Hello from sunny San Francisco. I’m very fortunate to be attending the lively Web 2.0 Expo at the Moscone Center. I attended Web 2.0 Expo in 2008, as well. For kicks, you can check out some of my coverage here, here, and here. I can tell based on the content thus far that a few things have changed over the course of the year. For one, the content is very social-oriented. Not surprisingly Twitter and other social networking talk has snuck itself into the majority of sessions. Vendors on the show floor seem to be offering collaborative suites and platforms rather than emerging tools like widgets and wikis (as seemed the case in ’08.) And also not a huge surprise, attendee numbers are down and there are fewer booths on the expo floor.

The keynotes are about to start and I will be copying some of my live Tweets (assuming Twitter and the Fail Whale are on my side) to supplement this post. To see a summized stream, search #w2e, or follow me @laurenmizzou.

Speakers: John Maeda of RISD, Stephen Elop of Microsoft, Amanda Koster or SalaamGarage, Michael Abbott, Palm, & Mark Carges, eBay #w2e

@TimOreilly: Google’s voice, location, and motion search (iPhone app) — this coordination is the future #w2e #timoreilly

Having a powerful (or short) name space is key. Facebook (long URL) didn’t think that through. Twitter has beenlucky –users choose it. #w2e

Tons of sensory data out there.The Web getting smarter will no longer be driven by ppl typing on keyboards. Ex: meters frm smart grids #w2e

OReilly on Obama: “History is on different course bc of someone understanding how to apply technology more effectively” #w2e

RT @sbenzur web 2.0 + world = web squared (I was wondering what people would use after web 3.0….theres my answer) #w2e

“Digital commonwealth” — as a tech community, keep that as our mission. #w2e

Now @johnmaeda on stage, president of RISD. At LGA vending machine – you can buy taxi cab receipts in between cookies & fritos. #w2e
@johnmaeda says tech is swinging toward humanity. “we want to be people again.” #w2e

@johnmaeda blogs as pres of RISD. tuesdays are “anonymous tuesdays.” Challenges old-school leadership. Org morphing to a network #w2e

RISD is a “social media campus” – post pics, texts, appears on screens thru campus #w2e

Stephen Elop of Micorosft taking stage 4 discussion with @timoreilly. Elop’s role, he says, is about helping ppl become more productive #w2e

OReilly: We arent using Office on our iPhones yet. Elop: Not yet. <Laughs> Keep watching. #w2e

RT @mediahunter Stephen Elop – from Microsoft – in conversation with Tim OReilly now #w2e #MHOT OReilly seems slightly cynical about MS.

RT @sbenzur Elop expects a free ad-supported version of office suite is coming. More feature rich than Google Docs (thus the ads) #w2e

OReilly: How do you get developers to think MS is cool again? Elop: we provide opp to provide raw compute as well as services on top. #w2e

(note: that was a rough summary of Elop’s answer.) #w2e

Elop: Innovation will come in form of user experience. Keyboard & mouse are barriers. Sensory input – lots of possibilities. #w2e

Elop says Sharept is fastest growing product in MS history. Evidence of Web 2.0 principles applied to the enterprise. #w2e

Elop: of the 500 million ppl who use Office, only 250 million pay for it. WHOA. #w2e

Elop says he tweeted today. “I dont have a lot of followers..don’t know why.” Anyone have his handle? Bet we can change that… #w2e

Ah found him @selop. Guess by “couple of tweets” he meant one post. #w2e

now on stage is Amanda Koster of @SalaamGarage

RT @Tigerbeat Photojournalist Amanda Koster » link to AMANDA KOSTER, assignment photography, commercial photography, people photography, advertising photography, seattle on » link to SalaamGarage #w2e

Michael Abbott of Palm now on stage. Why here, not CTIA? Web OS will relate to you as a developer. #w2e

Not gonna lie, having trouble listening to this talk about Web OS. This isn’t CTIA. #w2e

The bar is open. That got attention. #w2e

Mark Carges, eBay on stage. Feel bad for him. Abbott said the word “bar,” now no one can pay attention.
5 things that matter to developers:

1. Making money

2. Working on technology that’s useful to people. (eBay & PayPal have nailed growth and scalability… 25 million people sell on eBay throughout the world.)

3. Making useful technology more accessible. (Carges tells story of forgetting wallet when he took kids to In N Out. He asked if they took PayPal – Nope. Went home to PB&J. “It’s not a happy story,” he said.)

4. Technology that adapts to your life. (one day, your phone = your wallet)

5. Open platforms.

Thanks for reading and bearing with my social media approach to reporting. Look out for cleaner coverage on destinationCRM.com. I’m off to grab a beer courtesy of Palm. Cheers!