Third Annual Web 2.0 Conference to Address 'Disruption and Opportunity' on the Web

O'Reilly Media, Inc. and CMP Media today jointly unveiled the list of preliminary participants and topics for the third annual Web 2.0 Conference. Web 2.0 has become the gathering place for business leaders of the new Web, bringing together a community of innovators to discuss and debate the most important issues and strategies driving the Internet economy. This year's theme is "Disruption and Opportunity," focusing on the services, applications, businesses, and models that are reshaping the business landscape and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs who understand the power of the Internet. The Web 2.0 Conference takes place November 7-9, 2006 in San Francisco.

While the Web has become a robust platform with countless innovations driving its ongoing development, widespread disruptions in traditional business models are well underway. "The telcos feel under siege from VoIP and bandwidth hungry content companies," notes conference chair John Battelle. "Entertainment and publishing companies are struggling with consumer-driven media and the attention economy. And the IT giants are in a battle for their lives with the 'give it away free and monetize it with ads' model of Yahoo! and Google. But within the chaos of disruption lie the seeds of opportunity. This year's Web 2.0 Conference examines how the startups and financiers are tending those seeds, and will also highlight how the incumbents -- from the newly constituted AT&T to the venerable Microsoft -- are taking advantage of the disruption."

The Web 2.0 Conference is known for its interactive format stressing audience interaction and participation. Through incisive plenary sessions, cut-through-the-hype onstage conversations, rapid-fire "high order bits" and "show me" presentations and in-depth workshops, visionaries and executives from platform businesses will present their unique perspective on the Web's future-in-flux. Confirmed speakers include:

  -- John Battelle, Chairman and Publisher, Federated Media Publishing
  -- Jeffrey P. Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon
  -- Beth Comstock, President, NBC Universal Digital Media and Market
     Development
  -- Chad Hurley, CEO and Founder, YouTube
  -- Eric from The Kleptones
  -- Blake Krikorian, CEO, Sling Media
  -- Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products and User Experience,
     Google, Inc.
  -- Roger McNamee, Managing Director, Elevation Partners
  -- Mary Meeker, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
  -- Jonathan F. Miller, Chairman and CEO, AOL
  -- Tim O'Reilly, Founder and CEO, O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  -- Kevin Rose, Founder and Chief Architect, digg
  -- Toni Schneider, CEO, Automattic, Inc.
  -- Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Chairman, The New York Times Company
  -- Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook

More participants will be announced as the program takes shape over the coming months.

The Web 2.0 Conference focuses on emerging business and technology developments that utilize the Web as a platform and defines how the Web will drive business in the future. What began as a focused gathering on the implications of the Web becoming a platform has transformed into an industry event focused on the latest Internet innovations that are redefining the way companies do business and how people live. Sample topics to be addressed at the conference include:

  -- Defining Web 3.0: What's Next
  -- Collision of the Titans: Publishers v. Platforms
  -- Collective Intelligence or the Madness of Crowds?
  -- What Might Go Wrong in Web 2.0?
  -- Is the IPO Culture Over?
  -- The Tiered Internet: A Debate
  -- Web 2.0 in China
  -- Disrupting the Disruptors: Incumbents Strike Back
  -- Privacy and Trust: Who Owns Your Data?

This year's conference will also feature the Launch Pad event, which debuted last year to enthusiastic reviews. Launch Pad showcases a select group of start-ups offering a promising new business model or innovative technology -- or both. Sixty entries vied for inclusion last year; only thirteen made the cut. This year's competition for Launch Pad inclusion promises to be even fiercer.

The Web 2.0 Conference connects the leaders and technologists opening the Web's business opportunities. Conference attendance is limited to maintain an intimate setting and foster dialogue among all participants. General attendee registration for the Web 2.0 Conference is by invitation only; requests for invitations are now being accepted. Media credentials will also be extended by invitation only.

Only the Web 2.0 Conference brings the intelligence, innovation, and leadership of the internet industry together. The conference is produced in partnership with O'Reilly Media, Inc. and CMP Media, and is moderated by John Battelle, Program Chair, and O'Reilly CEO Tim O'Reilly.

  Additional Resources:

  For complete conference details, visit:
   http://web2con.com/

For information on sponsorship and Launch Pad opportunities at O'Reilly conferences, contact Amber Rattu: amber.rattu@cmp.com or 415-905-2647

For news articles, blogs, announcements, and photos (available for use with attribution) from the 2005 Web 2.0 Conference, see:

   http://www.oreillynet.com/where2005/

  About CMP Media (www.cmp.com)

CMP Media is a marketing solutions company serving the technology, healthcare and lifestyles industries. Through its market-leading portfolio of trusted information brands, CMP Media has earned the confidence of more professionals and enthusiasts in these fields than any other media company. As a result, CMP is the premier provider of access, insight and actionable programs designed to connect sellers and buyers in each of these industries in ways that yield superior return on investment. CMP Media is a subsidiary of United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion.

About O'Reilly

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SOURCE: CMP Media

CONTACT: Ben Stricker of CMP Media, +1-415-905-2464, or
bstricker@cmp.com; or Suzanne Axtell of O'Reilly Media, Inc., +1-707-827-7114,
or suzanne@oreilly.com

Web site: http://www.oreilly.com/

Web site: http://www.cmp.com/