Was It All A (Cloud) Dream? 25 Scenes From Salesforce's Dreamforce 2010

Welcome To Dreamforce 2010

"Collaborate" (no matter how you spell it) was the motto for Salesforce.com's 8th annual Dreamforce conference for customers and partners at the Moscone Center in San Francisco Dec. 6 - 9.

Salesforce bills Dreamforce as "the cloud computing event of the year." Okay, there may be some hyperbole there. But the company said attendance hit 30,000 this year, a big increase from 19,000 in 2009.

Let's Get It Started

The crowd filters into the main hall in Moscone South for Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's keynote speech. About half of the registered attendees, 14,500, attended the morning session.

Sassy Gets Jiggy

Sassy, Salesforce's mascot (short for "Software-as-a-Service," get it?), revs up the crowd before CEO Marc Benioff's keynote speech.

Chatty Brings Da Funk

Sassy was joined by Chatty, Salesforce's other mascot, representing the company's Chatter social media for businesses application.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

This robot was a chief attraction at Dun & Bradstreet's booth on the Cloud Expo floor. He (She? It?) was pitching D&B360, the company's data-as-a-service platform.

Can I Get A Ride?

Snarled traffic crawled around the Moscone Center, making these pedicabs one of the more efficient ways to get around. ExactTarget, a supplier of social media and e-mail marketing software and services that work with Salesforce applications, recognized the advertising opportunity.

Jolly Competition

Salesforce competitor SugarCRM hired these carolers to sing outside of the Moscone center. The song, "Deck the Halls (With Overpriced CRM)," went like this:

Went with Salesforce -- What a Folly Fa la la la la -- the system crashed. Switched to Sugar now we’re Jolly Fa la la la la -- We saved some cash.

Went with Salesforce -- and by Golly Fa la la la la -- how much we paid! Sugar does it all for half price Fa la la la la -- We made the trade.

Overpriced with Chatter Hype Fa la la la la la -- Lock-in trap. The open cloud will set you free Try Sugar Pro and you will see.

Hurry Up And Wait

Dreamforce 2010 was a crowded affair, particularly at the Moscone West where many of the training sessions were held. Here's a long line of attendees waiting to get into the session "Hands-On: Automating Business Process with Approval Workflow."

Benioff Takes The Stage (And Aisles)

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff delivered two keynote speeches at Dreamforce, preaching the gospel of cloud computing to long-time customers and the newly converted. Benioff warned attendees to "beware of false clouds" from other vendors.

"The false cloud is not efficient, is not democratic, is not economical and is not environmental," Benioff warned those whose faith might be wavering.

Benioff unveiled Database.com, Salesforce's new cloud database for developers, and a free edition of the company's Chatter social media application for businesses.

Photo by Kim Kulish

Rainbow Bright

While Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff's two keynotes contained big news and information for Salesforce partners and customers, one of the most stunning portions of his opening day address wasn't what Benioff said, but what he was wearing. Benioff's rainbow-striped socks were big attention-getters at Dreamforce 2010.

Photo by Kim Kulish

I've Got A Feelin'

... that tonight's gonna be a good night.

Benioff welcomes special guest will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, who said a musician can benefit from the cloud by using it to collaborate with other artists. Will.i.am took the stage at the Dreamforce party on Tuesday night accompanying Stevie Wonder.

Photo by Kim Kulish

Jammin' Until The Break Of Dawn

R&B legend Stevie Wonder took the stage at Dreamforce 2010 and wowed a room of Salesforce customers and partners with an amazing performance featuring many of his biggest hits.

Higher Ground

Stevie Wonder went deep into his catalog of hits at Dreamforce 2010, digging into tunes like "Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing," "Master Blaster," "Higher Ground," "For Once In My Life," Do I Do" and many more, including a cover of the Beatles' hit "We Can Work It Out."

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The 'Evil Empire' Attacks

During his second day keynote presentation, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff warned of the "Evil Empire," aka Microsoft. Microsoft stormed the Moscone Center with Segway vehicles emblazoned with an advertisement with a supposed Microsoft customer who left Salesforce in favor of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Microsoft's competing cloud CRM offering. The ads say "I Didn't Get Forced," an obvious jab at Salesforce.

But Benioff had the last laugh, bringing the man featured in the ads to the stage and getting him to vow to stick it out with Salesforce for cloud CRM.

Photo by Kim Kulish

Welcome Back 'Bernard'

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff brought 'Bernard' back into the Salesforce fold after he defected to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. Bernard is featured in a host of Microsoft ads disparaging Salesforce. Here, Benioff welcomes Bernard back to the Salesforce family.

Video Villains?

Video vendor VSee took a shot at telepresence and video behemoth Cisco with these t-shirts that pick on Cisco's telepresence costs vs. VSee's free offerings.

The Mona Lisa Of The Cloud

At Dreamforce 2010, Salesforce offered up famous paintings updated to feature its mascot Chatty. Here, Chatty assumes the role of Da Vinci's famed Mona Lisa.

Mist-ifying

To showcase its new Database.com offering, Salesforce used a constant stream of mist.

W. Stops By

The photo may be little blurry, but before one morning keynote session, Salesforce Director of Platform Research Peter Coffee took some time out to interview this George W. Bush doppelganger.

When asked about cloud computing, the impersonator of the former president said buying more hardware to create cloud computing solutions is akin to giving former Vice President Dick Cheney a new pacemaker. "At some point you have to wonder what all the money is going for," the Bush look-alike quipped.

Exodus

Thousands of attendees head out of the main hall following the opening Dreamforce keynote

Photo by Kim Kulish

High-Profile Customers

During his keynote presentations, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff brought many familiar faces to the Dreamforce stage. Here, he welcomes Symantec CEO and Salesforce customer Enrique Salem (right).

Photo by Kim Kulish

Graduate To The Cloud

Representatives from e-mail marking player iContact donned caps and gowns on the Dreamforce show floor and urged attendees to graduate to its offerings.

Sweet And Sour

In the Force.com center, Salesforce offered up Sour Patch Kids to give its developer customers a sweet treat amidst all of the Dreamforce chaos.

For A Good Cause

Volunteers stuff more than 1,200 bags with toys, blankets and books for children for Project Night at Dreamforce 2010.

Stairway To The Cloud

Some of Dreamforce 2010's 30,000 registered attendees make their way through the Moscone Center in San Francisco using the official Salesforce staircase, a gateway to cloud computing.