How to Get the Most Out of Dreamforce 2026 Without Burning Yourself Out
Dreamforce is one of those events that is almost impossible to explain until you experience it.
For three days, a huge portion of the Salesforce ecosystem descends on San Francisco. Customers, partners, ISVs, Admins, Developers, Architects, executives, revenue leaders, and Salesforce teams are all moving between keynotes, sessions, meetings, dinners, parties, and conversations.
There is a lot happening.
Probably too much.
And that is exactly why one of the biggest mistakes you can make at Dreamforce is trying to do everything.
Salesforce is planning more than 1,600 sessions, 150+ hands-on trainings, 240+ roundtables, and countless opportunities to meet people from across the ecosystem this year. Salesforce describes the philosophy behind Dreamforce 2026 as, "Come for the vision. Leave with a plan." We think that is a pretty good way to approach the entire week.
The goal should not be to pack every possible minute into your calendar.
The goal should be to leave San Francisco with new ideas, stronger relationships, a better understanding of where Salesforce is going, and enough energy to actually do something with everything you learned.
After spending a lot of time in the Salesforce ecosystem, here is how we think about getting the most out of Dreamforce at Squivr.
Go to Dreamforce with a Purpose
Before you build your agenda, ask yourself why you are going.
It sounds obvious, but it can completely change your Dreamforce experience.
Maybe you want to understand Agentforce and the future of AI. Maybe your organization needs to improve Salesforce adoption. Maybe you're evaluating new applications. Maybe you're trying to modernize Account Planning. Maybe you want to understand how other companies are approaching Relationship Intelligence, analytics, data, or revenue execution.
Pick three or four things you genuinely want to learn.
Then build your Dreamforce around those priorities.
There will always be another interesting session. There will always be another booth to visit. There will always be another event happening somewhere in San Francisco.
You don't need to see everything.
You need to see the things that matter to you.
Don't Schedule Every Minute
This may be our most important Dreamforce recommendation.
Leave gaps in your calendar.
The temptation is to schedule a session at 9:00, another at 10:00, a customer meeting at 11:00, lunch at noon, another meeting at 1:00, three afternoon sessions, a happy hour, dinner, and two parties.
By Wednesday, you're exhausted.
More importantly, you've eliminated one of the most valuable parts of Dreamforce: spontaneity.
Some of the best conversations happen walking between sessions, sitting down for coffee, standing in line, visiting the Campground, or running into someone you haven't seen in years.
Salesforce itself emphasizes the networking opportunity, with 240+ roundtables, community meetups, partners, experts, and leaders coming together throughout the event.
Build white space into your calendar and let Dreamforce happen a little bit.
Wear Comfortable Shoes. Seriously.
This deserves its own section.
Wear comfortable shoes.
Not the shoes that look great with your conference outfit but start hurting after 4,000 steps.
The actually comfortable ones.
You're going to walk.
A lot.
Moscone is big. Events are spread throughout downtown San Francisco. Meetings may be several blocks apart. Dinner may be somewhere else entirely. Then you have to walk back.
There are plenty of opportunities at Dreamforce to look impressive.
Your footwear doesn't need to be one of them.
Your feet will thank you by Wednesday night.
Schedule Exercise, Rest, and Time for Yourself
This is one of the things people tend to forget.
Dreamforce can start early and end very late.
If your normal routine includes working out, running, walking, meditation, or simply having 30 minutes alone with coffee in the morning, don't immediately sacrifice all of it because you're at a conference.
Put it on your calendar.
Go for a morning run along the Embarcadero.
Use the hotel gym.
Take a walk without looking at your phone.
Give yourself 30 minutes in the afternoon to go back to your hotel and reset.
Even an hour away from the crowds can completely change the rest of your day.
Dreamforce is supposed to energize you.
If you return home completely depleted, you probably tried to do too much.
Hydrate and Actually Eat
This sounds ridiculously simple until you realize it's 4:30 p.m. and you've survived the day on coffee and whatever was available at a booth.
Drink water.
Eat breakfast.
Have lunch.
Carry a water bottle.
Keep a snack in your bag.
And maybe mix in some water between the evening drinks.
Dreamforce is a marathon, not a sprint.
Your Thursday self will appreciate the decisions your Tuesday self made.
Choose Quality Conversations Over Quantity
You can meet hundreds of people at Dreamforce.
That doesn't mean you should.
We would rather leave Dreamforce having had ten great conversations than having exchanged 100 business cards.
Ask people what they're working on.
Ask what they're excited about.
Ask what they're struggling with.
Ask what they're seeing in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Listen.
Some of the best ideas for our own business and product have come from conversations with customers, partners, Salesforce teams, other ISVs, and people we've randomly met at events.
Dreamforce is one of the rare occasions when so many different parts of the Salesforce ecosystem are in one place.
Take advantage of it.
Spend Time Outside Your Existing Salesforce Bubble
If you work in Sales, go to something about Customer Success.
If you're an Admin, listen to a revenue leader.
If you're an executive, spend some time talking to Admins and actual Salesforce users.
If you're an ISV, talk to other ISVs.
If you work primarily with Salesforce today, spend some time understanding what's happening around AI, agents, data, Slack, and the broader ecosystem.
Dreamforce is an opportunity to challenge your existing thinking.
Salesforce reports that prior attendees overwhelmingly said the event helped them find new ways to connect with customers, work smarter, and identify strategies for growth.
You don't get those ideas by only attending sessions that reinforce what you already know.
Get Hands-On
Keynotes are great for understanding vision.
Hands-on experiences are where that vision starts becoming real.
Salesforce is offering more than 150 hands-on trainings at Dreamforce 2026, alongside access to product experts and real-world examples of how organizations are putting new Salesforce capabilities to work.
Take advantage of that.
Don't just hear about Agentforce.
Use it.
Don't just hear about a new Salesforce feature.
See it.
Don't just listen to someone describe a business outcome.
Ask them how they actually achieved it.
The question you should continually ask throughout Dreamforce is:
"How could we apply this when we get home?"
That is where the value starts compounding.
Make Time for the Salesforce Ecosystem
Salesforce is obviously the center of Dreamforce.
But the ecosystem around Salesforce is one of the biggest reasons the platform has become what it is today.
Consulting partners, technology partners, ISVs, developers, and community leaders extend what Salesforce can do.
Take some time to explore.
If you're dealing with a business challenge, chances are someone in the ecosystem has thought deeply about it.
At Squivr, that's exactly how we view our role.
We're not trying to create another place for revenue teams to work.
We're focused on making Salesforce more valuable by bringing Account Planning, Relationship Intelligence, revenue execution, insights, and analytics together natively around the Salesforce records teams already use.
At Dreamforce, we'll be showing our newest Squivr releases and the best practices behind them, including how Account Planning, Relationship Intelligence, insights, and analytics can work together without requiring teams to leave Salesforce or rekey their customer information.
Put Important Meetings on the Calendar Before You Arrive
There is a difference between overscheduling Dreamforce and failing to schedule the conversations that really matter.
If there are customers, partners, vendors, or Salesforce teams you definitely want to see, get those meetings on the calendar before you arrive.
Trying to coordinate schedules once everyone is running around San Francisco gets considerably harder.
We're doing exactly that at Squivr.
We'll be at Moscone throughout Dreamforce, September 15 through 17, and we've opened 30-minute meeting times across all three days for customers, prospects, partners, and anyone interested in seeing where we're taking Squivr next.
If you'd like to spend some time with us, you can schedule it here:
Then leave some room around those priority meetings for everything you can't predict.
Enjoy the Events Around Dreamforce
Dreamforce isn't only happening inside Moscone.
Some of the best networking happens at the breakfasts, lunches, dinners, happy hours, and events surrounding the conference.
These are often where conversations become more relaxed and relationships start becoming more meaningful.
Again, don't try to attend everything.
Pick the events where you'll actually have an opportunity to connect with people.
And Wednesday night is a particularly good example.
Start Dreamfest with Squivr
On Wednesday, September 16, Squivr is a Silver Sponsor of the Dreamfest Pre-Party at Thriller Social Club.
The event runs from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. and is designed to be exactly what you need after a busy day at Dreamforce: drinks, appetizers, arcade games, and an opportunity to spend some time with people from across the ecosystem before heading to Dreamfest. Thriller Social Club is also within a 10-minute walk of Oracle Park.
It's invite-only and registration is required, so if you'd like to join us, register ahead of time:
https://www.kicksaw.com/events/dreamfest-pre-party
Come grab a drink, play some games, meet the Squivr team, and decompress a little before the concert.
Then we can all make our way over to Dreamfest.
Make Time for Dreamfest
Dreamfest is part of the Dreamforce experience.
Don't treat every evening as another opportunity to schedule six more business meetings.
Have some fun.
Enjoy San Francisco.
Go to Dreamfest.
Spend time with the people you've been working with all week without necessarily talking about Salesforce for the entire conversation.
The relationships built around Dreamforce can be just as valuable as the information you learn inside it.
And after a couple of packed conference days, taking a night to enjoy Dreamfest is a pretty good reminder that the Salesforce ecosystem is a community, not simply a collection of companies.
Give Yourself Permission to Miss Things
You will miss sessions.
You will miss parties.
You will hear someone say, "You should have been there."
It's fine.
There is no perfect Dreamforce itinerary.
Trying to optimize every second usually has the opposite effect.
If you're having an incredible conversation with a customer and you're supposed to be somewhere else in 15 minutes, maybe the conversation is more valuable.
If you're exhausted and need an hour at your hotel, take it.
If you want to skip an evening event and get a good night's sleep, do it.
The goal is not to win Dreamforce attendance.
The goal is to get something meaningful from it.
Take Notes, but Focus on Actions
You will hear a lot of ideas during Dreamforce.
Don't try to document everything.
Instead, keep a simple running list:
Things I learned.
People I need to follow up with.
Ideas we should explore.
Things we should actually do.
That final category is the most important.
Salesforce's own positioning for Dreamforce this year is about leaving with the clarity, skills, connections, and plan needed to move your business forward.
The conference only creates value if something changes when you get home.
Block Time After Dreamforce Before Dreamforce Starts
Here's one final recommendation that is easy to overlook.
Before you leave for San Francisco, put time on your calendar for the week after you return.
Use it to process everything.
Follow up with the people you met.
Share the most important ideas with your team.
Evaluate the technology you discovered.
Turn notes into actions.
Decide what you're actually going to implement.
Dreamforce creates an enormous amount of energy and inspiration.
Then Monday arrives.
Emails pile up.
Meetings restart.
Normal business resumes.
Within two weeks, that notebook full of incredible ideas can be sitting untouched on your desk.
Don't let that happen.
Our Dreamforce Philosophy at Squivr
For us, Dreamforce is ultimately about balance.
Learn, but don't try to learn everything.
Network, but focus on meaningful relationships.
Schedule meetings, but leave room for spontaneity.
Work hard, but make time to exercise and recharge.
Go to the sessions, but enjoy San Francisco too.
Talk business, but have some fun.
Collect ideas, but leave with actions.
That's how we're approaching Dreamforce 2026 at Squivr.
We'll be there to learn from Salesforce, listen to customers, spend time with partners, connect with the broader ecosystem, show what we're building, and have a little fun along the way.
If you're going to be in San Francisco, we'd love to connect.
Meet with Squivr at Dreamforce:
https://www.squivr.com/meet
Join us before Dreamfest:
https://www.kicksaw.com/events/dreamfest-pre-party
And if we can leave you with one piece of Dreamforce advice, it's this:
Don't try to do Dreamforce. Experience it.
Wear comfortable shoes. Take care of yourself. Meet great people. Learn something unexpected. Enjoy Dreamfest. And go home with a few ideas you're genuinely excited to put into action.
We'll see you in San Francisco.
