, describe one that you’re most excited about!

Absolutely! One that stood out is experimenting ways to the best solution. Sometimes its easy to get bogged down in the “business as usual” regiment. But I was challenged to take a critical look at my processes and the companies processes and experiment on finding ways to do the work we are doing, in a different way, to heed better and faster results. One thing I am experimenting with is our Salesforce installation guide. Currently, the guide displays 26 set up steps to go through, and I broke it down into 6 parts- three of which can be done exclusively by the customer/prospect before we even jump on a call (download the app, add the IP Range, Configure your backend portal).

What was your favorite thing about Dreamforce?

Just being around so many talented/intelligent people. From Salesforce Administrators, to Developers, to system integrators- it is pretty humbling to be around so much experience and knowledge. That said, it was very comforting to learn that even though a lot of these people are at the top of their Salesforce game, nobody has all the answers 100% of the time. The key is to get the answers in a timely fashion (aka know where to go for answers) because information and products change so quickly.

What did you learn from the experience this year that you would offer as advice to anyone going next year?

Set your away message to state you are returning next week and not on the actual day you return! Emails can pile up pretty quickly. Apart from that, as you build your agenda to attend, leave some wiggle room so if there is a keynote or presentation that catches your eye, you can work it into your day. As the event layout spans many blocks, you also want to try and schedule meetings and sessions that are in close proximity with each other so you don’t physically strain yourself getting from point A to B. Then again, if you have a booth, schedule all the meetings at your booth so everyone comes to you!