I’m baaack!
Web 2.0 Expo has arrived and I am the house – or, more specifically, Moscone West in San Francisco – on behalf of my company Eastwick Communications.
I’m already noticing things that are different this year than last: More B2B exhibitors in the Expo Hall than last year, fewer familiar faces on session panels (Forrester Research must miss the fabulous Charlene Li, who is still connected to the Expo as part of the Advisory Board, but is only co-leading one session).
Less social networks and blog platforms, more hosting and storage solutions companies. We love that at Eastwick, but we can also see that it’s a practical and logical sign of the economic times.
And no one is getting excited about Facebook apps, as was the case last year (where are you KickApps and RockYou?). Proof point: One of the more exciting keynotes last year was Ms. Li interviewing Max Levchin, the man behind Slide – boy that feels like a looong time ago! [watch here]
Don’t get me wrong, some of the ‘old standbys’ are here, but it just feels different.
It remains to be seen what the opening keynotes, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, will bring. But with Tim O’Reilly scheduled to interview Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft’s Business Division (which includes everything from Microsoft Office to IP telephony), it should be an interesting, if not eventful, few days.
I’m also anxious to see if Web 3.0 – both “the semantic Web” and the upcoming MediaBistro conference – will be mentioned by anyone or if anyone I ask has anything interesting to say about it. There are a few search companies here, so I know where to get started asking… [article]
Stay tuned!
[cross-posted here…]
