Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Rupert Murdoch of MySpace. Jay Adelson of Digg and Meg Whitman of eBay. These are just some of the Internet superstars who will be discussing their business strategies at this week’s Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.
Digital Journal — From Oct 17 to 19, San Francisco will be overrun with nerds. But as any stock watcher can attest, nerds are running the world, whether it’s the whiz kids at Digg.com or Zuckerberg’s Facebook storming the social-networking scene. For three days, attendees at the Web 2.0 Summit can learn what makes a hot Net property tick, how emerging businesses are tidal-waving across the world, and how future innovations will change how people live.
If it sounds like a lofty idea for a conference, it is. But a peek inside the companies presenting lectures or workshops speaks volumes about the kind of content pouring out of San Francisco’s Grand Ballroom: eBay, MySpace, Viacom, Federated Media (owner of BoingBoing.net), Microsoft, Flickr, LiveJournal, Google, AOL, Ask.com, Topix, Joost and many more.
What can Web 2.0 afficionados expect at the conference? Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen will discuss his company’s Web plans one day, and another day will feature various entrepreneur and advisors talking about the topic Facebook as a Platform. The Summit will feature casual conversations with News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, eBay CEO Meg Whitman and Facebook’s Zuckerberg.
Also, workshops that took place today included Making Money in Video and Podcasting, Collaboration 2.0, Personal Social Media Goes Mobile and Thrive on the Edge: Lessons from MySpace and Veoh.
One of more unique, and fun-loving, aspects of the Summit is what conference organizer John Battelle is calling the Web Bowl. This live trivia competition pits Internet luminaries against each other as they are peppered with submitted questions about the Web industry and its major players. Battelle said:
The game show format will create an entertaining opportunity to both celebrate the history and future of the Web among the leading members of the Web community. Even those not able to make it will be able to participate virtually, in true 2.0 spirit.
Participating trivia masters in the Web Bowl include Digg.com’s Jay Adelson, Microsoft’s Gary Flake, Ask.com’s Jim Lanzone and AOL’s Ted Leonsis.
Light-hearted humour aside, if there’s any conference that will leak future innovations to the world, it’s this week’s Web 2.0 Summit. When you have big players like Google, AOL, Microsoft and Cisco rubbing shoulders with Ask, Facebook, Flickr and LiveJournal, there’s bound to be friendships and partnerships that start budding out of nowhere. A LiveJournal Facebook app, anyone?
For the average Web 2.0 fan, the Summit offers an opportunity to peek into the mindset behind the best online inventions. Trade secrets may be kept tight, but advice on creating groundbreaking tools and intuitive interfaces will undoubtedly trickle to the general public. It’s this kind of meeting of minds that could change how the Web’s future is laid out, website by website.
