Dreamforce, Salesforce’s marquee conference, comes to San Francisco annually, accompanied by a new round of handwringing about the city, its reputation, and its future.

By and large, visitors from elsewhere said they were pleasantly surprised when interviewed amid the fake waterfalls, cartoon Albert Einstein mascots, and robotic arms holding trays of coffee cups. However, public safety issues were still on some people’s minds given recent events like the shooting of 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall on Aug. 31.

Photos by Emily Steinberger | Words by Priya Anand | Photo edit by Emily Steinberger, Justin Katigbak and Brandon Choe | For The San Francisco Standard