Where 2.0 2007 Was All About Location, Location, Location
Written by O'reilly Media
18 June 2007
Sebastopol, CA, June 18, 2007 - There was no doubt that the San Jose Fairmont was the place to be for developers, neo-geographers, executives, and entrepreneurs in the location-based technology market. This year's Where 2.0 conference drew over 800 attendees, the largest yet. The event, held May 29-30, was produced by O'Reilly Media, Inc.
O'Reilly Media has been on the forefront of sharing technology knowledge, and the O'Reilly Radar team has been particularly adept at spotlighting innovation and companies that will impact markets. Within the location-based industry, O'Reilly Radar team member Brady Forrest has been able to track important trends in location and how they can be leveraged into real life solutions for business. As the Where 2.0 Program Chair, Forrest has provided leadership that resulted in a highly energized, information-rich conference.
Forrest was enthusiastic about the conference proceedings, saying "This year we saw an increase in immersive environments, the mainstreaming of mashups, the continuing importance of OS tools, and the rise of a geoindex for the web. Google in particular led the way in all of these things with the release of Streetside and Mapplets." Addressing the conference attendees over two days, Forrest was able to see the big picture with attendees. "Where 2.0 brought together old-school GIS with the new school neo-geographers and helped to start new conversations. Based on the palpable buzz this year I expect that next year will be even more exciting," he added.
The program consisted of workshops, presentations and featured keynote addresses from every echelon of location-based technology. Some of the presentations were technical in nature, others covered the industry from a more global, business-minded, or cultural approach. Topics presented included:
-Love in the Time of Cholera, Steven Johnson, Co-founder, Outside.in
-The Opening of Map Data, Steve Coast, OpenStreetMap
-Mapping Matters: Propositions on Place, Data and Subjectivity, Janet Abrams, Director, University of Minnesota Design Institute
-Time and Maps, Shawn Allen, Interaction Designer, Stamen Design
-The Internet-connected Location Future, Sam Altman, Co-founder and CEO, loopt
A key component to any O'Reilly conference is providing attendees an opportunity to network, share ideas, and information. At Where 2.0, conference goers were able to choose from a variety of extra events surrounding the sessions themselves. Specifically:
-The Ignite Where and Launch Pad: 5 minute talks and pitches that introduced leading-edge projects and products (Winner of the Ignite Event: David Troy of Twittervision)
-The Where Fair: This hands-on, demo-licious event showcased the most exciting location-aware tools, apps, and hardware that are emerging from garages and university labs
-Birds of a Feather sessions (BOFs) allowed any participant to lead an informal evening session
-The sponsor reception gave attendees another opportunity to network
-Sponsor Skyhook, hosted the 2nd Annual Funk Band & Beer Bash at local club Loft Bar & Bistro
-TeleAtlas brought their mobile locator van for attendees to examine up close and in person
Sponsors at Where 2.0 viewed the conference as a place to share information, demonstrate products, and make announcements. The exhibition floor at Where 2.0 2007 included sponsors: MapQuest, Google, ESRI, Autodesk, Garmin, 3DConnexion, deCarta, DigitalGlove, Fatdoor, Leica Geosystems, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Quova, Schmap, Loki, TeleAtlas, Where.com, and SwathViewer. The following sponsors/exhibitors made announcements at the conference:
-MapQuest: Introduces An ActionScript API -Google: Google Street View, Mapplets, Purchase of Panoramio -Garmin: Publishes API Library & Developer Center -Fatdoor: Map-Based Community Network -Leica Geosystems Geospatial: Beta release TITAN -uLocate: WHERE Enhances Mobile GPS Widget Platform -Microsoft Virtual Earth: Data Enhancement including 3D NYC -Fortius One: Released GeoCommons -WeoGeo: Launched their mapping marketplace -Dopplr: Launched their social, travel calendaring site -UpNext: Launched their 3D Manhattan -Planet9: Launched their new 3D platform -Urban Mapping: Announced a neighborhood data deal -O'reilly + Mapufacture: Release GeoPressMT -Swivel: Launched geodata visualizations -WildSanctuary: Launched their GoogleEarth integration -OutSide.in: Launched new mapping views of neighborhood -Yahoo! Research: - Launched Zurfer
The Where 2.0 momentum continued on after the conclusion of the conference. Two events built on the Where ecosystem including Google's Dev Day and WhereCamp. For more information visit these links: http://code.google.com/events/developerday/mv-home.html http://wherecamp.pbwiki.com/
For 2008, topics will continue to evolve with the trends in the location-based industry. The call for participation will be issued in November and the conference will take place spring 2008 in the Bay Area.
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