Dreamforce 2023 could be make-or-break for San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco has a lot riding on this year's Dreamforce after Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff suggested it could be the city's last if ongoing issues such as homelessness and drugs affect the event.
Kickoff for the event is Tuesday, and it's expected to bring over 40,000 people to the city for three days. Attendees will likely bring with them a lot of traffic and money.
The conference is expected to pump about $90 million into the local economy.
"I'm from the north of England," said Adam Jones outside the Dreamforce registration center. "Been here about 30 times in the last 20 years, so quite a few times. Beautiful city. It's one of my favorite cities in the world."
Jones is among the tens of thousands visiting San Francisco but he's no stranger to the city. He said the problems started grabbing his attention several years ago, and he's not sure things are getting much better.
"It's probably a tough one to answer," he said of the city's direction. "I mean it's only through what I've seen myself. Being a different part of the city that I'm staying in this time than another time, maybe it is there, but it feels worse to me. I mean, at the end of the day, we got an Uber ride home last night. You look around you and you see an awful lot of disruption, and it's very sad to see."
A lot of attention is being paid to the city's relationship with Dreamforce, and it's easy to find those who have heard questions about the conference's future. That obviously includes those who might have the most at stake.
"That's what we heard," said Osman Zughayer, owner of the Oasis Grill, "That it's the last year for this convention. These two days are good, but in general the city is still dead. Nothing going on."
The Oasis was packed, but Zughayer said Dreamforce only offsets what has been lost.
"So, we hope that the city gets busy again every day.," he said. "Not just once every six months."
Over the coming week, San Francisco will make countless different impressions on different people, from different places, staying in different parts of the city.
"Depends on where you are from and what you regularly see," said Chantelle, visiting from Seattle. "I wouldn't have a problem coming here. I come to San Francisco pretty regularly — one of my favorite cities."
"Obviously, for you guys, there's a lot at stake," Jones said. "There's a lot of money in it for the city. I would love to come back. Absolutely. I love the city. Beautiful place. If you solve, not solve the problem, but help the problem, I think people would feel safer. People would come back. You know, it's got so much to give."
This is not a new conversation. The Centerpiece of the convention center was rebuilt back in 2019, and at the time there was a lot of discussion about how the city's reputation, which had taken a beating for a couple years, might hurt prospects for future conventions.
So, it's a years-long conversation with the feeling that San Francisco is working against a deficit in conventional wisdom about the city. How that unfolds in the year ahead is the question looming as this conference gets underway.