Dreamforce 2024 was perhaps the most headline-grabbing iteration of the event since its inception in 2003—and it’s all because of stand-up comedian John Mulaney.
“Let me get this straight,” Mulaney said during his closing-night, 45-minute set in front of an audience of Salesforce staffers at San Francisco’s Moscone Center on Sept. 19. “You’re hosting a ‘future of AI’ event in a city that has failed humanity so miserably?”
The question—albeit a rhetorical, joking question—garnered actual groans from “everyone inside the auditorium,” The San Francisco Standard reported.
It’s safe to say that Mulaney played it anything but safe during his performance, which startup founder and Internet personality Chris Bakke claimed he was paid a hefty $2 million for in a post on X.
Mulaney continued during his brutal roast: “You look like a group who looked at the self-checkout counters at CVS and thought, ‘This is the future.’”
To onlookers, it seemed like the set was more of a set-up to lay into the stereotypes of tech culture, but event marketers swiftly took to social media to share their own opinions on the corporate comedy gig, mostly divided between Mulaney spelling bad news for Dreamforce—which bills itself as the largest AI event in the world—or serving as a case study brilliant marketing moves.
Rachel Sheerin, a North Carolina-based keynote speaker and employee engagement and executive communication consultant said that the news of Mulaney’s edgy performance “reminds me that comedians are professionals at SAYING funny things, not saying professional or helpful things.”
For example, Mulaney also joked at one point: “If AI is truly smarter than us and tells us that [humans] should die, then I think we should die,” he said, adding that so many of the Salesforce workers in the audience “feel imminently replaceable,” SF Standard first reported.
“Can AI sit there in a fleece vest? Can AI not go to events and spend all day at a bar?” he asked between other quips about his time in rehab and experience becoming a father. And to top it all off, Mulaney also said: “The fact that there are 45,000 ‘trailblazers’ here couldn’t devalue the title any more.”
Sheerin noted that her opinion may be a “controversial take,” but event organizers looking to get laughs at an event should “THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU HIRE A COMEDIAN!” She continued: “I think making fun of ANYONE, especially in their work, passions and goals is a bad look and doesn’t leave anyone feeling good – so why say it?!”
Sheerin went on to argue that there’s a way comedians “can be hilarious without tearing down others and disrespecting the attendees in this scenario,” but noted that one thing’s for sure—Mulaney got people talking about Dreamforce. Multiple national media outlets picked up on this moment (which many event professionals have since referred to as a “butts in seats” moment), including TechCrunch, The Guardian and Business Insider.
Event industry titan Julius Solaris asked his loyal legion of nearly 60,000 LinkedIn followers if Mulaney’s Dreamforce performance was “refreshing” or “breaking the magic,” to which John Pistotti, the director of account management at event management firm Streampoint Solutions replied: “I applaud them [Salesforce] for taking the risk. Perhaps the heat and backlash is what brands need to reach newsworthy status.”
“Bringing controversial speakers is probably not a terrible strategy in the rage bait era. At least it feels more authentic,” Pistotti concluded.
Elias Puurunen, meanwhile, the founder of Canada’s Tractus Events, argued that hiring Mulaney comes with the territory. “The job of a comedian is to say the quiet parts out loud. Besides, the tech industry could use a bit of a laugh at their own expense from time to time,” he commented on Solaris’s post.
Jay Siegan, the owner of artist management and talent curator Jay Siegan Presents, weighed in, noting that he recently produced 13 comedy specials. “You are at your own peril when hiring an edgy comedian, that’s for sure,” he told Solaris. “There are some comedians who stay on track and others who will only take a gig if they can say what they want. I can tell you Mulaney’s team wouldn’t have promised a clean show.”
In addition, David T. Stevens, the co-founder of Event Marketing Authority (who also weighed in on Vendelux’s coverage of Cvent’s Splash acquisition), questioned whether Mulaney’s presence at Dreamforce would have been so divisive had it not been the very last event of the show, which also included performances from Elton John, P!nk and Imagine Dragons.
“Shouldn’t your closing keynote be more along the lines of Mel Gibson in Highlander than anything else? Someone to rally the troops?’” he commented, to which Solaris agreed, adding: “I fully agree with this perspective. The closing message is ‘don’t take yourself so seriously’. But events are about taking ourselves seriously.”
