Salesforce’s annual conference is called “Dreamforce” and it brings together developers, users, CEO’s, nonprofit staff, admins (and more) together. The conference ranges from technical panels with tips on how to write Salesforce triggers and tests, to talks by thought leaders like Melinda Gates and Tony Robbins.
Our team attended the conference and had five major takeaways:
1. #Lightning has struck!
You’ve probably seen the emails about the 51st release of Salesforce / Winter ‘17. All kinds of new features are coming fast, and one of them is Lightning. Salesforce is launching a whole bunch of new features labeled “Lightning” which will make Salesforce’s interface even more mobile friendly and customizable by Admins.
2. Salesforce.org is dedicated to your success
Salesforce.org contributes to the success of HomeKeeper by drastically reducing the cost of using the Salesforce platform for our nonprofit users. At Dreamforce we learned about the new features coming to the Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP, formerly known as Nonprofit Starter Pack). We’re excited that Salesforce.org is building features that will enhance the experience of HomeKeeper users who use the NPSP to manage donations and volunteers. Some of the new features we’re excited about is that the Nonprofit Success Pack will soon make it easier to manage and add contacts to campaigns in Salesforce.
3. The HomeKeeper team is as strong as ever
We’re proud to have a majority women team of technologists working on HomeKeeper. Dreamforce lets us meet with both old and new HomeKeeeper team members like Laura Meerkatz from Salesforce.org, Brad Struss from Bigger Boat Consulting and Nineta Martinov of Daizylogik. We also were able to meet with members of Salesforce’s technical team at Dreamforce to learn about the newest tools and features we’ll have to build on HomeKeeper. Because Dreamforce brings so many of the people who work on HomeKeeper to the same place, we used this time in the same city to do in-person work planning about the new features to HomeKeeper 2.0!
4. Dreamforce lets HomeKeeper users take their programs to the next level
This year at Dreamforce we ran into several HomeKeeper users (See our team with Habitat Greater San Francisco’s Lauren Shaughnessy, above)! Dreamforce is a great opportunity for Admins and organizational leaders to find inspiration and gain new tools. We were able to connect with several other HomeKeeper users (and potential users) who were diving in to hands-on sessions as well as heard the stories of other nonprofits, like Habitat for Humanity International. Some of their favorite sessions included:
- Knowing Your Impact: Data Driven Mission Management
- The Next Chapter: Driving Alignment in Chapter-Based Organizations
- From Process to Policy: Making Your Platform Mimic Your Organization
5. You don’t have to attend to benefit!
It can be a trek and expensive for non-profits scattered across the country to make their way to San Francisco for Dreamforce. Even if you can’t go, you can still access the content presented (for free!). Most of the sessions get recorded and are accessible for free soon after the conference. Check the website for recordings of sessions you’re interested in, they’ll be up soon! You can also see the sessions from DF ’15, which have videos up you can watch today!