Boston... Salesforce... Marathon?

April 21, 2008

What a day.

It started benignly enough, early to the office and then off to the Amtrak station for a train to Boston. You see, I’m in Beantown again this week for a visit with our friends at Salesforce.com and their Tour de Force, which hits New England tomorrow.

However today, something else hit Boston. Unbeknownst to this New Yorker, they apparently run Marathons here on work days, and so as I exited the Back Bay rail station I found myself surrounded by a teeming mass of humanity I did not expect to be a part of.

I guess that’s what happens when the hotel you’re staying at is half a block from the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

For tonight I was invited to a dinner for certain Salesforce customers and prospects, partners, media, and the like.

For anyone who understands what it’s like to be of the Eastern Orthodox faith you’ll cringe when I tell you that 6 days shy of Easter, the dinner was held in a restaurant called Mooo (3 O’s, I think…).

I had a series of wonderful conversations with a variety of prospects and customers, all of whom had nice things to say about our hosts, and none of it seemed feigned. I get the sense that Salesforce customers really love that company’s solutions.

Well I’m excited to hear Marc Benioff’s keynote tomorrow, as well as getting a firsthand look at some of the demos of the Salesforce/Google Apps integration we’ve been hearing so much about (see Rich’s blog for more details).

I’ll have more to say in the morning, so until then…