San Francisco Dreamforce attendees, businesses share optimistic outlook on conference, city
The city of San Francisco is trying to put its best foot forward for Salesforce's Dreamforce Conference, the kickoff of the city's biggest annual conference, and it appears attendees and businesses are giving an initial thumbs up.
There are 40,000 people from around the world in town for Dreamforce this week, including first-time attendee Gisselle Namuj.
"Being that this is my first time, I would definitely want to come back here, the vibe and the energy," she said.
Namuj, who is originally from Russia, works in New York City in marketing.
"I was expecting worse, from the news, and so when I got here it was not the case so I - coming from New York City - it's not very different here, but I think it's definitely not what I expected. It's better," she said.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has spotlighted the city as the emerging center of the artificial intelligence industry. He also made headlines when he told the San Francisco Chronicle that he may pull the 20-year-old conference from the city if it's affected by the city's homelessness or open drug use challenges this week.
"I didn't see any, in the news, there's crime and homelessness," said Namuj.
There was a heavy police presence in and around Moscone Center on Tuesday. San Francisco Police said there have been no major incidents to report.
"I felt safe, I mean the weather was gorgeous," Namuj said. "It was a beautiful day to enjoy these connections."
Dreamforce also means big business for nearby hotels, bars and restaurants.
All the rooms at the 1 Hotel San Francisco on the Embarcadero are fully booked for three days, and every event and restaurant space is reserved for Dreamforce-related events.
"It's such a pleasure to have Dreamforce back in the city," said 1 Hotel general manager Ashley Gochnauer. "The infusion that it gives not only to the hotel community but local restaurants as well, it just brings so much life to the city's streets."
Salesforce said the conference is projected to generate nearly $90 million for the city.
"Weeks like this are fantastic, but the more we can spread that throughout the year, it just creates more opportunity for the hotel and restaurant community here in San Francisco," Gochnauer added.
Namuj is also hoping to squeeze in visits to tourist spots like Alcatraz during her trip.
She's among a few East Coasters KPIX spoke with who said San Francisco's weather this time of year is indisputably better.
"We escaped the rain which was nice to be here," she said.