Mayor Breed optimistic Dreamforce will remain committed to San Francisco
Dreamforce, the biggest conference in SF since pandemic hit, kicks off
Salesforces annual Dreamforce conference kicked off Tuesday in San Francisco. Its the biggest conference in the city since the pandemic hit in 2020. The event is a huge draw, regularly bringing in tens of thousands of conventioneers to the city.
SAN FRANCISCO - All eyes are on Dreamforce in San Francisco.
The Salesforce convention is a huge draw regularly bringing tens of thousands of conventioneers to San Francisco, and this year is no different.
The annual conference has taken over a full block of Howard Street at Moscone Center.
Dreamforce kicked off with a keynote address from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who discussed the latest generation of Einstein, the company's customer relationship management tool, which now features a generative artificial intelligence conversational assistant.
Benioff also said he has made a commitment to Bay Area schools, hospitals and the community and urged those attending to do the same.
"We can say, 'I can take this forward, love thy neighbor as thyself,'" said Benioff. "This is an opportunity to do it, I love doing it. I hope all of you will adopt these models too. This is an incredible moment for all of us."
Salesforce is expected to draw more than 40,000 visitors to the city this year.
Benioff has recently said that if there are problems surrounding this year's Dreamforce with crime or negative interactions with the homeless. This could be the last Dreamforce held in the city.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed attended the keynote, and referred back to Benioff's tweet following last year's Dreamforce, saying it was a success with no reports of safety incidents. The mayor said the city is committed to making sure this year's Dreamforce goes smoothly.
"The fact is, over the time that they've been in San Francisco, they have always, always had a great convention," said Mayor Breed. "So, we're looking forward to their continued commitment to our city."
The annual conference doesn't just bring prestige, San Francisco's Office of Economic and Workforce Development says it also brings a lot of money into the city too.
"Over 40,000 attendees," said Sarah Dennis Phillips. "Almost 80,000 hotel room nights over the course that they'll be here and almost $60 million pumped into our local economy. That's huge, and it's not just Salesforce, right? We have other ones coming."
So far, visitors say they've enjoyed their stay. "Crime is not on my mind, you know," said Irving Toledo from Orlando. "I know the situation with the homeless people is really bad here in San Francisco. I know they're trying to do the best for those people. But, so far I didn't notice anything that this is something that is critical or really bad"
While the conference draws visitors from all over, it also draws locals who say they want the convention to stay right here in San Francisco. "It's really important for me on a personal level because I'm not sure I'd be able to go if I needed to travel to the conference," said Marija Petronijevic. "Just having it here locally is great."
Dreamforce runs through Thursday.
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