You're investing 5 days plus expenses. The Dreamforce payoff is all about time management.

2 weeks out: The finishing touches

Now that the schedule-builder has been up for a week, almost anything worth going to is already filled out. Have no fear, though: not everyone shows up for many of the sessions, and you may be able to sneak in at the last minute. Print out your schedule, looking for gaps of more than an hour…then think about these hot tips:

• For technologists, the one-on-one sessions with developers on the first floor of Moscone West are really worth doing! But they're not scheduled along with the rest of the sessions. First thing when you get to Moscone, go and register at the sign-in desk for a drop in session or two.
• For everyone else, many of the sessions are theater style — you can't actually schedule them you just bookmark them and show up. They're almost never full, and some of them are pretty good.
• If you have less than an hour, a few vendors are offering drop-in areas at local restaurants, where you can go hang. As there's no such thing as a free lunch, you'll have to register and probably sit through some sort of sales preso.
• If you want to clear your head during a break, forget about Starbucks and local bars: they will all be completely jammed all day. However, there are great walks to be had in nearly every direction from Moscone center. Take a map or your phone…and avoid going toward 6th street.

Party on, Garth!

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