The Guide Is Ready!

It’s taken a while to put this together, but you can find a complete Guide to the Web2Open by clicking here.

We have information about the Open and our goals, information about the speakers and discussion leaders, and a grid of the complete schedule, available to download for you.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and we’ll try to answer them here on the blog.

Make sure to check out the fantastic sessions on Augmented Reality, Social Media, The Future of Journalism, How the FTC regulations May Change the Blogosphere, The Makerbot and the possibility of being able to manufacture things in your own home, and more- We can’t wait to see you there!

The Web 2.0pen and Podcamp

It’s been crazy these last few weeks, nailing down all the details for the Web 2.0 Open sessions.  Meghan Reilly from TechWeb has been amazing, and we can’t thank her, TechWeb, and O’Reilly for asking us to be a part of the Open, and for helping it all to come together.  We’re looking forward to an amazing event!

You can take a look at the schedule online by clicking here, and a full PDF -Guide to the Web 2.0 Expo Open- will be available here in the next day or so, including information about all the pre-planned sessions and speakers, how you can present at the Open, and more.

We are really excited about all the great speakers that have gotten involved and behind the event, and it’s a testament to how Podcamp has evolved and grown since it started back in September, 2006.  While the Open is a bit different than a traditional Podcamp, we know it will have he same community feel, where your input and participation are vital to its success.

The Open will take place on Wednesday, November 18th and Thursday, November 19th at the Jacob Javits Center.  We do ask that you register in advance.  There is no fee for attending the Open and Expo- (we’ll provide you a code to register that will zero out the cost) and we hope you’ll be able to join us as we all explore doing more with less.

Mitch Joel- Six Pixels of Separation and Doing More with Less

Mitch Joel from Twist Image, Canada’s premier Digital Marketing and Communications agency, and author of Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone is Connected.  Connect Your Business To Everyone, is one of our featured speakers/discussion leaders at the Web 2.0 Expo Open.  I first met Mitch at the very first Podcamp in Boston and was blown away by the session he did on Personal Branding with C.C. Chapman.  Mitch wrote in a few sentences what the heart of the Web 2.0 Expo Open is about this year in the introduction to his book:

Whether the economy is still in a slump or clawing its way back to life by the time this book hits the shelves, one thing will still be for certain: all of us are going to be doing a lot more with a lot less.  The digital channels were meant to do just that.  Your business has been forced to change over the past couple of years.  As a result, there has never been a more important time to understand the myriad digital channels and free publishing tools that are right here in front of you- at your fingertips.

This is the essence of what we hope you’ll take away from the Web 2.0 Expo Open- a better understanding of how to do more with less, of how mastering the digital tools available will enable you to grow and succeed without necessarily costing you an arm and a leg, but instead, matching the tools to your goals and being prepared for the rapidly changing and evolving marketplaces we all find ourselves in.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUsTPGutYJw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joA89bb3T0k[/youtube]

Emerge: Sessions on Augmented Reality at the Web 2.0 Expo Open

John Havens, well known for his book with Shel Holtz, Tactical Transparency, and as former Lead Organizer of Podcamp NYC, is helping us put together a block of sessions at the Web 2.0 Expo Open all about Augmented Reality (AR).  While I had an idea about Augmented Reality before John started talking to me about all the possibilities it opens up, this concentration of sessions with some of the leaders in AR will be a great look inside what’s rapidly becoming possible with the proliferation of smart phones and digital applications.

Augmented Reality is being touted as everything from “gimmicky” to “bigger than the web” and has been utilized by companies like GE, IBM, Walmart, and Best Buy. Whatever your take on the subject, AR is getting a massive amount of buzz and the technology that has been written about in cyberpunk novels for over two decades is coming to fruition via the mobile tools available in the latest Android models and iPhone. “Emerge” , as we are calling these sessions, will feature a number of leaders in the AR community who will dispel inaccuracies while also demonstrating how the ideas of collaborative intuition combined with the semantic web and social networks make AR the “touchstone technology” that makes it a paradigm shift that may drastically alter culture and commerce alike.

Here’s just a few quick YouTube videos about AR so you can see it in action:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb0pMeg1UN0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00FGtH5nkxM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNu4CluFOcw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j67xUCULGdE[/youtube]

Podcamp and the Web 2.0 Expo

When the fantastic people at TechWeb and O’Reilly Publishing contacted the Podcamp Foundation and asked us to help organize the Web 2.0 Expo Open sessions in NYC, we were immediately excited by the possibilities.  The Web 2.0 Expo will be taking place November 16- 19 in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center, the biggest conference center in New York City.  With the brightest minds on the Web congregating in one place, putting together a program of both planned and open, spontaneous sessions that will stimulate conversation and and give actionable information to all who participate is a pretty steep challenge for anyone.

For Christopher  Penn, Chris Brogan and myself, taking on this challenge is an opportunity to introduce the magic of the Podcamp experience to a different and larger crowd.  Podcamp, unlike some of the other unconferences, mixes pre-planned sessions with the spontaneous, sign-up on site sessions  most unconferences are known for.  We find this helps people to understand what they’re getting if they attend from the announced speakers and topics, while keeping the surprise of the unplanned as part of the mix.  Our sessions are also geared to be discussions and conversations rather than just “Death by Powerpoint” and we actively encourage everyone to help make their own experience.

The Podcamp Foundation’s Latest Project- Doing More with Less

The Podcamp Foundation is teaming up with TechWeb And O’Reilly Publishing to plan the Open sessions at the Web 2.0 Conference at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City on Wednesday, November 18th and Thursday, November 19th, 2009.

The Open’s theme is “Doing More with Less”, and we’re lucky enough to have a collection of some of the brightest minds in social media and marketing to talk about how they are using the web to expand their businesses, making both time and money stretch to maximum efficiency. We’d love to have you come and participate in the Open and invite you to present your view on how to do more with less by signing up to present in one of the Open slots on the day of the Expo. In the Community Lounge area, we’ll have a white board where you’ll be able to join the conversation and bring your own spin on how you are making social and digital media tools extend your reach and audience.

We’re hoping that over the course of the presentations and conversations at the Web 2.0 Open, you’ll get a better understanding of social media’s strengths and weaknesses, so you’ll have a better understanding of how to use each tool to formulate and execute a strategy that will help you achieve your end goals. Whether it’s looking at the possibilities of augmented reality, considering how community development might give you an edge over your competitors, or how journalism is changing in an increasingly competitive marketplace, the discussions in the Open sessions at the Web 2.0 Expo will both challenge your assumptions and expand your horizons.