Inspired by Dave Carroll’s Epic Session Playlist, I’ve been thinking about the Dreamforce 2014 sessions I wish I could attend. I’ve got my Pandora Bob Marley station on my Sonos (playing in all 3 levels of the house), and I’m drinking Yerba Mate tea. Relaxed and alert at the same time. That’s what I wish for at Dreamforce – to be relaxed, not running around, and alert, taking it all in and storing it in these greying braincells. As a start for relaxing, let’s say I’m not leaving the 2nd floor of Moscone West – that’s where both the DevZone and the Admin Zone will be. I am super excited about the new Admin Zone, and especially that it is co-located with the DevZone (and not just because it’s rumored the Admin Zone will have coffee). Admins and Devs are two sides of the same coin, and when they work together, the users and company benefit.

Here are the sessions I would fill my brain (and soul) with…

Luminary Developer Sessions

Let’s not even kid each other, I am going to ALL of these.  I’ve had the honor of meeting Ashara Ekundayo, Laura Weidman Powers, Elaine Marino, and Kalimah Priforce, and can’t wait to meet Estella Pyfrom and Angie Chang.  These six amazing technology and social change leaders have agreed to share their stories with us, and my hope is that next year I attend sessions about how you all turned those stories into action in your own circles.

Speaking of action – Actions have always been around in the Salesforce1 Platform, and are the heart of the Salesforce1 Mobile App. In Winter ’15, they get even better.

Actions: A Unified API For Admins and Developers

Yes, you can build Publisher Actions with point & click, but what’s even cooler is how we’ve unified the Actions API. Led by two of my favorite engineers, Liz Balsam and Leo Tran, who architected and implemented this new API – this is one not to miss.

Do More in the Feed with Action Links

My favorite features are those that put to rest the need for hacking, especially Javascript hacking.  Many times users just need to take one action based on something they see in their feed (approve or send or hold), but they have to click 3 times to do it. Our creative developer community has been working around this by creating those little links in the feed items themselves, but no you can do it on the platform. I want to learn how from the engineers who delivered this feature, Mohamad Arabo and Chris Seymour.

Apex Algorithms: Tips and Tricks

This one I will definitely be attending…I’m teeing up Gonzalo Abruna, winner of the Top Coder Mother-Son Bowling challenge. He accomplished what I could not with this Apex matching algorithm, and I want to hear how to do it straight from him.

Drive Salesforce User Productivity with the Pebble SmartWatch

As part of my Google I/O ticket this year, I received two smart watches, the LG G (at the event) and the Moto 360 (yesterday). I can’t get either of them to work. That said, I am interested in how this technology will change user interfaces and human behavior, so I’m in.

Extending Salesforce Wear with Google Glass & the IoT

Another one inspired by Google I/O. They had a great session aimed to convince attendees that Google Glass will bring people closer to each other and their environment. I am curious about this new type of user interface and want to see what it takes to develop for it.

Chaining Approval Processes with Apex Code

This hits my favorite topic: clicks and code working seamlessly together. Led by a Business Analyst and Engineer combo from Red Hat, this is a real-life use case of the clicks and code making end users’ lives easier.

Admins Who Build: Embrace Your Inner Developer

I will be spending a lot of time in the Developer Community Lounge, so maybe I’ll be lucky and catch this one. It’s a message that I preach whenever I meet with Admins: the work you are doing, all those points & clicks, that’s development! Kathy Chilcote is carrying that torch and inspiring the next wave of builders. [Fun fact: Kathy and I went to high school together!]

Developer Community Kickoff

And finally, I’ll be kicking the week off at 9am Monday in the DevZone with April Nassi, celebrating our amazing Developer Community. The kickoff is followed by the Salesforce Employee Resource Groups Showcase (1) & (2), where you’ll have a chance to connect with leaders from our Women in Technology, BoldForce (employees of African descent), LatinoForce, and OutForce (LGBT employees) groups, and hear more about the Diversity in the DevZone activities they are sponsoring throughout the week. Hope to see you’all there!

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