Going to Dreamforce can completely change the course of someone’s career. Whether it’s while soaking in the session content and learning how to take on bigger responsibilities at work. Or through the parties where they meet new people and then stay in touch on Slack and LinkedIn. Or by leading sessions and getting a confidence boost that makes them reach for bigger goals.
That was the whole idea behind the 2023 Dreamforce ticket giveaway contest. We wanted to give that opportunity to one lucky person. And that’s exactly what we did.
After receiving an overwhelming response from the Salesforce community that included entries from people living in 19 countries, we were pleased to announce the winner of the contest.
Our 2023 Dreamforce ticket giveaway contest winner was Amanda Martini, digital marketing manager at ISSA.
Amanda got the full works for Dreamforce. She traveled from her home state of New York to San Francisco for the conference. Sercante covered the cost of her airfare as well as her hotel stay and coveted Dreamforce conference pass. She was also the official queen of The Home for Marketers at Dreamforce, which is where the Sercante team hosted events all week.
Trip Reflection from Dreamforce Ticket Giveaway Winner, Amanda Martini
We asked Amanda to tell us about her trip in her own words. Here’s what she had to say about the whole thing.
“Winning the Dreamforce ticket giveaway was an absolute honor. Working for a smaller organization, it can be difficult to budget for larger conferences, as pricing can often be an issue. Winning the ticket, and therefore being able to experience Dreamforce in person, has given me so much.
Our organization is what I would call ‘Salesforce lite’ for the moment, but being surrounded by so many people who live and breathe the ecosystem really rejuvenated me; not only for my role but for where our organization can go when we are fully on the system.”
Amanda’s Dreamforce Takeaways
“One of my big takeaways, that I am sharing with everyone in our organization, is simply to jump right into the ecosystem and immerse yourself.
There are so many resources and so many like minded people who are more than willing to share their knowledge, to troubleshoot, to just chat about anything Salesforce related. Becoming a part of that community, while not a requirement for using a piece of technology, does seem like it benefits the user and the company a great deal.
I think seeing that firsthand was one of the more surprising things that I experienced. When you’re on the periphery, you SEE the interaction and you know the big names, but being surrounded by it was really something else. It makes you want to get more involved.”
Finding your people is a great feeling
“For a while now, I’ve felt like I am on an island as I am the person most involved in the Salesforce ecosystem due to my daily use of Pardot, with the rest of the organization still to get onto our Salesforce instance.
Attending Dreamforce allowed me to see that you’re only as alone as you allow yourself to be. The community is vast, and really quite welcoming. Even just one week removed from the event, I have RSVP’d for two Trailblazer community group sessions to keep my learning and understanding going. They’re virtual, but that doesn’t matter! It’s just as valuable to listen to other folks ask their questions (until you’re ready to ask your own!).”
Attending Dreamforce allowed me to see that you’re only as alone as you allow yourself to be.
All questions are good questions
“I also got a really good piece of advice: I tend to be a self-deprecating person, always prefacing a question by acknowledging it might be stupid. But I was told to stop that!
As the admin/leader for my system in my organization, I have to be confident with what I present. If I don’t seem to trust myself, my stakeholders are not necessarily going to trust or listen to what I am suggesting. And in the end, I’m the one that really knows what’s best for my system. I need to own my place in this space and project confidence (even if there’s still that little voice inside that says you’re gonna sound stupid). Fake it ‘til you make it really does work most of the time.”
Go see Salesforce releases in action
“Honestly, all of the sessions I managed to attend were so informative. And while I pay attention to release notes and the releases, I felt like having that information right at my fingertips, so to speak, really hit home the ways Salesforce is heading into the future and the ways in which my organization can utilize that future.
Seeing demos of the new releases at work was so helpful and it got me immediately thinking about ways that our marketing managers (MMs) will be able to have their hands in the systems more, and how to help us work smarter.
As a department that “reports to” many stakeholders as well as our members, it’s important that our MMs have the tools to help them work more efficiently. Being able to check in with technologies that we don’t use but I’ve wondered about was an incredible opportunity as well. From the conversations I had at Dreamforce, I now have a better understanding of how to help our organization increase efficiency.
I learned I have a lot of work to do going into 2024 to get our Pardot instance cleaned up and ready for the new year and when we’re truly connected with our Salesforce org in production. But I am looking forward to that challenge because I’ve felt there was work to do, Dreamforce just reinforced what needs to be done. It’s all for the good of the organization.
Dreamforce also has had me looking at our marketing and tech stack and asking the hard questions: Are we using the correct technology? Are we using it correctly or to the best of its ability? Stay tuned!”
Final thoughts about the Dreamforce ticket giveaway
“As for the coolest thing that happened to me… there were so many, but I have to say that learning last minute about the first-ever Dreamforce Comedy Hour was a dream come true.
Seth Meyers is MY FAVORITE and to have the opportunity to see him perform in person… pretty much took the cake. Of course, the entire event was at the top of the list of the coolest things that has EVER happened to me, but Seth takes a close second place.”
Thank you so much to everyone who entered the Sercante 2023 Dreamforce Ticket Giveaway Contest and to Amanda for sharing her thoughts about the experience. Stay tuned next year to see what we have in store for Dreamforce 2024.