The annual Salesforce conference in San Francisco has been packed with swarms of business titans for decades, but that could all be changing.
Marc Benioff, chief executive of the account management platform provider, warned that this year’s “Dreamforce” conference may be the last to be held in the Golden City.
dream power has always been main pull The event in the area has been in the spotlight since it took place 20 years ago, with some 40,000 people expected to flock to the Moscone Center for the two-day event starting September 12.
The lineup for the event was world-class: Speakers included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Stanford computer science professor Dr. Fei-Fei Li, and luminaries like Matthew McConaughey, The Office’s Rainn Wilson, and more. Oscar-winning director Spike Lee.
But Benioff warned that San Francisco may no longer be able to take on the task of hosting a star-studded lineup.
Benioff claimed that this year’s event, which ended with a performance by the Foo Fighters, had previously been plagued by attendee complaints about homelessness and dirty city streets.
“If this Dream Force is affected by the current issues of homelessness and drug use, it could be the last Dream Force in the city,” Benioff told reporters. san francisco chronicle in a interview Released this week.
In recent months, San Francisco has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: homelessness is rampant, shoplifting On the Rise, Gun Violence and Homicides Remain Increased compared to before the epidemic.
For Benioff’s part, he and Salesforce are trying to help.
Dreamforce may be leaving San Francisco following news that Salesforce is donating $1 million to the Salvation Army, an organization dedicated to helping the homeless.
Benioff added that he is working hard to ensure guests have a good time at Dreamforce, noting that organizers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in September will also be watching closely.
“As always, we work hand-in-hand with the city,” Benioff explained. “We’re going to attract a huge population (40,000 people) to the city, which will bring in $57 million to the downtown economy. So, it’s in all of our interests that the meeting goes well, it’s in our interest that the APEC meeting goes well. For the benefit of all. That should be the focal point of the city.”
san francisco state
The West Coast city’s new notoriety will likely be one of the topics of the conference, with San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaking during Dreamforce.
She sure has a lot to talk about. Just last week, Democrats slammed the city’s Coalition for the Homeless after a court blocked its rights. Clean up homeless encampments.
according to a Counting in 2022More than 7,750 people live on the streets of San Francisco. Of these, about 3,360 lived on the streets and about 4,400 slept in shelters.
On top of that, around 6,000 women were homeless at any given time and faced “overwhelming” violence in the past year.
Many women were reportedly forced into prostitution in order to survive, while others were attacked on the streets or in shelters. San Francisco Chronicle.
The drug problem exacerbates homelessness, which in turn drives employers and businesses out.
In April, Whole Foods announced it would close its flagship store in downtown San Francisco. Citing employee safety.
after it comes San Francisco Standard Hours have been changed due to shoplifting, while bathroom rules introduced Because staff found syringes and tubing at the facility.
The city also saw a high-profile stabbing that caught the attention of some of the biggest names in tech.
Cash App founder Bob Lee was killed in April and died in hospital from multiple stab wounds.
Although a technology consultant has been charged with the attack, the incident sparked a broader discussion about crime in San Francisco.
Elon Musk, a frequent critic of the city where his platform X (formerly Twitter) is based, wrote at the time on the social media site: “Violent crime in San Francisco is horrendous, and even when attackers are caught, they usually will also be released immediately.”
I am very sorry to hear this news. Many people I know have been severely assaulted.
Violent crime in San Francisco is so dire that even when attackers are caught, they are often released immediately.
Is the city taking stronger action to incarcerate repeat violent offenders? @Brooke Jenkins SF?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2023
Musk, who is also Tesla’s chief executive, similarly claimed that many Twitter employees “don’t feel safe going to work” and that put on label Downtown San Francisco is a “disaster” and has likened it to an “abandoned zombie apocalypse.”
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