Dreamforce - Practical Advice for Maximum Enjoyment

Is navigating Dreamforce a challenge you’re ready to conquer? Join Vanessa Grant and me as we gear up for the ultimate Salesforce community event, revealing practical tips you won’t want to miss. From early booking strategies to dodging last-minute accommodation pitfalls, we’ve got you covered. Our trip down memory lane contrasts the colossal pre-pandemic Dreamforces with the more intimate post-COVID gatherings, while we eagerly anticipate performances by Pink and Imagine Dragons. Networking, learning, and entertainment await—get ready to make the most of your Dreamforce experience.

Remote work has its perks, but the lack of face-to-face interaction can be a challenge. Vanessa and I dive into how conferences like Dreamforce fulfill the need for social connection and professional networking. We share insider advice on navigating such events, especially for first-timers, and emphasize the importance of staying linked to the Salesforce ecosystem. The current job market also gets a spotlight, shedding light on emerging opportunities and the frustrations of automated recruiter responses. Managing your expectations and maintaining motivation can make all the difference in your job search journey.

Maximizing your Dreamforce ROI is all about preparation and engagement. From essential attire tips—think layers and comfy shoes—to smart packing advice like leaving heavy laptops behind, we cover it all. We advocate for strategic session planning, having backup plans, and the importance of networking with presenters. Plus, we share our top tips for staying energized and hydrated, ensuring you look sharp and feel great throughout the event. Whether you’re a Dreamforce newbie or a seasoned pro, these practical strategies will help you harness the full potential of this transformative experience.

Episode Transcript

Announcer (00:06):
And now the number one audio program that helps you
to hire, get hired and soarhigher in the Salesforce
ecosystem.
It's the Salesforce Career Showwith Josh Matthews and Vanessa
Grant, and the crowd goes wild.
Welcome everybody.
We've got a really fun episodetoday because we're going to be

(00:27):
talking about all thingsSalesforce, dreamforce, rather
Dreamforce, and I've got Vanessahere.
Hello Vanessa, hello Josh, it'salways funny saying hi to your
co-host when you just literallyhung up with them.
I mean like hi, how are youdoing?
It's so funny.

Vanessa Grant (00:44):
I just got here.
What are you guys been out to?
Yeah?

Josh Matthews (00:46):
Hey, how have you been all week?
Right?
So we've got Dreamforce comingup.
It's not that far away.
I'm looking here and you know,most of us will be flying home.
What is it?
Four weeks from now, threeweeks from now, we'll be flying
home Is One, two, I think three.

Vanessa Grant (01:03):
Yeah, Three and a half.
I just looked at the calendarand went into panic mode because
I was like, oh shoot, I shouldbuy some flights.

Josh Matthews (01:09):
Oh my God, Okay, yeah, that's a good idea and a
place to stay, do you?

Vanessa Grant (01:16):
have that sorted out, that I have covered, and if
my first bit of Dreamforceadvice could be as soon as they
announce the dates forDreamforce book, something for
the following year advice couldbe as soon as they announce the
dates for Dreamforce booksomething for the following year
.

Josh Matthews (01:26):
It's so important .
You know, I I did it for DF 23.
I booked a place in March.
Apparently I'm an idiot and Ithink a lot of people already
knew this about me, but thisidiot move was I booked a place
in March and what it was was anAirbnb and it was a scam thing

(01:48):
Like it was.
I got scammed on Airbnb and soonce I found out that I'd been
scammed, I had just, you know,like two weeks or three weeks to
go before the dream force and Iwound up staying in.
I look, it was a rat hole.
It was deep, deep mission.
Nothing wrong with deep mission, but it was deep mission, a
walk up.
I've stayed in some bad places.

(02:11):
This was uniquely bad.
So, yeah, you got a book early.
And, vanessa, when do theytypically announce?
Because I usually find outaround March, but don't they
announce it much earlier thanthat?

Vanessa Grant (02:22):
Yeah, they usually announced a few weeks
after Dreamforce is over.

Josh Matthews (02:25):
Okay, well, there you go, so you can get a nice
hotel for like $200 a nightinstead of $950 a night, right?

Vanessa Grant (02:35):
When you book it early.
Yeah, I ended up, so mine isn'tthe nicest either, but it is
Moscone West adjacent, like I'ma block.
I'm across from the Marriott,like a couple blocks away.
I have a shared bathroom, butI'm literally staying from
Saturday to Saturday, so I'vegot a whole week and I'm only
paying a thousand dollars.
That's great, so cheap.
Yeah.

Josh Matthews (02:53):
That's a really good.
That's a really good deal.
I'm staying at some artsomething or other, I don't even
know, but it looks nice Just afew blocks away and I think,
yeah, it was like two, 50 anight or something like that.
It's like pretty, prettyreasonable.
All right, welcome to thetravel show, welcome to the
travel channel.
You know, vanessa, you've goneto now.

Vanessa Grant (03:13):
How many dream forces in total, I think this
one will be my fifth.

Josh Matthews (03:16):
Okay, mine too, although I I got a.
I've got a little caveat here.
I've gone that many.
Well, this will be my fifthtime going to San Francisco for
Dreamforce.
However, you know, I did notget in during that post COVID
one where you went.
You know where there are like athousand people over there.
So I was there, I was hangingout, you know, which was cool,

(03:37):
but didn't really get to goinside and participate, but got
to have some meetings and, youknow, still had a good time.
So I'm really excited aboutthis one.
Do you remember back in the day, I mean, dreamforce?
Now, what are they predicting?
Another 50,000 for thisconference?

Vanessa Grant (03:52):
I don't know, but I would say maybe even a little
bit more, but certainly morethan 50.

Josh Matthews (03:58):
Yeah, because we were like 45 last year.
I want to say it was like 45.

Vanessa Grant (04:03):
That sounds about right.

Josh Matthews (04:04):
Yeah, but do you remember DF 19,?
250,000 people, quarter of amillion people, guys, quarter of
a million people.
I mean that's insane.
You know the town I grew up inyou could fit I don't know like
40 of them, 40 of those towns.
You know it's crazy and it wasreally, really nutty.
But I I'm excited about this.

(04:24):
Now there's been a little bit oflineup changes.
The thing that people aretalking about the most is Elton
John is not going to beperforming.
Instead they have put in pinkand imagine dragon.
So I guess a little somethingfor everybody.
That's what it sounds like, youknow.
I know Vanessa's throwing me abig thumbs down.
Hey, I kind of got to, I kindof got to agree.
I'll tell you this, though Idon't listen to either of them,

(04:47):
but I did see Imagine Dragonssome video and they got up on
stage and this guy talkedThey've got these young fans and
he spent quite a bit of timetalking about love and caring
and the importance of mentalhealth.
My heart definitely warmed overfor these people, whether you,

(05:08):
you know.
I mean they make good music.
It's not something.
I don't buy their albums oranything.
Of course people don't buyalbums now.
So sorry, did myself there, butI like the message Right, and I
think pink is a very positiveperson too.
So fair enough, right, fairenough.
What is it other than hangingout with me, vanessa?
What is the number one thingthat you're looking forward to
the most for Dreamforce?

Vanessa Grant (05:28):
Well, the thing I'm looking forward to the most
is the Trailblazer communityteam has sought me for hosting a
Salesforce business analystnetworking event.
So I'll be hosting a networkingevent for 45 minutes on
September 18th from 2 PM to 2 45PM in the community cove.

Josh Matthews (05:49):
Awesome, awesome, that's great.
Well, I'm stoked for you.
Um, I'll tell you what I'mlooking forward to the most.
It's literally, it's seeing myfriends, right, it's seeing the
people in the community, myclients, people I've placed
people that prospects I'mtalking to right now.
I love because I sit in thisoffice and I like my office.

(06:10):
I got a pretty cool office here.
I've got a humidor with mycigars, I've got, you know, a
keyboard and electric drum kit.
It's a pretty cool office.
But I really miss out on, youknow, getting to go in and hang
out with everybody.
I mean, we do it maybe once ayear in my company where I get
to see everybody and that's it.
So I just love the, the, thesocial connection, more than

(06:34):
anything.
And in fact, someone was askingme the other day they're like
what sessions are you going to?
I'm like sessions, what are youtalking about?
I'm just going to be hangingout out talking to people almost
the whole time.
The sessions I generally go to,you know keynote and Vanessa's
speeches and other friends'speeches and presentations that
they're doing, or clients, ifthey're running presentations, I

(06:56):
go to those.
But I kind of feel like you canget a lot out of Dreamforce.
What are they calling it?
Df Plus?
I can't even remember.
I'm confusing it with Disney,where you you can watch it
online.
A lot of this stuff.

Vanessa Grant (07:09):
Oh yeah, the Salesforce Plus.

Josh Matthews (07:11):
Yeah, salesforce Plus, so a lot of this stuff.
It's like you don't have to bethere.
I mean, how many hundreds andhundreds of sessions are going
on?
Whatever you want, go read theblog after the session.
You could do that.
It's not as fun, it's not asinteresting.
Oh, I know, I was talking aboutit with Fred Cadena on banking,
on disruption, on Monday nightwhen we recorded an episode
that's going to drop tomorrow,so we talked a little little bit

(07:32):
about it.
Now there are a lot of peoplewho go back to dream force every
year, but there are also a lotof people who are brand new
right.
More and more people, manythousands of people, join the
ecosystem every year.
People who've gone once mightfeel I don't really need to go
again.
Or I talked to a guy today.

(07:53):
He's like, yeah, I've gone thelast two years, I'm going to
skip a couple and then I'll goback.
What that means is we get a lotof new people who've never been
to Dreamforce before and theymight want to know how to
navigate this amazing.
I mean it's an amazing event.
It's the largest techconference.
It's the largest conference inthe world about AI, right?
It's got so many awesomeaccolades and something for

(08:15):
everybody.
Literally, there's somethingfor everybody, except maybe ice
skaters.
Maybe there's not so much forthem, but there's something for
everybody.
And to make it a little biteasier for what it's worth, I
created a little I don't want tocall it an article because it's
really a download and it'sInsider's Practical Guide to
Dreamforce Success audience.

(08:36):
Maybe not all of them, but someof those insights today with
our listening audience, and thenwe're going to Vanessa is going
to share a lot of her insights,too, on how you can get the
most out of dream force and youknow things to avoid, things to
be careful of, and whetheryou're going or not this year.

(08:56):
That doesn't mean hang up,don't you know?
It doesn't mean turn off yourSpotify or whatever, because you
may want to go someday, and alot of the advice and
recommendations from pastexperiences that Vanessa and I
are going to be sharing todaycan be applied to really almost
every, almost every conferencethat you go to.
Okay, so I think it's.
I think it's going to be areally valuable episode.

(09:19):
Before we launch in, a couple ofquick little housekeeping
things.
First, job announcements.
We had, I don't know, 400, 450people applied to a project
manager role that I posted acouple of weeks ago Just
everyone, just so you know.
That got filled today.
The guy signed.
We're really excited about that.
So that is gone.
We did get a couple newopportunities.

(09:39):
One's a six month opportunity,another is a two month
opportunity, but these are inMiami.
So if you're listening andyou're in the Miami area and
you're a Salesforce professionaland you either have project
management and or product likesenior product management
experience, definitely reach outto me or more specifically, to
Steven Greger.
You can get him at Steven witha V at the

(10:01):
salesforcerecruitercom.
We also have a seniorSalesforce engineering role.
This person is going to beresponsible for about eight
people.
It's a contract.
It's probably going to golonger than what they're
expecting, but it's a contractand it's going to be onsite at
least three days a week.
Again, that's also in the Miamiarea.
On top of that, we also have ahealth cloud solution architect.

(10:24):
If you're hearing this rightnow and you're interested in it,
apply tonight.
Apply tonight, because peopleare getting interviewed.
This isn't going to stay on forvery long.
And on top of that, we have anonprofit Salesforce consultant
role with one of our favoriteclients.
These guys are fantastic.
People go there and they don'tcome out right.
It's like the mob you get inthere, they never let you out

(10:45):
because they love it so much.
So definitely check those out.
And then the other thing Iwanted to talk about.
It might take me a minute topull it up, but my little
company.
We ran a poll on LinkedInrecently and it was literally,
it was just an absolute amazingresult.

(11:05):
We've done a number of pollsover the last three or four
months, thanks to Rockstar, myawesome marketing firm, that I
just love.
These guys and it's really youwas what is your biggest
frustration when applying forjobs?
And I thought, before we divetoo much into the DF stuff, what

(11:30):
do you think, vanessa?
Can we talk about this a littlebit?

Vanessa Grant (11:33):
Yeah, what were the results?

Josh Matthews (11:36):
I'm going to tell you.
So.
We had 634 people voted and wehad four options for them.
Number one, at the top, waslack of response, followed by
lengthy applications, automatedrejection emails and unclear job
descriptions.
Okay, so the lack of responsewas the number one biggest
frustration, capping out at 57%lack of response it's the

(12:00):
ultimate ghosting experience.
Right, you'll feel like it'sHalloween all year long.
All you got to do is apply tojobs and never hear back from
them.
You know, happy Halloween.
Okay.
Then we've got lengthyapplications that came in at 20%
.
Automated rejection emails at18%, and that's sort of like you
know, if you'd stack that withlack of response, like it's a

(12:21):
response, they just don't likehow they're being responded to.
And then the final one, at fivejust 5% unclear job
descriptions.
What do you think about that?

Vanessa Grant (12:32):
Well, I guess, uh , this one's hitting a little
close to home this week, Josh,so let it out, vanessa, let it
out, let's go.
So last Monday I actually had aweird series of events.
So just to sidetrack like justa little bit, I had a weird
series of events where I I hitthis wonderful like 15,000

(12:54):
followers on LinkedIn I'mfeeling on top of the world and
then the next day I got laid off.
So last week was my last weekin my organization and I've been
looking for roles since and youknow, I will say I think when I
was happily employed, I wasthinking that maybe the
non-response would be my numberone.

(13:16):
Now, actually having to applyto a lot of things, I think my
biggest gripe would be thelengthy applications Like it
drives me bananas that I have tofill out, you know, every,
every bit of my resume so that amachine can read it.
It feels so impersonal and Ihave everything on my resume

(13:37):
already, so it just feels likeI'm putting in a lot of work so
that a machine can you know, aican look at me and decide that
I'm not worthy without actuallydoing any actual human analysis.

Josh Matthews (13:48):
Right, yeah, Super frustrating and I can tell
you.
First of all, I think thecompany made a big mistake when
they let you go and I think thatthey're going to.

Vanessa Grant (13:59):
It's not going to take them very long to realize
that it really won't like itwon't you know, and let me make
it clear too, like this wasn't Iwas like fired, like they
eliminated my role.
They're going in a differentdirection.
Like that is.
You know, that's that's justthat company's journey, so it
wasn't a personal thing.

Josh Matthews (14:18):
My supervisor's happy to give a reference, but
yeah you were laid off that's Iwas laid off yeah, not the same
thing as getting fired forperformance or anything like
that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So you know, talk to me, talkto the audience if you want.
I mean, this is, this is aunique experience.
This is the first time and whatwe've probably had, what?

(14:41):
52, 53 recorded episodes andwe've probably actually held
about 150 to 200 actual shows bynow.
Can you believe that?
How long we've been doing thisnow and at no time, I think I
don't think anyone's.
I mean, have you experiencedbeing laid off in these last
three years?
I'm trying to remember.

Vanessa Grant (15:01):
No.

Josh Matthews (15:02):
Yeah, okay, I have not.
So this is the first time oneof the hosts of Salesforce
career show is actually in thejob market, so we might get some
really interesting insights andpotentially a lot of empathy.
Going on here right now, what'sthe biggest you know?
I'll just ask you this what'sthe biggest cloud and what's the

(15:24):
biggest silver lining on thatcloud with this experience for
you?

Vanessa Grant (15:28):
Biggest cloud?
What do you mean by biggestcloud?

Josh Matthews (15:31):
Yeah, sorry, not CPQ, not field service.
Okay, dark gray, you know cloudraining on you about this
experience of getting laid off.

Vanessa Grant (15:41):
Oh, that.

Josh Matthews (15:43):
What hits the hardest of getting laid off.

Vanessa Grant (15:46):
Oh, that what hits the hardest.
So I'm coining a new phrase andI'm calling it imposter
syndrome, which is, as soon as Iwas laid off on LinkedIn, I
received so many people thatwere like you know, tagging in
people, this isn't going to lastlong, you know.
Oh, it's the GOAT, va, wow,some other company's going to be
really lucky to have you.
Oh, it's the GOAT VA, wow, someother company's going to be

(16:06):
really lucky to have you.
And for me, the impostersyndrome delta, which is what
I'm calling it is the differencebetween that space where
everybody's super supportive andthen the space of another
company that felt like it wasokay to let me go and didn't
value in that way, or was okayto let me go and didn't my value

(16:26):
in that way, or was was able tolet me.
So that's the differencebetween those two.
It's a weird kind of to be I'lljust say it because it's our
show and we can't kind of amind-fucking space yeah, yeah,
yeah it's that's been but thesilver lining.
I have been, in all honesty, inhappy tears every day reading

(16:50):
the kind messages of supportfrom people that I don't even
know personally, just becausethey follow me online.
They listen to the show, theyreceive value from something I
click, whatever it might be,received value from something I
clicked, whatever it might be,but I've had some impact on
their career and they've saidreally really kind things and

(17:10):
offered support.
And even his employees they'renot employees, previous
employers and coworkers of minehave come out and that's
actually really helped as far asbridging that divide, that
imposter delta, the impostersyndrome delta that I'm talking
about where I'm like am I reallyas good as the public thinks I

(17:33):
am?
And having the former coworkerscome out and give other people
that they know that's beenreally helpful in that regard.
But yeah, every day people arejust saying the nicest things
and that's been.
The silver lining is howsupported I feel in this
community and and I feelextremely, extraordinarily lucky
to have, you know, have the,the support that I do from you,

(17:54):
from the listeners of the show,folks that follow me online and
you know I it's it's honestlythe.
I feel kind of the the fruitsof the work that I've put into
the community.
It was never done with theexpectation that it'd be paid
back yeah yeah, but it's peoplecoming through regardless and it

(18:16):
feels really good.

Josh Matthews (18:18):
Well, I'm looking at this post where you
announced what had happened andI was one of 1,135 people who
threw up a like or a heart orsomething like that on your post
.
You had 59 reposts, 166comments.

(18:38):
I've never seen anything likethat in my own career, like ever
from any kind of.
You know, if I get 30 likes,I'm like oh my God, I'm winning.
You know like this is prettyincredible.
So you know I I'm glad that youhave this amazing community of
supporters and you know I wouldtake the community of supporters

(18:59):
that you have over you know onecompany and one boss and their
decision making any day.
Right, like fair trade, like ifyou had to give up all of these
people who support you and butyou got to keep your job.
I don't know that you would andI definitely wouldn't recommend
it.
Do you see what I mean?

Vanessa Grant (19:18):
Yeah, no, absolutely.
It filled me with hope thisweek and so it especially with
that support reaction from frommy post and the followup post I
you know, if I can't turn thisinto a really great opportunity
in the next couple of months,you know, then there must be

(19:38):
something wrong.

Josh Matthews (19:39):
Oh no, you'll, you'll be fine, You'll be fine.

Vanessa Grant (19:40):
And of course you've got.
You've got my support, andStevens and everybody else on
the team here too, so I'mfeeling really hopeful and
excited for what the next movemight be.

Josh Matthews (19:51):
Well, good, all right guys.
Well, you heard it.
If you have an opportunity, whydon't you just tell people real
quick what you do and what yourbest favorite job would be, or
two or three versions of whereyou think if you landed in a
role like x, you know, blank,not the, not the company, what
would that look like?

Vanessa Grant (20:10):
so maybe someone's listening and they're
like, oh my god, I could getvanessa grant so I'm not the
most technical salesforceprofessional, so I'm not, like
you know, want to be hands-on inthe system every day.
I'm much more a person who'sgood at teams.
I love agile software delivery.
I love this team.
Product ownership roles aregreat for me.

(20:34):
I love coming up with internalteam processes so that we can
deliver Salesforce projects andday-to-day support in a more
optimized fashion.
I love mentorship and coaching.
So having a team of people tosupport to be better and to be
better as a team that's all thestuff that I love.
I love coming up with processesand I love working with end

(20:57):
users and leadership in order tooptimize their Salesforce
investment.

Josh Matthews (21:01):
Okay, I love it.
I love it Very good.
All right, thank you forsharing, thanks for being a
little bit vulnerable here onthe program today and let's dive
back into.
Before we go full on intoDreamforce, let's dive back into
this survey for just a moment.
There were a fair amount ofcomments on this one and I, I

(21:24):
think and I don't mean this in abad way like at all but people
were you got really you couldfeel the energy when they talk
about lack of response, right.
You could feel the energy whenpeople talk about fake job
postings.
And there's this, there's thisidea, and I want to, I want to

(21:46):
just clarify this for all of ourlisteners so that when they
don't hear back, right, they cankind of gird themselves a
little bit.
Now there is technology to beable to communicate with every
single applicant and notify themwhen a position has been filled

(22:08):
.
I know for the public that's notgood enough because 18% or
whatever it was said we don'tlike these automated responses.
The problem is clients ofrecruiting firms and internal
talent acquisition peopleCompanies can't spend as much
money on live people callingevery applicant and having a

(22:30):
conversation to let them downthat they're not getting an
interview.
It's an impossibility.
Maybe if it's a really weirdhard job and there were five
applicants, fine, this PM role Imean that I advertised we had
400 applicants.
You're going to get anautomated response.

(22:51):
Okay, you're going to get anautomated response.
I'm not sending 400 differentones.
I'm not making 400 calls.
It would take me way more thana full week to do that.
Meanwhile, if I'm doing that,I'm not placing people in jobs,
right.
So I understand it'sfrustrating.
I get it Fair, fair enough,okay.

(23:14):
But the ability to reach themass market now look, salesforce
is Salesforce.
Jobs are different than a lotof jobs because they're
predominant not predominantly,but maybe predominantly remote,
right.
That means that our pool for acandidate comes from the entire
United States of America.
We got at least 48 states, timezone wise.

(23:38):
That we're probably looking at.
And even if it's just time zonespecific, if it's time zone
specific, it's either West Coastor East Coast, usually, like
that's usually what it is,because that's where everybody
lives there's just going to beway more applicants.
If I post a job in Miami, a PMjob for an onsite role in Miami,

(23:58):
and I get 20 applicants 25applicants I'll be stoked,
stoked, right.
That'll be good, that's a goodresult, but when I post it
nationally, I get 400.
So I just want to ask peoplewhat did you think was going to
happen Right, like, what do you?
What do you think was going tohappen?
What do you think is going tohappen out there?

(24:18):
There's a lot of competitionright now.
We just saw a couple of weeksago we are now over 4% for
unemployment.
4% is not a terrible number.
That's sort of a middle of theground, we're fine kind of
number, but we're over that nowand we might be a little bit
higher than that.
In tech Now, two years agoSalesforce I would tell people

(24:40):
I'm like, yeah, look,unemployment's 3%, 3.5%.
It's 0.5% in the ecosystem,though, because that's what it
was like Right and it's not likethat anymore.
It doesn't mean that youshouldn't use a recruiter
because you can just findwhoever you want.
That's not at all what I'msaying.
Top people are really hard tofind.
It's hard to get theirattention, it's hard to sell

(25:01):
them, it's hard to get themexcited about your role and it's
hard to identify them becausethey're often very, very, very
busy, right?
They're not scrolling all day.
So the reality is is like it'sa different.
It's a slightly differentmarket, but it's not.
It's still not a horrible,horrible, horrible, horrendous
market and we are seeing somesigns of turnaround.
But at the end of the day, Ireally want people to understand
what someone does.

(25:22):
Steven puts in a ton of hours.
I put in a ton of hours, I meanI generally work till seven at
night pretty much every day ofthe week, minimum right, and
some on the weekends too.
So the reality is is there'sjust not enough people?
Now, I know I'm beating a deadhorse here, but is is there's
just not enough people?
Now, I know I'm beating a deadhorse here, but there's a lot of
animosity and you got to becareful here.
Like, and I mean it, if you'regoing to listen to anything on
this show, listen to this, right.

(25:44):
When you don't get responses,when you don't get the rejection
letters, when you don't getnotified, when you don't get the
phone calls and the invitationsto actually sit down and
interview, it will affect youremotions, right?
It's easy to have a certain setof expectations going into the
job hunt and, within a week ortwo weeks, be disappointed,

(26:08):
right?
Humans have this amazingcapacity to think positive and
think optimistically, and forthe most part, that's what we do
.
But happiness is whenexpectations meet reality and if
your expectations are off,you're going to be disappointed.
Right Now it's good to havegood expectations because that
can be motivating, that candrive you, that can give you the

(26:31):
actual juice that you need toget all the things done to jump
into that interview and crush it.
You know, to like look afteryour health, to get your sleep,
to do things that make you happy, to be really positive, right.
But I talked to a guy today.
I talked to a guy today and hewas like so he was, he's been
looking for four months.

(26:51):
He was so sour on businessculture, right, and he was like
I don't care what I do, I justwant to find a place where, when
I arrive at the company, it'sthe company that they said it
was going to be.
And because that's not happenedfor him more than once in the

(27:12):
last three or four years, he'sreally sour and he thinks that
now, through his very narrowwindow of awareness.
Now he thinks this is the wayof the world and it's not.
It's not even close to the wayof the world, like not even
close.
That's like taking a survey ofone person.
You know what I mean.

(27:32):
So we've got to step back right.
We've got to understand, okay,the people I'm expecting calls
from, what might they be up totoday, what might be top of mind
and most important for them?
Because it feels like it's notme, and you'll be right, it's
not you, okay, it's their client, it's their internal client or
it's their external client,that's their top priority.

(27:54):
That's what they're trying tofix.
And if you didn't make the cut,you didn't apply fast enough,
your resume didn't stand outenough, you didn't reach out to
them on LinkedIn, you didn'tdevelop an, a personal
connection with them, you didn't, you know, somehow get get
through some sort of side dooror back door, through
acquaintances that might knowthis person, that might know

(28:15):
this company.
I mean, vanessa, the job thatyou're leaving, that role, you
knew because of a friend whoworked there.

Vanessa Grant (28:24):
Right, that's correct.
It was just they reached out tome.
I wasn't even looking at thetime.

Josh Matthews (28:30):
Yeah, but they knew of you because of him,
right?
Yep, that is correct.
Okay, so it's you know, andthis is no, I'm not joking this
is probably how your next job isgoing to come about too.
It's probably not going to befrom some application.
That's just the hard truth,okay, All right.
So I just want people tounderstand that, like, set fair
expectations, put in a lot ofwork, keep your expectations low

(28:54):
, but your attitude up andthat's a hard thing to do,
especially when you're facing.
How am I going to pay for this?
And oh, I promised, you know, Iwas going to take the family on
a vacation in January to DisneyWorld.
That I don't know if I canafford it anymore.
How am I going to pay for mymother's nursing home?
Like all this stuff.
It's very stressful,sympathetic, okay.
One thing that you can do is youcan jump on to YouTube or go to

(29:15):
the salesforcerecruitercom,click on insights, okay, and
watch.
I just lost my.
I lost my job.
What am I going to do?
Part one and part two, right,so you can watch those videos.
I think it'll help.
You can invest in yourself.
I'm going to get so focused onhaving the best resume I'm going
to get.
I'm going to go listen to thepodcast that we released two

(29:36):
weeks ago, which was all aboutbasically the top third of your
LinkedIn profile.
I'm going to go.
It's an hour and a half long, Iget it.
It's a long time to invest.
Spend the time.
What else are you going to do?
Listen to the show and thentake action.
I'll take you half an hour, 40minutes.
Get your profile all decked out.
Just put everything that youpossibly can into having an

(29:57):
advantage right, and only whenyou've done every single one of
those things and you've beenapplying every single thing that
you've learned.
And it's still four months downthe road.
Okay, it's fine.
Have a bad day, be upset, drinktoo much for a day.
Whatever you got to do to getover the hump, do it okay, but
don't let it affect you.

(30:17):
You know eight to five, mondaythrough Friday, when you're out
there pounding the pavementtrying to find a role.
Does that make sense?

Vanessa Grant (30:23):
I think it makes sense.

Josh Matthews (30:24):
Okay, all right, shall we talk one more little
plug before dream force, andthat is that we just released
our last, our most recentepisode.
That got released today.
If you're listening to thislive, or maybe you're listening
to this show for the very firsttime, if you just listen to the
program right before this oneman, it's a.

(30:45):
It's a good one.
We had Trevor McAlder.
He's my personal executivecoach.
He's from the Tony Robbinsresearch group.
We had him on.
We talked about mindset, wetalked about hiring, we talked
about a lot of amazing things,and I think it's a great episode
.
It's now available for all ofyou listeners to check out on
your favorite podcast platform.
So definitely check that outand, by the way, if you like it,

(31:07):
give us a thumbs up.
If you really, really liked it.
Or you want to share some input, please go ahead and do a
comment and then tell yourfriends.
I don't know, I don't know howall these algorithms change, but
your input deeply matters toour reach.
Okay, and this show is pro bono.
This show is to help peoplehire, get hired and soar higher

(31:28):
in the ecosystem.
We do it out of love.
We do it because there's a gap,there's a need.
Right.
There's a little bit of avacuum in this space where
people can get authentic, realinformation on how they can
successfully navigate theircareers within the ecosystem.
That's what this show's about,but not enough people, I don't
think, are getting access tothis show because they simply

(31:50):
don't know.
Right.
It's kind of like Vanessagetting the job because someone
told her about it.
So if you guys can do us a favor, tell a friend.
If you've got an episode thatyou really like, post it back up
on LinkedIn, throw it up onTwitter, right?
Okay?
And then the last thing I'mgoing to say is that I heard
from a woman and I want to sayshe's in Paris I'm actually

(32:11):
going to get to say hi to her atDream Force, because she's not
Dream Force at Florida Dreaminand she took the time to write,
and I think she wrote to you too, vanessa, to thank you and to
thank me because she's she'slanded a new job and she swears
it's because of what she'slearned by listening to this
show.
Do you recall that?
Did you hear from her?

Vanessa Grant (32:33):
I may have my inboxes kind of bananas right
now, but I love that.

Josh Matthews (32:39):
Yeah, there's a very lovely, sweet message for
you sitting somewhere in thatdeep, deep vastness of the
LinkedIn inbox, so definitelycheck that out.
I thought that's amazing.
Right, I love helping people,helping people across the globe.
Man, how cool is that?
I think it's awesome.
All right, I just patted us onthe back because someone else

(32:59):
did.
Now I'm telling everybody aboutit because I'm not bashful.
Let's talk Dreamforce.
Vanessa, go Go Do it.
Say something cool.

Vanessa Grant (33:11):
Dreamforce is overwhelming if you don't go in
with a plan.
Yeah, look, I said that.

Josh Matthews (33:17):
Yeah, okay, yeah, you're absolutely right.
So there are a lot of guidesout there right now.
Okay, salesforce Ben has, Idon't know, three of them.
I think there are a lot ofpeople that are writing articles
and blogs about how to get themost out of Dreamforce, and we
recommend you check them out.
Right, you're going to be outthere for three solid days.

(33:40):
You're going to spend a bunchof money or your company is on
hotels, transportation, theactual event.
You're paying anywhere from1200 to $2,000 to be there.
It's, it's an investment andyou're going to get out of it
what you prepare for.
Right, you're going to get outof it what you prepare for, and
so planning is key.

(34:01):
So a couple key things here.
One, register for sessions thatyou really want to go to early,
if you can register.
There are some sessions andevents where you just have to
stay in line, right, like if youwant to see McConaughey speak,
I remember going and Obama wasspeaking.
I mean there was a lot ofpeople were in line an hour and
a half, two hours.

Vanessa Grant (34:21):
Right, yeah, and you know what I think with the,
the keynotes, the, especiallythe the general dream force
keynote, but also the adminkeynote and the architect
keynotes get in line early.
And of course, if there's acelebrity speaking on a panel, I
find those are more the kind ofthe inspirational ones.
But if you want to go see thatcelebrity, get in line early.

(34:43):
And then the other one that Iwould recommend is if anybody's
interested in well architectedsessions which are going to be
hands on sessions I did a few ofthem in Tahoe Draven they're
fantastic.
Even if you are not supertechnical, not super hands-on in
the system, even if you're newin the system, you will get
value from them.
But that also means that theyfill up fast because you are
going to be hands-on with folksthat are very trained,

(35:07):
well-architected ambassadors.
But totally worthwhile to go tothis.

Josh Matthews (35:11):
Perfect.
Yeah, planning is key.
In addition to some more noteson planning here too.
We just talked aboutregistering for sessions
register for the parties and theevents early and show up early,
right?
So I love going to the cigarparty on Thursday night.
Last year my friend was lateregistering.
He couldn't get in.

(35:31):
We eventually were able to gethim in, okay.
I went to the World Tour NewYork City this past year,
registered for an event, gotaccepted into it, spent 15, 20
minutes outside chatting with afriend, went to go inside.
They were full, they were atcapacity.
It's sort of like the airlinesthey overbook these meetings or

(35:54):
these events, assuming somepeople aren't going to show up,
but invariably the really goodones, some people.
Even if you registered nowyou've got no plans right, so
you've got to have a backup plan.
My backup plan was to go seethe Neil Diamond Broadway show.
That's what I did instead andhonestly, I probably had a
better time than anyone at thatparty.
But you've got to register earlyfor these events and you've got

(36:16):
to show up on time or early,because you might find yourself
in a chilly San Francisco autumnevening shivering outside the
door while all your friends areinside Mapping it out.
What's it like, vanessa, whenyou've got a meeting over at the
Marriott and lunch at Fong'sand then then you know you've

(36:36):
got another session and youcan't remember if is it on the
second floor or the third floor.
I mean, the Moscone Center ishuge.
You will be spending a lot oftime on your feet If you don't
know where these sessions areand events are.
You might not get to where youwant to go in time and it'll
cause frustration.
You'll be sweating when youshow up.
You know it's not a good look.

Vanessa Grant (36:56):
Yeah, also, I imagine they're going to do it
again this year, but last yearthey had a bunch of sessions
that were more industry focusedat the intercontinental, and
that one you have to kind ofwait for the elevator.
Um.
So, again, if you want to getinto the session, there were
some sessions that I tried toget in there, but by the time I
hit the elevator and actuallygot up in line, it was already

(37:18):
way full.
Unfortunately, they're notalways the best at gauging
demand for sessions, and so ifthere's something you truly
cannot miss, make sure you werethere early and make sure that
you have mapped it out so thatif you're like, okay, well,
there's this session in MosconeWest on the third floor, and
then there's this other thing atthe Intercontinental, so that's

(37:39):
15 minutes afterwards.
Maybe it's time to startpicking your favorites.

Josh Matthews (37:42):
Yep, yep, and if you have to pick up and leave a
little early, then do that,unless your intention was to go
shake hands with the presenter,which I know.
When I was chatting with FredCadena the other day, he's like
look, these are the reasons whyI go to certain sessions, and
sometimes it's because he reallywants to learn something,
sometimes it's because he reallywants to meet the person who's
presenting, right, so planaccordingly.

(38:02):
If you want to meet thesepeople, you want to have some
chit chat after?
I know after your sessionspeople swarm around you like
fricking Rocky.
Okay so and it's happened to mea little bit, maybe not so much
, but people come up and you canspend 20 minutes chatting with
people after a session.
So, again, plan accordingly.
The other thing, go ahead.

Vanessa Grant (38:22):
You know, I'll throw something for the speakers
out there.
If you were inundated notinundated like it's a parable,
but like if there are a lot ofpeople coming up to you after a
session, or if you're somebodyand you're just kind of waiting
for the person to free up, or ifyou're somebody and you're just
kind of waiting for the personto free up.
A thing I learned from MichelleHansen is say, cool, I'd love
to chat, but they've got to getset up for the next person.

(38:44):
Why don't you walk with me ifthey have questions about?
My?
Session has kind of been alittle bit more of an efficient
way, so I can kind of get out ofthe way, because they really do
try to turn around these stagespretty quickly.

Josh Matthews (39:03):
Yeah, and I'm going to tell you a little trick
on that too Bring two or threeclipboards with you and when
you're walking with these people, have them, hold the clipboards
and walk just slightly in frontof them while you're talking.
It'll make you look like you'rereally important.

Vanessa Grant (39:18):
I got to try that I'm just kidding.

Josh Matthews (39:20):
Okay, guys, so map it out.
Also, load up your contacts.
What I mean by that is you'reyou're going to know people that
are going there.
You're going to want to hangout and chat with them.
Maybe you've only got them onemail, right?
Well, before arriving andlanding in San Francisco or
driving up to San Francisco,make sure you get their cell
phone numbers and plug in thecontacts in your phone.

(39:41):
Because if you're trying tolike, oh God, they said they
were going to be here and I knowthey're going to reach out, and
what are you doing?
You're messing around on, likeI've got I don't know seven
email addresses, like I'mfloating around, scrolling
through, and if I get 300 plus400 plus emails a day, it's like
, okay, you know, I think thatthey were going to write me.
You don't want to go throughthat.
Just get on text or your Slackor whatever.

(40:04):
Okay, get your contacts loadedinto your phone.
It's going to be way, wayeasier.
You can put them in a group mydream force people group, you
know, on your, on your iPhone orwhatever.
So that's another way to justbe able to make the connections
and link up with people.
I mean, how many times havehave you gone to Dreamforce,
vanessa, and you were like, ohyeah, we'll say hi, I can't wait

(40:25):
to meet you out there.
And it doesn't happen.
Every Dreamforce everyDreamforce, right, Because
people are busy, but having thecontact in your phone ready to
text with their correct name andthe whole thing.
And if you don't know theirwhole name or you can't remember
it, you'd put a little, puttheir last name or their company
as something that will jar yourmemory.
I do stuff like Mike neighbor,his last name's neighbor.

(40:45):
I don't know his last name, Iknow he's my neighbor.
So if I can't remember hisfirst name, I did just type in
neighbor and they're oh, it'sMike.
So you could do little hackslike that as well.

Vanessa Grant (40:54):
I also.
So a couple of things, if youdon't mind me adding to this.
I actually keep a list of thepeople that I definitely want to
stay in touch with over my timeat Dreamforce.
So because a lot of times I canget pulled in so many different
directions that it's hard toremember to check in with folks
and see if they're available orcheck in on their availability.
So having that list and thenjust kind of going down like so,

(41:15):
so having that list and thenjust kind of going down, so if I
can't make it into theSalesforce Bend party, I got
stuck outside I start goingthrough my list hey, what are
you up to tonight?
Hey, do you want to grab adrink?
Do you want to get lunch?
So I have my list ready.
And for you folks that are maybea little bit shyer, jean Muller
actually did a session atMidwest Dream in a while back,
which I thought was clever.

(41:35):
Jean was new to the ecosystemat the time and is a bit shy
when it comes to approachingpeople that she does not know
very well.
So she actually created a bingocard for herself, so kind of
gamified it with all the peoplethat she was hoping to meet at
the event that she was going toand she put their face and a
little blurb about them and itwas a good icebreaker when she

(41:59):
actually came up to them andsaid hey, you were on my list,
but I wanted to meet.

Josh Matthews (42:03):
That is really awesome.
I love it.
Very, very, very dope idea.
Good job, jean.
All right, let's talk aboutgetting comfortable.
You're going to be pounding thepavement.
You might pull eight miles, 10miles in a day at Dreamforce,
depending on where your meetingsare, how many meetings you've
got, how far you're walking fromyour hotel or Airbnb or

(42:25):
wherever you're going to bestaying.
So you're going to be on yourfeet a lot.
So you're going to want to getreally comfortable, right, I
recommend comfortable shoes.
Throw a few band-aids in thebackpack.
Don't bring new shoes likebreak them in first, like do not
wear brand new shoes toDreamforce.
Major, major, major rookiemistake.
The other thing is just thetemps in San Francisco.

(42:47):
Now I lived there for about twoyears and the temps can
fluctuate quite a bit.
If you get a little bit of thatfog rolling in in the evening,
I mean, it's going to dropsignificantly.
So you're going to be sweatingat lunch and you're going to be
freezing at 6 pm.
So layers, right.
I recommend chucking in alittle light windbreaker or a
little fleece, or you can dowhat I do.

(43:08):
I wear a wool undershirt.
It actually keeps me kind ofcool during the day, but it
keeps me pretty toasty in theevening, any kind of like.
I just put on something that,like, if I was going to go
skiing, my undershirt, that'swhat I'm, that's what I've got
on, right, so it keeps you warm,keeps you dry.
Um, do you have anyrecommendations?
As far as no-transcript.

Vanessa Grant (43:34):
new garbage Dreamforce.
I think they're focused on thecomfortable shoes.
You cannot be stressed enoughComfortable shoes.
I don't think that younecessarily need to wear the
trailblazer hoodie.
I think a lot of folks feellike, oh, because I'm at a
Dreamforce, the trailblazerhoodie is the uniform.
I almost kind of feel like youalmost stand out more.

(43:58):
If you don't do that, you knowit's you kind of blend in with
the hoodies to a certain extent.
But having some sort of ahoodie or a blazer or something
that you can maybe tie aroundyour waist or put in your
backpack, I think is is reallyhelpful, because the temperature
does fluctuate quite a bit,Even bringing like a second

(44:19):
shirt in case you get too sweatywhile you're waiting online.
Oh yeah, brings extra deodorant,packed deodorant.

Josh Matthews (44:24):
There you go, Stinky pits.

Vanessa Grant (44:27):
Yeah, totally oh and, like the boob, sweat is the
worst when you're like.

Josh Matthews (44:32):
That's what I yeah, I struggle with the moob
sweat.
Yeah insider's tips?
Not really, but okay, yeah,yeah, and I want to talk a
little bit more about clothingand attire here in just a second
, but just sticking with beingcomfortable.
Something I had to learn isdon't bring my four pound 16
inch laptop around all day long.

(44:53):
And then I'm too far from thehotel to drop it off and I'm
lugging it to a bar.
And then I'm too far from thehotel to drop it off and I'm
lugging it to a bar.
Like, don't do that.
You can get by with your phone,right.
If you have a lightweighttablet, like that's great.
Unless you're like going intodev sessions and things like
that, I really think that youdon't need your laptop.

(45:14):
In general, you should be ableto block out your clients, let
them know you're going to bebusy, you're not going to be
responding to emails, notifyeverybody so that you don't have
to get on there and do work,work while you're there.
Now, if you're going to haveclient meetings and you need a
laptop to run your you know, runyour deck and things like that,
fine, fair enough, but for theaverage uh, uh, going to

(45:38):
Dreamforce you probably do notneed to walk around with your
laptop, your phone, yoursmartphone is going to be just
fine.
What do you think?

Vanessa Grant (45:46):
I totally agree.
I've brought the laptop andthen never opened it up once.
And if anything, I thinkbringing the laptop will almost
encourage you to make you feelobligated, like you have to open
it up and check work stuff.
And I think when you're a dreamforce dream force happens once
a year there's so much to do andso much to experience You'll
never get to it all.
Try and leave work at work, getthose out of offices, and if

(46:11):
you need to take notes onsomething, there's going to be a
bajillion vendors that aregoing to have a notepad.
Bring a notepad or just takenotes on your phone.
Take pictures of the slides.
That should be sufficient.

Josh Matthews (46:23):
Yeah, and you know what?
My friend who's on the podcastwith me, and Fred, the other day
shared something with me.
It's a digital voice recorder.
It's called Plaud P-L-A-U.
They're $159 on Amazon.
They can generally overnight itto you.
This thing is amazing.
Now I haven't sprung for it.

(46:43):
I've got a new wedge that I'drather buy for my golf bag than
this, but for $159,.
This thing is magnetized, itcan attach to the back of your
iPhone, it can automate and whatit does.
It can hold I don't know like200 hours of audio.
And what's amazing about thisproduct is it'll take that audio

(47:04):
and use AI to convert it intotext for you automatically.
So you just log in or you clickon the app and everything that
you just recorded is right thereand then you can click
summarize, right.
So this is.
I still might spring for thisthing prior to Dreamforce, but
because I don't go to a lot ofsessions, I don't know how
valuable it will be for me.

(47:24):
But you can record every singlesession and get full on notes
and that, combined with snappingsome photos of the screenshots
during the sessions, you'regoing to be able to remember,
recollect and capture a lot ofthe critical information that
you flew to San Francisco for inthe first place.
So again, that's PLAUDP-L-A-U-D 159 bucks.

(47:46):
Check it out.
Watch a little video.
My friend loves it.
I may still get it.
I may still get it, I don'tknow, but it's pretty awesome
and you can let it know.
This was a meeting, this was aninterview, this was a session,
this was a conference thing,right?
So it will know how to organizethose AI notes from the
recording automatically, becauseyou set it up for success by

(48:06):
hitting some button.

Vanessa Grant (48:08):
I think that's awesome.

Josh Matthews (48:09):
Yeah.

Vanessa Grant (48:09):
I'll also throw in, as a speaker, one of the
things that they ask us to do.
I'm on the admin track, so Idon't know how the other tracks
work, but certainly on the admintrack they ask us for a PDF of
our slides.
So I think if you use theDreamforce app at some point
those slides also will be shared.

Josh Matthews (48:28):
Okay, yeah, there you go.
That's good, that's very good,all right, so that's it for like
getting comfortable, but a fewother little items that people
should bring with themDefinitely a portable phone,
battery charger and cable.
You know, you can bring a plugand a cable, but I'd bring one
of those little battery packs tofinding plug sockets near where

(48:49):
you're going to want to hangout for 20 minutes to get it
booted back up.
It's pretty difficult.

Vanessa Grant (48:54):
Can I give you a tip from Ian Gotts?

Josh Matthews (48:57):
Yeah, please.

Vanessa Grant (48:59):
He said you should bring one of those.
What are the things that youplug in?
And then it has a whole bunchof different plugs on it.

Josh Matthews (49:05):
A hub.

Vanessa Grant (49:07):
A hub.
Sorry, I'm like.
So like I'm not a hardwareperson, but he says he brings a
couple of those and it's thebest way to make friends at the
outlet.

Josh Matthews (49:18):
Look at that.
Hey, you going to the outlettoday?
I am Right, I'm going to buysome summer essentials and
charge everyone's phones Prettyawesome outlet.
Yeah, no, that's great.
I love that idea.
Oh, look at that.
That's.
That's a very cool idea.
Look guys, band-aids, advil, acomb or brush, like something
like that Vanessa justrecommended.

(49:40):
You might want to bring anAdvil, a comb or a brush,
something like that Vanessa justrecommended.
You might want to bring anextra shirt if it's hot or if
you're hot footing it all overtown and you want to feel a
little bit fresh, but you don'thave time to go back to the
hotel.
Just a light backpack, buttpack, whatever you want.
I think it's really importantto bring some hand sanitizer.
I went to COVID force last year.
It was a nightmare.

(50:00):
I got sick.
People I came into contact withgot sick or got me sick.
It wasn't a good look.
You've got people flying fromall over the country or all over
the world, Everybody'shigh-fiving shaking hands.
I mean it is a, it's a Petridish out there.
Stick to the elbow bumps.

(50:20):
Shaking hands is great, but ifyou shake someone's hand without
making them feel self-consciousor embarrassed, make sure that
you're squirting a little ofthat hand sanitizer on before
you start touching your face andsticking your fingers in your
mouth.
Stay healthy.
Don't get sick at Dreamforceit's easy to get sick there.
Try and Stay healthy.
Don't get sick at Dreamforceit's easy to get sick there.
So try and stay healthy.

(50:41):
I do want to talk a little bitmore in depth about dress code.
Is that cool you down with that?

Vanessa Grant (50:47):
Absolutely.

Josh Matthews (50:47):
Okay, look, we don't have to spend a lot of
time here on this.
But the shortcut here is dressto attract the people you want
to network with.
Shortcut here is dress toattract the people you want to
network with.
Dress to attract the people youwant to network with.
If you want to attract peoplein hoodies with purple hair,

(51:09):
show up in a hoodie with yourpurple hair.
If you want to attract peoplein business suits, show up in a
sport coat or nice slacks ordress shoes, whatever you want.
I'm talking for anybody.
I don't know how to dress women, so you might have a different
perspective on this.
But you look, if you're on thejob hunt or if you're looking to
hire people or looking toacquire clients or you're
looking to like, I don't thinkdress code is everything, and

(51:32):
for a lot of you listeners Iknow this for a fact for a lot
of you out there, it's just likeI'm just going to be
comfortable and you never put asingle thought into it.
Okay, and that's just fine,especially you coders out there.
Who cares?
Right, like, so what?
All right, but especially onthe West coast.
But you might run into someonefrom New York city or Boston or

(51:53):
even Philly or Chicago, wherepeople spruce up better than
Portland does.
Right, they just do, okay, not,it's not just, like you know,
rip t-shirts and flannels foreverybody across the entire
country.
You know, particularly for alot of people overseas, you're
going to see people coming fromoverseas dressing a little bit

(52:13):
sharper in general than theaverage American right in
general than the averageAmerican right.
So dress the way that you wantso that you can attract and
connect with the people that youare trying to connect with, and
I don't think there's anythingwrong with that, right?
I even did a little perplexitysearch.
Everyone here probably alreadyknows it's my favorite research
tool right now, and this is whatit said.

(52:35):
It said while clothing is notthe sole determinant of success,
it plays a significant role inshaping perceptions and
influencing both personal andprofessional outcomes.
Dressing strategically in a waythat aligns with personal and
professional goals can provide acompetitive edge in various
aspects of life.
I think they said it rightthere.
Okay, you can be.
You can disagree, you'll bewrong, just so you know.

(52:57):
You'll be completely wrong,right, if you disagree with this
, but you might not care, inwhich case that's fine.
Don't think about it again.
Just fast forward to the nextlittle part of this show.
But a lot of people show up tothis $2,000 event looking like
they just paved the driveway.
I wouldn't do that.
You know, yeah, you do not needexpensive clothes to look and

(53:18):
feel great.
I promise you.
Casey buys all my clothes forme.
By the way, literally I haven'tmade a clothing buying decision
in a very long time.
She buys all my stuff and, bythe way, she makes me look way
better than I could do on my own.
But she's a fashionista, she'svery good at this, she's very
creative and she's very skilledat this.

(53:40):
So I've got my own stylistright here in my house, which is
awesome.
Okay, not everybody has that,so don't worry.
Okay.
No rips, no tears, no phrase.
Clean shoes, good condition,right.
Same for your belt If you wearone, don't have it look like
it's about to snap in half.
Go wrinkle-free wheneverpossible.
Getting too baggy, don't be aray gun right.

(54:03):
Wear clothes that fit your bodyand if you want to disappear in
the crowd, wear your hoodie.
That's what you can do.
If you don't want to bebothered by too many people or
whatever, just put on yourhoodie, right, and you won't get
noticed.
It's pretty true.
Okay, if you want to reallystand out and I love this this
advice, this recommendation, thebest way that you can, the best

(54:24):
way to dress if you want tostand out are the following.
Number one have good posture.
Stand up straight to make eyecontact.
Three, smile Okay Good posture.
I contact, smile, you do thosethree.
You could dress in a $2,000Armani suit and if you don't
have good posture, make eyecontact or smile, it's lost on

(54:47):
you and you wasted your money.
Right?
You could even have rips andtears and frays and be wrinkly,
but if you're smiling, makingeye contact and you have good
posture, it doesn't matter.
It's going to say way moreabout you.
And guess what, guys?
It's free, it's totally free.
All it causes a little bit ofstretching, maybe Okay, I think

(55:07):
this is our last little parthere and maybe there's more
stuff to cover but it'sbasically maintaining your
energy and staying healthy.
So, vanessa, what are your toprecommendations for this?

Vanessa Grant (55:18):
Bring snacks.

Josh Matthews (55:20):
There you go, bring snacks.

Vanessa Grant (55:22):
Sorry, my kid was printing something so I wanted
to mute really quickly.
But bring snacks, bring stuffthat's not going to explode in
your backpack, of course, likegranola bars and things like
that.
Josh, if I recall, during worldtour, you had peanut M&Ms.

Josh Matthews (55:37):
Oh yeah, I'm a peanut M&M fan.
I only eat it when I'mtraveling because it's not good
for me.
My body doesn't really likesugar, but that's my go-to fast
on the fly energy food ifnothing healthy is around.
Typically, what's in my littleday pack are energy bars,
electrolyte powders.

(55:58):
Right, You've got to stayhydrated guys.
You've got to hydrate likecrazy, like crazy.

Vanessa Grant (56:06):
So hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
Absolutely second theelectrolyte packs, particularly
if you are part of the nightcrew at Dreamforce.

Josh Matthews (56:15):
Yep, if you're going to get toasty at night,
right, you definitely want tohydrate through the day.
Here's another thing Don'tstart drinking water the day of
dream force If you're going on aplane that's like you're just
going to.
I go on a cross country trip.
I always come out like a wiltedflower.
I don't know what it is, theair is dry.
I just they never give you anywater on these fricking trips.

(56:36):
It's the stupidest thing.
It's like I got to wait an hourto get four ounces of water.
It's like thanks for nothing,airline.
So start hydrating a few daysbeforehand, because if you're
not used to hydrating, as you'rechugging this water, your cells
don't open up, it just sloughsright off.
You're going to be peeing every30 minutes, right?

(56:57):
So whoever thought I would saypeeing every 30 minutes on the
Salesforce career show, but Ijust did.
So start hydrating, getcomfortable with hydrating and
then you know by day three andyou know when you show up you're
going to feel fresh, you'regoing to have energy, you're
going to sleep better, you'regoing to sound better, you're
going to look better.
It's all going to be good.
We already talked about handsanitizer.

(57:25):
I do recommend.
I know I ate those peanut M&Ms.
I do try to avoid those.
I definitely recommend avoidinganything that's going to lead
to sugar crashes.
So donuts, muffins, other highcarb, high sugar, high glycemic
foods, they're not going to begreat for sustaining you from
like 8.30 in the morning tillmidnight every day, which is
about, I think, what it feelslike or goes typically Not for
everybody, for a lot of people.

Vanessa Grant (57:47):
So maybe keep the peanut M&M's for like a world
tour where it's like a day andthen you're done.

Josh Matthews (57:52):
Yeah, I'm flying back tomorrow.
This is my little treat.

Vanessa Grant (57:55):
Yep.

Josh Matthews (57:55):
And there's food around there.
You know there's going to servelunch and all this other stuff.
But if you're like me and younibble throughout the day versus
having like a big meal like Igenerally have one meal a day
it's at night and I have acouple, you know, bars or
veggies or something like that alittle bit around lunchtime
just bring stuff that you're notgoing to sugar crash, right For

(58:16):
real.
And then I also recommend don'toverdo the drinking on days one
and two, just like moderate.
Be careful, right, be carefulMonday night and Tuesday night,
because you're going to.
Most people are definitely goingto be partying on Wednesday and
by Thursday, when everyone'sreally blowing out, you might be
recovering from a hangover ifyou drink, right.

(58:37):
So if you don't drink, dowhatever you want, but if you
are a drinker, try to justexercise some moderation.
This is a business function,right.
Don't get wasted.
Don't get all goofy rookie andget completely wasted at some
you know business event, youknow one or two and then take it

(58:58):
easy and pound some waterbetween drinks.
That's, that's myrecommendation.

Vanessa Grant (59:01):
Yeah, yeah, I've.
I've seen some weird casualtiesat Salesforce conference.

Josh Matthews (59:09):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's, it's not.
It's not good.
I mean people, people that arelate or miss their own sessions
because they drank too much andslept through their alarm.
You know that happens.
People hook up with people theyshouldn't.
Don't do that.
That's always a bad idea.

(59:31):
Don't do that, Right.

Vanessa Grant (59:33):
I ran into someone at a conference that I
think they just had a little bittoo much, someone at a
conference that I think theyjust had a little bit too much.
And so they came up with a rapabout Mark Benioff and they
liked it so much that theypretty much spent the next half
an hour at the venue justtelling that rap and singing it
out loud, very loudly, for abouta half an hour and then liked

(59:54):
it so much that they went on tothe event Slack channel and
posted a recording of it.
And I can't remember the guy'sname, but I remember that there
was just some guy that did aMark Benny Hop rap and
interrupted everybody'sconversation.

Josh Matthews (01:00:07):
Yeah, yeah, Look, if you've got friends and
they're really good friends,they'll tell you what you're
like when you've had too much.
I know exactly what I'm like.
I'm freaking awesome if I'vehad one much.
I know exactly what I'm like.
I'm fricking awesome If I'vehad one, one or two too many.
I'm pretty awesome.
But there there are lots offriends that I've got, not lots.
There are a couple of friendsthat I've got that it's like I

(01:00:29):
mean, they go, they go zero to100, real quick, real quick, and
it's not a good luck.
So take it easy.
Real quick, and it's not a goodluck.
So take it easy, it's abusiness event and look out for
your friends.

(01:00:50):
Yes, it's always awesome to bethe sane one for what it's worth
.
It's really awesome to be thesane one.
Look, that's all I got.
I think everything else you canfind on Salesforce.
Ben, go there.
It's a bunch of cool blogs andI've seen them coming from.
You know everybody's writing ablog about this stuff, but
hopefully this was a really goodprogram for those who are going
to be going.
I like that we got to not coversome Dreamforce stuff for the
first 30, 40 minutes and thenreally deep dive and you know

(01:01:12):
what.
This is the kind of programthat you can.
This can get replayed.
We don't like we don't have todo this next year.
We can just replay it, you know, and and we'll be good to go.
So, vanessa, final thoughts onDreamforce before we wind this
little program of ours up.

Vanessa Grant (01:01:29):
If folks are new, I would say, try to check out
the Gearset party and Gearset'sdoing a couple of events that
are particularly catered tonewbies.
Eric Brashfield does his baconbreakfast for newbies.
That's course project nightnight.
And there's also the Ecomo myParty that should be on Monday
Again cater to folks that it'stheir first Dreamforce.

(01:01:50):
So for folks that are brand newto Dreamforce, those are the
events that I would direct youto so you can kind of pair up
with others.

Josh Matthews (01:01:58):
The events that I would direct you to so you can
kind of pair up with others.
Yeah, it's going to be anawesome event.
I can't wait to go and, uh, getto hang out with you, vanessa.
We'll get to see Fred and a lotof other friends and some
really wonderful clients andcandidates.
I'll say this if you'relistening to this and you see me
walking around, come say hi.
Like don't be shy.

(01:02:18):
I know that this is a thing.
People are like oh, I saw youand I didn't want to bother you.
It's like I'm not saying I'mthe most friendly guy in the
world, right, but when it comesto these events and saying hi to
people, come on, I'm right upthere in the top.
Come say hi.
I love to say give you an elbowbump, okay, and catch up with

(01:02:40):
you.
I think it's the most wonderfulthing in the world to bring this
community together.
Like, really bring it together.
We are part of an amazingcommunity.
We are a part of an incredibleecosystem.
It's got its ups, it's got itsdowns.
That's okay, but what we've gotis each other.
We really do More.
So, and I've been in techrecruiting for 26 years now 25

(01:03:02):
years, something like that.
There is nothing like this inthe world People.
There's nothing like this inthe world and for what it's
worth.
I hear, you know, I talked topeople.
Vets have dreamed for us.
I don't want to go, they justwant me to.
You know, salesforce just wantsme to buy dinner for their
clients and it's like okay, likethat's fine.
But at the end of the day, weget to connect, as you know,

(01:03:27):
globally, with people who areall involved in trying to do the
same thing, which is, tobelieve it or not, it's to help
businesses run more efficiently.
Right, that's what we're tryingto do here.
We're trying to grease thewheels of the economy.
That's what Salesforce does.
In my eyes, that's what it does, and if you're involved in this
ecosystem, you've got somethingto do with that.

(01:03:49):
Right, you're making saleseasier, you're making service
easier.
You're making communicationseasier.
You're making experiences likegoing to a hotel and knowing
what you might want to do andlike, with data cloud and stuff
and getting the appropriatesuggestions tailored to you.
That's data cloud for you.
Like.
This stuff is incrediblesoftware and it has helped, you

(01:04:10):
know, millions of people.
It's helped thousands andthousands of people achieve
their career goals by being apart of it and the good that has
come from.
This really echoes andreverberates within communities,
within businesses all aroundthe world.
Maybe not if you've got areally crappy instance and no
one uses it Okay, but for themost part, this is one of the

(01:04:32):
most incredible things on planetearth A community of Salesforce
people Salesforce professionals, clients, customers, workers,
techies all coming together tolearn, to grow and to feel
connected, and that's somethingthat we've missed.
You know it's been four.
What is it?
Four years?
Four and a half years sincelockdown.
I think I read that today sinceCOVID lockdown.

(01:04:55):
Four and a half years sinceCOVID lockdown.
Can you believe it was thatlong to go, vanessa?
No, jeez, yeah, yeah, it waslike April, march, april, May of
2020.

Vanessa Grant (01:05:09):
Is it three and a ?

Josh Matthews (01:05:09):
half years, four years it might be three years.
It's four years, okay, so, yeah.
So four and a half years sinceall that crap went down right,
and we're still feeling theeffects, we're still feeling the
reverberations.
I think I learned this becauseShannon had put out a recent
news like a newsletter Shannon,who facilitates and launched the

(01:05:31):
HLS stream, and he's awonderful person, so I saw this
in her newsletter today.
By the way, if you want to signup with my newsletter, go ahead
and let me know.
We'll get you added.
We've got like over 4,000 or5,000 people that subscribe to
that.
It's only been out for a coupleof months.

(01:05:52):
The other thing if you wouldlike a copy of this document,
the Insider's Practical Guide toDreamforce Success, you can
email me at josh atthesalesforcerecruitercom, or
you can dm me on twitter or x atthe josh force.
Okay, and I'll get it to youwithin, you know, whatever
within an hour or two, whateverit is okay.
So if you'd like this, you gotto let me know.
It's not something that we'rejust putting out there.
I'll get it to you and I hopeeverybody has an awesome,
awesome week.
Are we when?

(01:06:13):
When do we meet again?
The week before dreamforce?
Okay, so that is the 11th, okay, awesome.
Well, I can't wait for thatshow.
This has been a fun one.
Vanessa, thanks for being soawesome, and Stephen, great to
see you on here.
All of our listeners, you guys,have been fantastic.

Vanessa Grant (01:06:30):
Catch y'all later .
Bye.