O'Reilly Where 2.0: The Future of Mapping and Local Search

For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Suzanne Axtell (707) 827-7114 or suzanne@oreilly.com

O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference: The Future of Mapping and Local Search

Sebastopol, CA--There's a new world of technology taking shape, moving the
computing ecosystem to higher ground: geospatial. Pioneered by grassroots
developers, startup projects, and innovative mash-ups, these new mapping
and location-related tools and services are promising both disruptions and
opportunities. To explore this technology frontier, O'Reilly Media is
planning the second Where 2.0 Conference, happening June 13-14 at the
Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California. The preliminary program has just
been unveiled; the rest of the program will be announced in waves in the
coming weeks.

Once the domain of military and government departments and their
suppliers, geospatial tools and apps have broken into the everyday
consumer market. "Between open platforms like Google Maps and open source
software like MapServer, any developer can now add location to their
applications" observes Where 2.0 program chair Nathan Torkington. "Since
Google Maps released their mapping API, thousands of developers have built
public applications on top of it, Yahoo! and Microsoft released their own
mapping platforms, each with distinguishing features (geocoding from
Yahoo!, 45-degree aerial photography from Microsoft), and the race is on.

"Open source has a role to play in the opening up of geospatial,"
continues Torkington. "By providing a low barrier to entry and a minimum
set of features, they draw in new developers as they raise the bar for
commercial offerings. At Where 2.0, we'll look at some of the big names
and new players in open source geospatial technology such as MapServer and
GDAL, and show what they make possible. We'll be unveiling the latest APIs
that bring GIS tools to the masses. You'll see startups, art projects,
mash-ups, open source, and more on show at our special hands-on evening
event, the Where Fair."

The format for Where 2.0 will be similar to last year's--a unique series
of rapid-fire plenary presentations laced with ample time for the informal
"hallway track" where attendees can engage in serious schmoozing.
Presentations will be made by the likes of Mike Liebhold (Institute for
the Future), Perry Evans (LocalMatters), Felix Peterson (Plazes), Stewart
Butterfield (Flickr/Yahoo! Inc.), Steve Lombardi (Microsoft), Di-Ann Eisnor
(Platial), and Schuyler Erle (MetaCarta), among many others.  The
conference will also feature intriguing products from Where 2.0 sponsors,
including Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, MapQuest, and Telcontar.

Where 2.0 features:
-New mash-ups built on the web platforms from Yahoo!, Google, and
 Microsoft
-Security issues, from privacy to spam and national security
-Case studies of businesses built around map mash-ups
-How to build and nurture a community of people volunteering information
 that will make a business better
-Web-based mapping is just the start--what other geospatial barriers need
 to come down?
-Use of mash-up technology within businesses to map and analyze location
 information for fun and profit
-Startups built on the new geospatial platforms, such as Platial
-Grassroots location sensors: homebuilt, hobbyist, and hardware hacked

O'Reilly conferences are known for bringing together seemingly disparate
communities to debate their differences and find common ground to move
technology forward. Where 2.0 provides one of the only opportunities for
the traditional mapping/geospatial community to meet up face to face with
the new generation of developers and alpha geeks who are creating
innovative location-aware applications with the potential for widespread
adoption. Join the developers, innovators, and business people behind the
new era of geospatial software and get your bearings for the future at
Where 2.0.

O'Reilly conferences include: ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology
Conference; OSCON, the O'Reilly Open Source Convention; the O'Reilly
European Open Source Convention (EuroOSCON); the MySQL Users Conference,
co-presented with MySQL AB; ETel, the O'Reilly Emerging Telephony
Conference; and Web 2.0 (co-hosted by Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, and
co-produced with CMP Media). O'Reilly conferences bring together
forward-thinking business and technology leaders, shaping ideas and
influencing industries around the globe. For over 25 years, O'Reilly has
facilitated the adoption of new and important technologies by the
enterprise, putting emerging technologies on the map.

Additional Resources:

For complete conference details, visit:
http://conferences.oreilly.com/where

To suggest a speaker or topic, or nominate a project for the Where Fair,
contact Nathan Torkington at gnat@oreilly.com

Information on attendee registration, including discounts and early
registration pricing (in effect until April 24), can be found at:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/47/register.html

For information on exhibition and sponsorship opportunities at O'Reilly
conferences, contact Andrew Calvo at (707) 827-7176, or
andrewc@oreilly.com

To become a media sponsor, contact Yvonne Romaine at (707) 827-7198, or
yromaine@oreilly.com

For news articles, blogs, announcements, and photos (available for use
with attribution) from the 2005 Where 2.0 conference, see:
http://www.oreillynet.com/where2005/


Upcoming O'Reilly conferences (http://conferences.oreilly.com/):
-MySQL Users Conference, April 24-27 in Santa Clara, California
-O'Reilly Open Source Convention, July 24-28 in Portland, Oregon
-O'Reilly European Open Source Convention, September 18-21 in Brussels,
 Belgium


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