This year’s Dreamforce consisted of three morals. The first, a social business is a profitable business. The second, the sin of ignoring mobile will not go unpunished. Third, for business, the cloud is an irreversible covenant.
Dreamforce is like Mecca, Jerusalem, and the Vatican combined into one spiritual event - its testament, the 78,000 who came to pay homage. And as every prophet knows, spirituality leads to awakening, empowerment and action. Dreamforce is a holy war without the violence. Its victim is the command and control organization and the organization man that leads it. Its peace lies in the knowledge that its priests of the future rest in people like Vala Afshar, Tristan Bishop and Michael Krigsman.
I met one attendee, who could not tell me why her pool of ambition was empty before she arrived, but I suspect it had been drained by inept management. She had become one of those barcode employees – continuously scanned by management and forced to follow a rigorous process as her mind slowly began to check out. But like many others I met, Dreamforce changed her. More accurately, a spiritual awakening arose in her from being surrounded by many other believers.
Even social business atheist Dennis Howlett of ZDNet seemed to be shaken and stirred into at least the role of an agnostic. That’s a significant accomplishment given Howlett’s remarkable ability to remain true to his beliefs.
If these mystical conversions seem familiar, you’re right in comparing them to Apple’s success in moving the masses to its product lines. But at this month’s iPhone 5 launch event, you don’t need an Apple map to discover why it failed to live up to its past successes. There were no earth shattering announcements, there wasn’t a clear vision, the iPhone 5 appears to being playing catch up, and as a result, many feel let down by the organization. Apple will still sell a lot of phones, but it didn’t convert anyone.
When Steve Jobs introduced us to the art of the product launch, his reality distortion became ours, and we believed in his vision. Since then, Apple seems to have slipped back slightly towards the margins of mediocrity. Apple suffers from enchanticism—a companywide inferiority complex that’s desperate to maintain the magic of Job’s genius. This includes their eagerness to litigate against any imitators.
It’s the Tale of Two Religions
If Dreamforce was the blend of the three major religions, Apple’s iPhone event resembles a gathering of the Church of Scientology. It’s the event for the one percenters, exclusive, secret and fanatical. Anything other than Apple is frowned upon, inferior even.
At Dreamforce, an Apple fanboy asked me, “Why does this event feel so egalitarian? The desire to connect? The need to validate their social selves? To worship each other on Twitter and tweet Kumbaya?”
I’m not sure he gets it. The Dreamforce ethos is the epitome of the Golden Rule, ‘reciprocity rules’. In contrast, Apple’s seems to be, ‘those that have the gold, rules’. Sure it’s working for them, but for how long can they be protected by the sacred cow of Steve Job’s ghost?
Apple events are about Apple. Even employees are given a front row, "They stock the front of the place with the Apple and Pixar people who are excited about it,” Rene Ritchie, Editor of iMore, told CNN. "That's so carefully staged.” In contrast, Salesforce.com put its customers, industry thought leaders and bloggers up front, surrounding the stage. It sent the message that Dreamforce is about customers.
Think about that. Salesforce.com CEO, Marc Benioff made it about the customer and attendees and not about their products. It helped build strong ties by structuring Dreamforce around people, their relationships, and then enriching both through a shared experience. It will last in the attendees’ minds forever. Still, Apple proves that a product focus can work when it releases something remarkable combined with dazzling showmanship. But the impact is ephemeral because it’s tied to an object which decays in our minds over time and can easily be replaced by a superior product. That’s especially challenging.
You ask why Dreamforce was better than the iPhone 5 launch? You’ve probably been told that big lie that, “Apple doesn’t do focus groups.” The truth is they do. But they do it in secret. Salesforce.com on the other hand, does them openly, in public, and without filters. They’re not the only ones by any means; but they’re the only ones that have figured out how to do it at a large event.
You see, Dreamforce was about an evolution of business, of careers, of focus. Dreamforce was a wake up call for those mired in the quagmire of business as usual. Attendees learned from each other, and Salesforce.com learned from them. They’re not stuck like Apple is, in worshiping false idols (their own products). Instead, they concentrate on what counts – their customers.
So when you look at it from that perspective, Dreamforce and not Apple’s iPhone 5 launch event was more effective.
And that’s not faith - it's reality.
Follow Fidelman on Twitter @markfidelman
