O’Reilly news

Where 2.0 Reveals Programs and Introduces Tutorials: Conference Maps the Future

March 25, 2008

O'Reilly Media has put emerging technologies on the map for years; the O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference shows how to map that future. Conference chair Brady Forrest has revealed the program for the fourth Where 2.0, scheduled for May 12-14 in Burlingame, CA. Attendees can find their way through a rich conference landscape of neogeography, as leading-edge developers show businesses and entrepreneurs where to find the newest and most exciting location apps, platforms, and hardware. For the first time, this year's Where 2.0 will open with a full day of tutorials designed to explore the tools and skills critical to the geospatial industry.

Featured speakers will include Adrian Holovaty, who will discuss his philosophy behind Everyblock, how it developed, and why Everyblock decided to roll their own maps, and Erik Hersman on "Enemies around Every Corner: Mapping in an Activist World."

New speakers join the program daily. Some of the more than 60 featured speakers and sessions already include:

  • "Best Practices for Location-based Services: Privacy, User Control, Carrier Relations, Advertising, and More" by Sam Altman of Loopt
  • "Going Places on Flickr: The Significance of Geographical Information in Photos" by Flickr's Dan Catt
  • "Indexing Reality: Creating a Mine of Geospatial Information" by Anthony Fassero and John Ristevski of Earthmine, Inc.
  • "Merian Case Study" by Jennifer Killian of Frog Design
  • "Searching the Geoweb: Exposing Your Geodata to Search Engines" by Lior Ron of Google
  • "Creating Web 2.0 Applications on an Open Source Geospatial Platform" by Geoff Zeiss of Autodesk

Before the keynotes and sessions even begin, Where 2.0's first day of tutorials will immerse attendees in the skills and tools needed for the future of the geospatial industry. Tutorials will cover topics including "Geo-Ify Your Web Site," "Creating Great Geocontent and Sharing It with Google Maps and Earth," and "Beg, Borrow, and Steal: Make a Simple GPS Game."

Where 2.0 connects participants through:

  • High-level plenary sessions that address current opportunities and future possibilities in the location space
  • A full day of tutorials led by experts and innovators, charting the depths of cutting- edge location technologies
  • Product demos and launches revealing exciting new tools pushing the geo-space boundaries
  • An Exhibit Hall filled with some of the most important people, products, and services in the industry
  • The fourth annual Where Fair, a science fair style event that brings forward the location aware tools, apps, and hardware being created in garages, university labs, and other unexpected places.
  • Ignite Where and Launch Pad, an evening of rapid-fire presentations showcasing the unusual
  • Informal events and Birds of a Feather sessions, allowing all participants?speakers, attendees, media, and sponsors?to exchange ideas and debate face to face
  • WhereCamp, an unconference for geo issues taking place the weekend following Where 2.0?visit the WhereCamp wiki to volunteer.

The exhibit hall will include sponsors and exhibitors demonstrating products and services that will shape the future of GIS. Sponsors and exhibitors include Autodesk, Google, ESRI, Digital Globe, MapQuest, Zvents, Microsoft Virtual Earth, and Poly9.

For more conference information, please visit: http://www.conferences.oreilly.com/where

For complete information on the conference schedule, please visit the Where 2.0 Calendar

To see keynotes from last year's Where 2.0, visit: http://where.blip.tv/#572250

For exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, please email Yvonne Romaine

For media and promotional partner opportunities, please email Avila Reese

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

Email a link to this press release