web 2.0 Expo, co-produced by O'Reilly Media, Inc. and TechWeb, showcases the latest Web 2.0 business models, development paradigms and design strategies for the builders of the next-generation Web. This annual multi-track conference brings together people, ideas, connections, contacts, products, and companies to foster stronger Web 2.0 communities. Web 2.0 Expo events occur in San Francisco and New York and feature influential keynotes and speakers, detailed workshops, a Launch Pad start-up program, an Expo show floor, aWeb2Open unconference, and rich networking events.

The Web continues to be an engine of economic growth, fueled by a host of new business models, development models, and design patterns that collectively fall under the umbrella of Web 2.0, a term coined at the birth of Web 2.0 Summit, a joint venture between O’Reilly Media and TechWeb.

To meet the increasing demand for Web 2.0 comprehension and skills, and to build a broader Web 2.0 community, O'Reilly Media and TechWeb (formerly CMP Technology) launched the inaugural Web 2.0 Expo in April 2007 in San Francisco. Web 2.0 Expo, a companion event to Web 2.0 Summit, was the first conference and tradeshow for the rapidly growing ranks of designers and developers, product managers, entrepreneurs, VCs, marketers, and business strategists who are embracing the opportunities created by Web 2.0 technologies. Web 2.0 Expo has now expanded to include not only the Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco, but also New York.

Program Information

The program will spotlight experts, leaders, and under-the-radar innovations, and in the spirit of Web 2.0, there will be ample opportunity for attendees to connect, contribute, and collaborate. Web 2.0 Expo will be a place for creativity, engineering, and innovation, focusing on four conversations:

• Education: a vetted, cohesive conference program to maximize the sharing of knowledge and expertise around creating the next generation web
• Tradeshow: a traditional tradeshow floor introducing builders of the Web to providers of tools, technology, services and infrastructure
• Networking: a meeting ground fostering face-to-face business development for entrepreneurs, VCs, partnerships and recruitment
• Launch Pad: a platform for notable companies and products to debut

Conference Tracks will Include:

• Fundamentals
• Development
• Marketing & Community
• Design & User Experience
• Strategy & Business Models
• Focus on: Mobile
• Focus on: Security
• Focus on: Web Operations
• Focus on: Web 2.0 at Work
• Products & Services

Who Should Attend?

Web 2.0 Expo is explicitly designed to address the needs of technical, design, marketing, and business professionals building the next generation web, including:

• Business strategists
• Web and UI designers
• Product managers
• Marketing professionals
• CxOs and IT managers
• Business managers
• Developers in established companies
• Grass roots developers and hackers
• Companies and organizations tracking emerging technologies
• VCs and entrepreneurs

The 2008 event brought together participants from these--and many more--companies:

Adobe, AOL, American Greetings Interactive, Apple, BA Venture Partners, BP, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Discovery Health Media, Dow Jones & Company, EMC, Experian Interactive, First Round Capital, Great Spirit Ventures, Hitachi, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, IEEE, Intel Corporation, Intuit, Jet Propultion Laboratory, Labrador Ventures, MTV Networks, Magazine Publishers of America, McGill University, Monster Worldwide, Motion Picture Association of America, Nokia, North Bridge Venture Partners, Northrop Grumman Information Technology, RealNetworks, Simon & Schuster, Standard & Poor's, Sun Microsystems, Symbol Technologies, The Heritage Foundation, The Wall Street Journal Online, Turner Broadcastings Systems, University of Richmond, University of Southern California, Walt Disney Internet Group, WhitePages.com

What Is Web 2.0?

Defining exactly what Web 2.0 means is still an ongoing conversation. Tim O'Reilly attempts to clarify Web 2.0, digging into what it means to view the Web as a platform, and which applications fall squarely under its purview and which do not. 

Program Co-Chairs

Brady Forrest
Brady Forrest is Chair for O'Reilly's Where 2.0 and Emerging Technology conferences. Additionally, he co-Chairs Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Berlin and NYC. Brady writes for O'Reilly Radar tracking changes in technology. He previously worked at Microsoft on Live Search (he came to Microsoft when it acquired MongoMusic). Brady lives in Seattle, where hebuilds cars for Burning Man and runs Ignite. You can track his web travels at Truffle Honey.

Jennifer Pahlka