About Web 2.0 Expo

Program Information | Tracks | Who Should Attend | What is Web 2.0 | Conference Diversity

Web 2.0 Expo, co-produced by O'Reilly Media and UBM 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 Startup Showcase, an Expo show floor, 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 (formerly named Web 2.0 Conference), a joint venture between O'Reilly and UBM 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 UBM TechWeb launched the inaugural Web 2.0 Expo in April 2007 in San Francisco. That event 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.

Program Information

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

Conference Tracks Will Include:

• Big Ideas
• Conversations
• Design & UI
• Development
• Marketing
• Product Management
• Social Media
• Strategy & Business Models

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

Past Web 2.0 Expo events brought together participants from these—and many more—companies and organizations:

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 clarifies 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.

Conference Diversity

O'Reilly Media and UBM TechWeb believe in spreading the knowledge of innovators. We believe that innovation is enhanced by a variety of perspectives, and our goal is to create an inclusive, respectful conference environment that invites participation from people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, and sexual orientations.

We're actively seeking to increase the diversity of our attendees, speakers, and sponsors through our calls for proposals, other open submission processes, and through dialogue with the larger communities we serve.

This is an ongoing process. We are talking to our program chairs, program committees, and various innovators, experts, and organizations about this goal and about ways they can help us achieve it.

Here are some ways you can help us build a more diverse conference experience:

• Recommend appropriate speakers and/or program committee members to the conference chairs (see individual O'Reilly and UBM TechWeb conference sites for program information; you may also send an email to diversity@oreilly.com)
• Forward our call for proposals to relevant affinity groups with the message that we are looking for a diverse speaker roster
• Suggest to potential speakers that they submit a proposal during our Call for Participation conference phase (see individual O'Reilly conference sites for details)
• Organize community-based public speaking trainings and practice events (Ignite is one popular format)
• Suggest ways that the onsite conference experience can be more welcoming and supportive, free from intimidation and marginalization (send an email to diversity@oreilly.com)
• Share your ideas and best practices for how we can realize our vision (send an email to diversity@oreilly.com)

We value diversity in the communities we bring together, and we welcome your contributions to bringing balanced representation of the richness of our collective human experience.