The countdown is rolling.  33 days left until Dreamforce 08 begins in San Francisco.  Now that we’re getting closer, I thought you’d like to hear some scoop on what’s shaping up at Dreamforce.  I had a great conversation with a Salesforce friend who is close to the planning for the event and here is a bunch of stuff you ought to know.  

• Registration at 4,000 already – Their goal was to hit 10,000 attendees this year and at the typical rate of registration, they’re well on target for that mark.  It could even be a few thousand higher…..be sure to get your seat early at the keynote addresses.
• Speaking of getting a good seat - Want reserved seating for the keynotes?  Get certified.  Now that Salesforce offers both Administrator and Developer certifications, if you’re part of the first 500 to get certified and go to Dreamforce, you’ll get some of the best seats in the house.  There’s also going to be a special Happy Hour for those first 500.  Nice touch.
• Speaking of getting certified – Did you know that with your full-paid registration to Dreamforce, you can get that certification for free?  That’s a $200 savings.  Nice chunk of change when it comes to helping justify your trip to Dreamforce.  
• 250+ confirmed speakers – It’s one thing to go to Dreamforce and hear what Salesforce has to say….but go there and hear what oodles of successful companies using Salesforce have to say.  The 250 breakout sessions will be the place to hear from those speakers.  They’re from almost every industry and organization size.  There’s also a better international presence this year too.
• The Un-Conference – Have a topic you’d like to hear about, but there isn’t a workshop for?  Go to the Un-Conference on Tuesday morning for a less formal, but very informative time of collaboration on the topics you’d like to talk about.
• Monday night Hackathon – There’s usually something big announced at Dreamforce that gets people’s creative juices flowing.  Well, whatever gets talked about Monday, the developers get to start coding on Monday night.  I guess it’s going to be a great time of pushing the envelope and coding on the fly to see just what a band of geniuses can do with Salesforce. 
• Journey – No more introduction really needs to be made, but after the Hackathon, the place to be will be hearing Journey perform.
• Another Legend of Rock – Journey won’t be the only legend we’ll see on stage at Dreamforce. It sounds like Neil Young wil be part of a keynote address to talk about his ambitious project called Linc Volt.  Essentially, Young is going to convert his nineteen foot long 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV into a 100+ miles per gallon driving machine.  He’s sure it can be done and wants to inspire a complete overhaul of the traditional propulsion of vehicles.  Sounds cool.
• Cloud Crawl – Based on the great success of last year’s App Crawl, the ante is upped this year with a Cloud Crawl.  If you don’t know it yet, Salesforce is big on “the Cloud,” or infrastructure you don’t need to concern yourself with.  Following Journey on Monday night, head out to each of the stops on the Cloud Crawl.  I’m sure we’ll se some great AppExchange partners there, but don’t get too comfortable, it’ll soon be time to move to the next place.  UPDATE – The venue for the “Cloud Crawl Club” party is actually one spot…..Temple Nightclub.  In order to get in, just visit the eight sponsors and get a stamp in your Cloud Crawl Passport.  The Passport needs to be exchanged for a wristband for admission to the club, but it sounds like it will be well worth it.  
• Speaking of Partners – 250+ Salesforce partners will be at Dreamforce…..that’s huge!  There will be no shortage of help to your business issues.  Be sure to use the Agenda Builder on the Attendee Portal to add those vendors you don’t want to miss to your calendar.  That’s a nice touch.  
• Lounges – Those of you who had “Lounge Envy” of the Developers last year, you’ll get your space this year.  They’ll be setting up lounges throughout Moscone Center that are centered on “types” of Salesforce users.  Those lounges will be a place to check your email, stump Salesforce gurus, relax, or even challenge someone to Wii Bowling.
• The Oh-Zone – This year, the “campground” is going to be the “Oh-Zone.”  (Nice tie in to all the Cloud talk)  It’s a place to go and be inspired and get that “Oh” feeling.   
• The Google Track – One of the cool new tracks this year is the Google workshop track.  Whether you want to get more out of your Adwords campaigns or whether you’re thinking of replacing that spendy “Office Suite,” this track will be a great place to learn what Google can do for your organization.  I think one of the interesting ones out there is the one on Increasing Uptime Offline with Gears.
• Tuesday Election Coverage – The buzz will be all about the Moscone Center Tuesday as the election will be covered in many ways throughout the day and night.  For those of you from the U.S., please remember to request an Absentee Ballot so you can vote before you go to Dreamforce.  It’s your right and your responsibility.
• Earthforce – Salesforce is working with the Moscone Center, the exhibitors, and many other people to try and make this conference as Earth-friendly as possible.  That’s everything from recycling to energy efficiency, from packaging materials to paper consumption.  Keep that in mind as you attend and look for ways you can save.

That’s my scoop for now.  Obviously I’m reporting to you what I’ve heard which is subject to change, but as I hear more, I’ll be sure to let you know about it.  If you get a great scoop, drop me an email.  

As Dreamforce 08 approaches, so does choosing a band for the Monday night Global Gala. Salesforce has asked a group of customers for their opinions on the entertainment choices. Though I’m sworn to secrecy as to who they’re thinking of, I’d like to open up a survey to you and see who you’d like to perform this year.

Last year they had INXS who put on a pretty good show. This year, who will it be? Maybe it’s just who you want. I can tell you it won’t be my first choice. I voted for the real U2 instead of just the CD at the opening Salesforce events. The CD is good, but I wanted the real thing.

Please take one quick second to nominate your favorite entertainment choice on my one question survey. I’ll pass the results along to the Dreamforce team and you’ll know that your voice will be heard.