One of the odder moments to come from this week’s Salesforce business conference in San Francisco would have to be an on-stage performance by MC Hammer. In a dazzling all-white outfit, Hammer and his dancers got us thinking about the puzzling publicity and entertainment choices big IT companies (and it’s usually IT) make. While small companies are lucky if they get a TV advertisement or a three-course meal at their annual sales conference, IT companies go for glitzy and sometimes bewildering public events. We’ve taken a look back through the archives at some of these moments.
Photographed above: The slogan for this week’s Salesforce conference was “Touch the Social Enterprise”, so there’s a tenuous link, we suppose, to MC “Can’t touch this” Hammer. Salesforce claims 90,000 people were at the conference. As well as Hammer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were also there. “It’s more like a festival”, says the website. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images).