updated for DF17!
The call for presentations at DF17 is live, with deadlines racing towards us. As a partner, keep in mind two dates:
- If you would like to be involved in a presentation to your fellow partners on a business or technical topic, the Partner Call for Presenters deadline is July 17th.
- If you would like to present directly to customers at Dreamforce, then submit your ideas to the Customer Call for Speakers by September 1st.
The Podium Awaits
You’ve dreamed of owning the podium at this global conference. Are you ready? At CodeScience, we’ve had the honor of presenting each year throughout the various Lodges. Here are a few tips gleaned from our experiences and the latest presentation guidelines.
New for Partner Presentations in 2017
Simplified Submission Process
Last year, the Partner Call for Presentations required you to submit a proposed idea for a session complete with a catchy title and abstract. That is no longer required. This year, with the goal to get more partners involved, all you need to do is complete a survey and indicate your area(s) of expertise by product, industry, role, and topic.
The survey also includes questions about your experience presenting in front of audiences, as well as links to your social channels (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and the Partner Community). If you have experience presenting at conferences, have deep expertise (certifications, for example), and are a social media whiz (including the Partner Community!), your chances are better at being selected. You can also indicate a proposed idea for a session if you like.
You’ll know by August 30th if you made the cut – and there are many opportunities to shine. Being selected as a speaker could take one of many forms. You could be added as a speaker to:
- an existing session based on your expertise (product, industry, role)
- an existing session to provide a custom demo
- an existing session to answer questions at the end
- a custom session
- a panel session
- a Partner Meetup (networking session)
Haute Partner Topics
Your chances of being selected could go up if you hop on the train of one of Salesforce’s hot topics – especially if you highlight a best practice widely applicable to partners. Favorite topics for 2017 include:
- Partner Success
- ISV Technologies (LMA, COA, Checkout)
- Consulting Masters & Specializations
- Einstein Analytics
- App Cloud
- Security
- Industry Solutions
- Lightning
- Heroku
- Certifications
The Chance to Tell Your Story to Customers
First, don’t worry about submitting a fully baked presentation. At this point, Salesforce is seeking ideas and topics on what you would like to speak about. There are two session lengths: 20 and 40 minutes.
The shorter theater sessions are ideal for speakers that:
- showcase a tip or trick
- tell a fantastic customer success story
- spotlight a specific feature and use case
- have a killer demo
- feature cross Cloud solutions to solve challenges
The longer sessions are ideal for speakers that:
- have a juicy story to tell and a love for sharing knowledge with the ecosystem
- help solve common challenges
- provide clear successful use cases, best practices, teachings and how-to’s
- go deep on how your company is using Salesforce including the roll-out
- highlight the ROI and additional benefits your company and team has seen since implementing Salesforce
Tips for Completing the Speaker Submission Form -> Preparation is Key
Before you tackle the online submission form, spend some time and gather your thoughts for what you want to speak about. Better your chances by outlining:
-
your talking points – fueled by why an attendee should give your their time
-
the problems you are solving
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your top messages, ranked in importance
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your story’s audience (target personas and/or industries)
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the essential take-away or action item the attendee walks away with
After you’ve nailed your outline, you are ready for the submission form. Remember: be as precise and descriptive as possible. The Salesforce content team will gravitate to those who concisely say what they wish to speak about. Of course, compelling ideas and speaking experience close the deal.
Avoid Company Pitches
One way to guarantee NOT getting selected is to pitch your own product or service. The top reason that proposals are not accepted is because the session too closely resembles a product pitch, and does not focus on best practices for partners. A better way to achieve this is to showcase your customers’ successes, and have a customer or two co-present with you. However, just using your product or service does not constitute a partner best practice.
Conclusion
Speaking at Dreamforce can give you a fantastic boost both personally and professionally. Think strategically about your session submission and make the trends of today work for you. Good luck and see you in San Francisco this November!
