Web 2.0 Expo - the last keynote session

Web 2.0 Expo is going international with the next shows lined up for Berlin and Tokyo. The introduction to the keynote sessions on Wednesday included an amusing video that explains Web 2.0 in the context of a supermarket. It is very tongue in cheek but that helps to get some key Web 2.0 concepts across.

glumbert.com - Supermarket 2.0

Dave Winer of Yahoo was the keynote interviewee. Dave runs the network division of Yahoo. Some of the interesting comments from John Batelle's interview with Dave included:

• Search is a critical capability that reveals the intention of the user
• Understanding intention drives significantly higher follow through from users
• Building a repository that individfuals can contribute to in order to keep the repository vibrant and current.

The new network division is focused on breaking down the silos that have been created and bring a strong user-centricity. Is Google running circles around Yahoo? Did John Batelle bowl a Googly to Dave Weiner? Yahoo reaches a half billion users across the world. This is a powerful audience to mobilize. Yahoo has a critical content capability that is a differentiator from Google. It is that capability that drives the comparison with AOL. Dave Weiner also referenced AOL's purchase of Advertising.com as a "great deal for AOL".

Topix.com

The switch from read web to a read/write web lead to a doubling in volume of visitors and a tend fold increase in per user page views. Engagement works!

Enterprise 2.0 - is it soup yet?

This session was led by Dan Farber of ZDnet. The panel: CEO of Zimbra Product Manager of Google Enterprise CEO of SocialText Ross Mayfield of SocialText pointed out that Web 2.0 in the Enterprise can collapse publishing times dramatically and increase the pool of engaged users. Enterprise 2.0 is still about user choice and collaboration. Users experience Web 2.0 in the wild of the Internet. Their expectations have been raised and they expect the capability in their daily work. What are the critical components. Andrew McAfee defined as emergent software for the enterprise. Reduce email by 30%. More productive search by 50%. Culturally it changes the dynamic that rewards the sharing of information. This reflects the emergence of collaborative , virtual teams and these tools enable this modde of working. Teams will solve problems in their own way. Controlling access to consumer sites raises an interesting question. Places like MySpace are the digital watercooler. companies that force work to be just about work are sacrificing the opportunity to have their staff bleed their work time in to their personal time. If I am not allowed to do personal surfing during work hours, should I be expected to answer my Blackberry when I am off duty? It is a valid and important question. SocialText have produced SocialPoint. This is a product that integrates the SocialText Wiki platform with Microsoft SharePoint. SocialText is also packaged in Intel's Suite2. This integrates Wiki, Blogs, New Readers and Social Networking in a package for the enterprise.