The Dreamforce crowds are back.
The conference welcomed thousands of attendees in San Francisco with its first non-socially distanced events since the start of the pandemic. For local businesses, this meant good news after struggling through a sluggish recovery.
"I'm glad the pandemic is over and we're able to come out right now and able to mingle with people," said Suliman Bello who is visiting from Nebraska. "It's just a change."
The return of a larger Dreamforce conference means a return to a lot of pedestrian traffic and of course, lots more vehicle traffic.
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As usual for this event, Howard Street was blocked off at the convention center and traffic was re-routed. Security was heavy around the venue and a police bomb squad rig was parked just outside the conference.
Long lines of customers were seen waiting for a meal at local businesses in the area.
"Dreamforce is bringing 40,000 visitors to San Francisco this week," said Rodney Fong, President of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. "They're having workshops, using restaurants for different meetings, hotels obviously," he explained.
