June 13-14, 2006 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California http://conferences.oreilly.com/where

Where Is the Location Based Technology Industry Heading?

From here to there and back again... This year's Where 2.0 Conference takes place at the intersection of new technology, user-centered design, and the cutting edge of internet cartography. Join grassroots and leading edge developers who are building the new technology, businesses and entrepreneurs seeking to fund the next killer app, start ups and mainstream companies about to launch their next product. They will all come together at Where 2.0 for an exciting two days of mash-ups, information downloads, and high-bandwidth access.

User Data Makes the Difference

Who's gathering it, how can it be displayed, and how can you turn user data into the next killer app? What new forms of data can users provide? What needs do consumers have that we can meet with the geospatial technology we developed for enterprises? How can we take the excitement and approaches that we develop for consumers back to the enterprise? Learn the answers at Where 2.0.

Social Networking Meets Data Visualization: Where's the Party?

Some of the most compelling new GIS applications revolve around friends, social connections, and events. Combine data from Google Maps and Google Earth with user data and you've got a mash-up. And perhaps a viable business. We'll be talking about this year's hot topic, "pushpin apps" that let you build your own collections of places viewable on a Google Map. Join Di-Ann Eisnor of Platial as well as artists, research groups, and non-profits, as they share what they've learned in the fields of social networking and GIS application development.

Protecting Privacy

What happens to privacy when the government is sniffing your packet? Use a cell phone and the government knows where you are. When the Geospatial Web links users' online activity to their location in real space, what happens to privacy rights? People may want to find stuff, but will they want to be found? If the builders of geospatial tools fail to embrace privacy-promoting design, the potential of next-generation web applications may never be realized. Lauren Gelman from Stanford will explain how designing an architecture that protects user privacy can accelerate consumer embrace of cool new geospatial tools.

Setting the Standard

As the number of platforms grows the need for standards in the geospatial industry is becoming critical. In the GIS world, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has a raft of standards for sharing maps and points of interest. We're also seeing rapid adoption of the lightweight GeoRSS standard. Sessions on GeoRSS and OGC standards will show how standard-based APIs have been instrumental in building services in the science, engineering, government, and consumer sectors.

Open Source Opens the Door

Open source projects like GRASS, GDAL, UDIG, and the non-profit Open Source Geospatial Foundation have opened the door to open source, and raised the bar for commercial offerings. Presentations from GDAL (the data-converting glue between a lot of commercial and open source tools), GRASS (a long-lived full-featured GIS system that rivals the best commercial offerings), and UDIG (desktop GIS toolkit for developers and companies) will spotlight the newest developments coming out of the open source community. You'll hear from AutoDesk about its open source initiative concerning its major enterprise map product and its work with the open source community to create the Open Source Geospatial Foundation.

Show Me the Money

Is there a new gold rush panning for big bucks in the geospatial industry? The future of geospatial is funded by some big names including ESRI (the Microsoft of the GIS industry), Kleiner Perkins, and Omidyar. Learn how traditional businesses are making money from their grassroots geospatial projects and are reaching out to startups and alternative developer groups.

Good Reasons to Stay Up Late:

You'll come for the information; you'll stay up late for the parties. http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/47/events.html

Pixie Hunt: Cameraphone Scavenger Hunt

On Monday, June 12, Microsoft and Cingular Wireless are co-sponsoring an evening of play at Where 2.0. Pixie Hunt is a mash-up of a Microsoft prototype that creates a mobile, connected scavenger hunt. Combining the app, a Windows Mobile 5.0 smartphone or PocketPC cameraphone, Flickr, and a group text messaging service, tasks are set for teams to accomplish. Each time a photo is snapped recording a completed task, it's automatically uploaded to Flickr and tagged. Photos can be viewed by all teams in real time and teams can "smack talk" via the integrated group SMS service. Because the photos are geotagged, some tasks are created around specific locations for photos be taken and players can see the location of other teams on a Virtual Earth map.

A Reception Sponsored by Microsoft, Google, and Autodesk

Get up close and personal with state-of-the-art systems, apps, and services in the location space. Mingle with fellow conference participants at the Sponsor Reception in the Exhibit Hall, quaff your favorite cold beverage, and check out the latest location-aware technologies from sponsors and exhibitors.

Where Fair

The Where Fair is back! This hands-on, demo-licious event showcases the most exciting location-aware tools, apps, and hardware emerging from garages and university labs. Look under the hood, talk tech with the creators, and learn how these unconventional new technologies are evolving their existing business strategies.

Loki/Skyhook Funk Band & Beer Bash

Find your funk at the Loft Bar & Bistro (right around the corner from the Fairmont Hotel). Whether you want to network and mingle on the outdoor patio, or get funkalicious with the Vicious Groove, the Loki/Skyhook beer bash is the place to unwind after a hard day of conference going. The Loki/Skyhook team invites you to enjoy some cold beer, California wines, fancy cocktails, and fine food.

Yahoo! Happy Hour

Wind up Where 2.0 with a happy hour sponsored by Yahoo! at Gordon Biersch Brewery. Immediately following the conference, you are invited for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and conversation with developers and product managers at Yahoo! Local, Yahoo! Maps, Flickr, and more.

Our Sponsors Know Where to Find the Best and Brightest Where would we be without our sponsors? Thanks to Microsoft, Google, Autodesk, ESRI, GlobeXplorer, MapQuest, MetaCarta, Skyhook Wireless/Loki, Skyline, Talent Information Systems, Telcontar, and Yahoo! for making Where 2.0 a success.

Everything happens somewhere. Be there when it happens at Where 2.0, June 13-14, 2006 at the Fairmont Hotel San Jose. http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/47/register.html