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Exploring Where Geodata Might Take Us--O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference Opens Call for Participation

October 9, 2008

Sebastopol, CA, October 9, 2008—The earth isn't flat, and maps don't live in the glove compartment anymore. The O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference will pinpoint how far location technology has reached, explore the boundaries of geospace, and point the way into the location frontier at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA, May 19-21, 2009. O'Reilly Media and program chair Brady Forrest invite proposals for conference sessions, workshops, demos, and panels for Where 2.0 2009.

Now in its fifth year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading-edge developers building location-aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. In the O'Reilly conference tradition, Where 2.0 presents leading trends rather than chasing them.

Where 2009 will explore where location technology is today, and where geodata may take us. Some of the topics already on the program radar include:

  • Local Search and Advertising
  • Location-Aware
  • Reality Mining
  • Augmented Reality
  • Immersive and 3D Imagery
  • Mapping Tables
  • Government 2.0
  • Crowdsourcing
  • Disease Awareness
  • Cartography
  • Emergency/Disaster Mapping

Proposals for workshops might consider, but aren't limited to, topics such as:

  • Geo Support in Web Application Frameworks
  • GeoStack
  • Mapping APIs
  • GeoTargeting
  • Privacy Implications
  • GeoBrowsers
  • Data Management
  • Protocols and Formats

While such topics represent starting points, the program welcomes proposals on topics ranging all over the map of location data.

Where 2.0 2009 will bring together CIOs, product managers, and technologists curious about how to incorporate location technology into existing products; city and government planners; officials from USGSD and DOD; open source mapping and location tool developers; grassroots developers building important mash-ups and systems; researchers and academics studying the field and building prototypes; artists creating collaborative experiences with a spatial focus; activists and community organizers building tools for managing nonprofit location groups; neographers and traditional geographers working deep in the trenches of geospace; and venture capitalists looking for the next investment opportunity.

Where 2.0 offers attendees:

  • High level plenary sessions that address current opportunities and future possibilities in the location space
  • A full day of workshops led by experts and innovators, charting the depths of cutting-edge location technologies
  • Product demos and launches revealing exciting new tools pushing the geospace boundaries
  • An Exhibit Hall filled with some of the most important people, products, and services in the industry
  • The fifth 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, an evening of rapid-fire presentations showcasing the unusual (a separate call for Ignite submissions will be issued in early 2009)
  • 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 un-conference for geo issues taking place the weekend following Where 2.0—visit the WhereCamp wiki to volunteer

Past Where 2.0 sponsors and exhibitors included Autodesk, Google, ESRI, Nokia, DigitalGlobe, earthscape, EveryScape, LightPole, MapJack, MapQuest, MetaCarta, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Poly9, SkyHook Wireless, TeleAtlas, Yahoo! Developer Network, uLocate, and Zvents.

In the past, Where 2.0 has brought together representatives from such diverse companies, organizations, and projects as: AAA, AOL, Apple, Autodesk, Cisco Systems, Citysearch, deCarta, eBay, City of Phoenix, Defense Intelligence Agency, ESRI, Digital Globe, FedEx Services, Flagr, France Telecom, GeoWankers, GlobeXplorer, Google, Intel, MapQuest, MetaCarta, Microsoft, NAVTEQ, National Geographic Society, OnomyLabs, Metaweb Technologies, Nokia, Norwegian Armed Forces, Open Geospatial Consortium, OpenStreetMap, Openwave, Overstock.com, PennySaverUSA.com, Placebase, PlaceSite, Platial, Poly9, Qualcomm, Siemens, Skyhook Wireless, Stanford Business School, TDC Group, Tele Atlas North America, The Open Planning Project, Toyota InfoTechnology Center USA, UC Berkeley School of Information, UCSB Geography, uLocate Communications, University of California Los Angeles, Urban Scan, Valtus Imagery Services, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online, Wikitravel, Yahoo!, and many more.

Proposals will be accepted through December 2, 2008, and early registration for attendees and media will open in January 2009. Proposals may be submitted to:
http://en.oreilly.com/where2009/public/cfp/45.

For more information on Where 2.0 2009, visit:
http://conferences.oreilly.com/where.

If you have ideas about areas you'd like to see included at the conference, share them with us at:
http://en.oreilly.com/where2009/public/wiki/WhereIdeas.

If you'd like to stay up to date on information relating to Where 2.0 2009, sign up for the conference newsletter (login required) at:
http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/nl/home#conferences.

For an overview of this space, read Where 2.0: The State of the Geospatial Web, an O'Reilly Radar Report, co-written by program chair Brady Forrest at:
http://radar.oreilly.com/research/where2-report.html.

To volunteer for Where Camp, visit the WhereCamp wiki at:
http://wherecamp.pbwiki.com/WhereCamp2009.

For articles, blogs, photos, and other coverage of last year's event, go to:
http://en.oreilly.com/where2008/public/content/news-coverage.

View selected presentations from Where 2.0 2008 at:
http://where.blip.tv.

Download speaker presentation slides from Where 2.0 2008 at:
http://en.oreilly.com/where2008/public/schedule/proceedings.

To read Tim O'Reilly's take on the future, go to the O'Reilly Radar at:
http://radar.oreilly.com.

For information about sponsorship and exhibit opportunities at Where 2.0 2009, contact Yvonne Romaine at 707.827.7198 or yromaine@oreilly.com.

For media inquiries, contact Maureen Jennings at maureen@oreilly.com.

If you would like to discuss forming a media or promotional partnership with O'Reilly for an upcoming event, contact mediapartners@oreilly.com.

More O'Reilly Conferences:

For a conference overview, visit:
http://conferences.oreilly.com.

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