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Salesforce abandons all future Indiana plans following passage of SB 101

On Thursday, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced plans to avoid the state of Indiana for any future company events following the passage of that state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

"Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination," Benioff wrote on his personal Twitter account. He then emphasized his "employees' and customers' outrage" over the bill and said that he would "dramatically reduce" the company's investment in Indiana as a result.

Benioff spent much of Thursday posting links to stories about the bill's passage, most of which referred to its discriminatory aspects and its potential negative impact on Indiana's LGBTQ community. He also urged technology CEOs to "pay attention to what is happening in Indiana and how it will impact your employees and customers."

The cloud computing company, headquartered in San Francisco, acquired Indianapolis-based e-mail marketing firm ExactTarget in 2014. While Benioff didn't go so far as to suggest relocating that company, he did tell Re/code that the state would face a “slow rolling of economic sanctions” if the law remains in effect over time. For now, Benioff has confirmed in interviews that his company's "events" would no longer take place in the state of Indiana.

Mainstream backlash against the legislation ramped up on Wednesday thanks to a call to action by Gen Con CEO Adrian Swartout. Her open letter to Indiana Governor Mike Pence indicated that the nation's largest gaming convention would seek a new home should the legislation pass. After the RFRA was signed into law, Swartout wrote a new letter on Thursday, this time addressed to the Gen Con community. The letter reminded Gen Con attendees that the event is contractually tied to the city of Indianapolis until the year 2020, then answered the obvious question—"what does this mean for the future of Gen Con?"—with an insistence that the Con is staying put for now.
"Due to specific dialog with long-time partners in Indy, we believe that Gen Con attendees not only will receive the same great service and hospitality in 2015, but an even warmer response from the city," Swartout wrote. However, due to the long-term process needed to anchor the convention to a new city, "discussions whether to remain in Indy or move elsewhere have begun."

For now, Swartout wants her attendees to keep their flights and tickets booked and plan to have fun. "Let's continue to show off how open-hearted, fun, and inclusive our event and the Indy community can be," her letter concluded.

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