Salesforce Inc.’s massive Dreamforce conference will remain in San Francisco next year after CEO Marc Benioff threatened to move it to another city.
“Get ready for an exciting experience at Dreamforce 2024! I’m thrilled to share the news that Dreamforce, the world’s largest business technology conference, is returning to San Francisco, the beautiful city by the bay – and now the AI Capital of the World in 2024!” Benioff tweeted Tuesday, along with a selfie of himself and San Francisco Mayor London Breed at a Golden State Warriors game.
“Dreamforce is about showcasing the world-changing ideas that drive innovation and creativity, and there’s no better place to do that than the AI capital of the world: San Francisco!” Race tweeted Tuesday.
In August, Benioff told the San Francisco Chronicle that future Dreamforce conferences could be held elsewhere if San Francisco’s homelessness and open drug use negatively affected this year’s event. The conference proceeded without any major incidents.
This year’s conference, held in September, drew about 40,000 people to downtown San Francisco, which is still struggling to recover from the pandemic, and generated an estimated $89.3 million in the local economy, according to the Chronicle .
Salesforce CRM,
is the city’s largest private employer.
The city hopes that the success of Dreamforce will attract other major conferences – as well as tourists – back to the center. San Francisco will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit next week, with the leaders of 21 countries – including President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. About 20,000 people are expected to attend, with an economic impact of about $53 million, according to the Chronicle.