Guidewire Group Press Releases
BlogOn 2004 Roster of Experts Tops 35
Speakers Include Reid Hoffman, Jason McCabe Calacanis, Doc Searls, Tony Perkins, Dan Gillmor & Allen Morgan
BERKELEY, CALIF. -- June 16, 2004 — BlogOn 2004:The Business of Social Media, the first executive conference to assemble leading voices from all aspects of this rapidly evolving social phenomenon, today announced an elite roster of speakers for the July 23 event. Focusing on the business opportunities derived from the integration of blogging, social network software, RSS standards and related technology, the one-day conference is designed for business development executives, investors, media company executives, and corporate marketing professionals. Featured speakers will include such thought leaders as Reid Hoffman, founder and CEO of LinkedIn; Jason McCabe Calacanis, Chairman and co-Founder of Weblogs, Inc.; Doc Searls, co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto; Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn and the original Red Herring; Dan Gillmor, columnist and blogger at the San Jose Mercury News; and Allen Morgan, Managing Director at Mayfield and investor in Tribe.Net.
“BlogOn will provide an omnibus view of the fastest emerging segment in the history of personal computing,” said Chris Shipley, executive producer of BlogOn. “ The conference’s experienced speakers and panelists will present a balanced view of where opportunities will and will not be found. We have assembled a series of topical panels covering the most relevant issues in a highly interactive environment.”
The panel topics, and a partial list of speakers, include:
• Defining Social Media — What is social media and what is the market opportunity?
Moderated by Ross Mayfield, co-founder and CEO of SocialText, the panel will include Reid Hoffman and the San Jose Mercury News’ Dan Gillmor, author of Making the News, a book on blogging.
• Investing in Social Media — Who are the early investors and why are they jumping into this market?
Moderated by Shipley, this panel will include Allen Morgan, a Mayfield Managing Director who invested in Tribe.net, Andrew Anker, EVP, Corporate Development for Six Apart; and Martin Tobias, a venture partner with Ignition Partners.
.
• Business Transparency — How is social media affecting the way corporations speak to their customers?
Moderated by Lenn Pryor and Robert Scoble of Microsoft’s Channel 9, the panel will include Anil Dash, VP of Business Development at Six Apart.
• Social Media Transforms Corporate Communications — How can corporate public relations tap social media?
Moderated by Shel Israel, CEO of ItSeemstoMe writing and consulting services, with panelists Greg Jarboe and Jamie O’Donnell, co-Founders of SEO-PR; and Buzz Bruggeman, EVP of Activewords.
• Local Media Gets Blogged — What is the impact of blogging on local and special interest publishing?
Hosted by 5ive Group SVP Susan Mernit and discussed by Craig Newmark of Craigslist; Rich Skrenta of Topix.net; and Mark Pincus, co-Founder and CEO of Tribe.net.
• The Dark Side of Social Media — While social media offers great opportunities, barriers present real business risks.
Moderated by Technorati’s Mary Hodder, the panel includes Chris Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer of Spoke Software; Wendy Seltzer of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; danah boyd, PhD student in Information Management at the University of California, Berkeley; and Lisa Poulson of Kirtland Enterprise Group.
• Old Media Meets Social Media — How are mainstream publishing companies adopting and adapting to new social media tools?
Moderated by Mernit and Shipley, this panel will include Doc Searls, editor in chief of LinuxWorld and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto, John Roberts of CNET Networks; Bill Schreiner of AOL; and Tony Perkins, founder of AlwaysOn Network and the original Red Herring.
“Social media is fundamentally changing the interactions between publisher and audience. In fact, it is blurring the distinction between the two,” said Shipley. “As social media takes hold, relationships become the new media type, providing context and understanding for communications. BlogOn will explore this fundamental shift in interaction and usher in a new enlightened age of social media.”
A pre-conference workshop will be held on Thursday, July 22. This executive boot camp will offer professionals a hands-on understanding of the language, technology and tools of social media. Session leaders include Susan Mernit, partner at 5ive; Ross Mayfield, CEO of Socialtext; and JD Lasica, author, journalist and uber blogger. Restricted to the first 30 qualified participants, each attendee will learn how to set up a blog, RSS feed, newsreader, and social networking profile.
Registration
For more information and to register for BlogOn 2004 and/or the Executive Boot Camp, visit http://www.blogonevent.com/blogon2004/register.htm. The $495 registration fee includes access to the reception, general sessions, lunch on the 23rd, and plenty of time to network with the industry’s movers and shakers. After July 1, the registration fee increases to $550. A discounted registration fee is available to bloggers. The Boot Camp is $149 until July 1 and then $199.
BlogOn 2004 is sponsored, in part, by Knight Ridder Digital, a leader in local information and classified services on the Web, Microsoft Corp. and by Six Apart, the leading blogging platform and hosting service. For information on sponsoring BlogOn, please contact sponsors@blogonevent.com.
About Guidewire Group
Guidewire Group LLC (www.guidewiregroup.com) is a diversified media company that accelerates innovative technology into emerging markets. Founded in 2003, the company is based in San Francisco and London. Guidewire Group’s founding partners include Chris Shipley, executive producer of Network World’s IDG Executive Forums’ DEMO Conferences; Mike Sigal, a serial technology and media entrepreneur; and Frank Kelcz, best known for launching Ziff-Davis’ media properties in Europe. Guidewire Group is a strategic partner with IDG’s Network World, producing the renowned DEMO and DEMOmobile Conference programs. Shipley will continue to be host of the two events she has spearheaded since 1998.
Press Inquiries:
Contact:
Carla Thompson
MC2 Communications
972-562-0740
carla@mc2pr.net
Becky Sniffen
MC2 Communications
510-531-1710
becky@mc2pr.net
Chris Shipley Announces BlogOn 2004: The Business of Social Media
This was our announcement on BlogOn:
Chris Shipley Announces BlogOn 2004: The Business of Social Media
Conference to explore rising business opportunities in Blogging and Social Networking
BERKELEY, Calif., June 3 — Chris Shipley, prominent host and producer of the DEMO and DEMOmobile conferences, today announced BlogOn 2004: The Business of Social Media, a conference for technology executives, investors, and bloggers who wish to know more about the rapidly growing opportunities in blogging and social networking. To be held July 22-23 at the University of California Berkeley’s Haas Business School, BlogOn 2004 will feature a roster of speakers, an executive boot camp, company presentations, and a blogger’s forum. BlogOn 2004 is being produced by Guidewire Group, a new diversified media company founded by Shipley and partners Mike Sigal and Frank Kelcz.
“Blogs, social networks, RSS readers, syndication and powerful new search mechanisms are creating tremendous opportunities for new companies, new revenue streams, and new investments,” says Shipley. “But while opportunities abound, no company has prospered — yet. The evidence is strong that the day is soon coming and market leaders will be determined by those who understand this fast-emerging, unique market early on.”
BlogOn will feature a series of dialogues between prominent speakers and the attendee audience of venture capitalist and corporate investors, technology leaders, publishers and business development executives from media companies, corporate communications professionals and noted bloggers. The morning general session examines opportunities, barriers, critical market issues and case studies. Afternoon breakout sessions will introduce new companies, selected by Shipley, who are attempting to capitalize on emerging opportunities. Companies interested in presenting at BlogOn should contact presenters@blogonevent.com.
In a second afternoon track for active bloggers, the conference will explore issues critical to the blogging community including new business models and blog forms, and tools to support these new markets.
According to Shipley, “We have designed BlogOn 2004 to provide pragmatic understanding of where opportunities are likely to be found. The conference will help industry investors and executives understand the basics of the technology and its unique language; but more importantly, it will bring the Big Picture into focus, showing how social media will impact business and culture. What companies are poised to break out and which early leaders are likely to succumb to flawed business models? How will existing businesses and media be affected? Which old-line businesses are sufficiently agile to adapt to the coming sea change, and which are destined to become fossilized? How will new social media technologies drive the next-generation Web? How can you capitalize on this fundamental shift? BlogOn aims to answer all these vital questions.”
Executive Boot Camp
The conference will be preceded by a half-day boot camp designed for senior level technology, media, investors and communications professionals. Session leaders include Susan Mernit, partner at 5ive; Ross Mayfield, CEO of Socialtext; and JD Lasica, author, journalist and uber blogger. The half-day event on July 22 will provide an accelerated hands-on course on blogging and social networking. Restricted to the first 30 qualified participants, Shipley says, “This roll-up-your-sleeves workshop will put you in the know about the tools, language and technology as well as their inherent power.” Each participant will learn how to set up a blog, RSS feed, newsreader, and social networking profile. Size is limited, so register early.
Registration
For more information and to register for BlogOn 2004 and/or the Executive Boot Camp, visit http://www.blogonevent.com/blogon2004/register.htm. The $495 registration fee includes access to the reception, general sessions, lunch on the 23rd, and plenty of time to network with the industry’s movers and shakers. After July 1, the registration fee increases to $550. A discounted registration fee is available to bloggers. The Boot Camp is $149 until July 1 and then $199.
BlogOn 2004 is sponsored, in part, by Knight Ridder Digital, a leader in local information and classified services on the Web, Microsoft Corp. and by Six Apart, the leading blogging platform and hosting service. For information on sponsoring BlogOn, please contact sponsors@blogonevent.com.
About Guidewire Group
Guidewire Group LLC (www.guidewiregroup.com), is a diversified media company that accelerates innovative technology into emerging markets. Founded in 2003, the company is based in San Francisco and London. Guidewire Group’s founding partners include Chris Shipley, executive producer of Network World’s IDG Executive Forums’ DEMO Conferences; Mike Sigal, a serial technology and media entrepreneur; and Frank Kelcz, best known for launching Ziff-Davis’ media properties in Europe. Guidewire Group is a strategic partner with IDG’s Network World, producing the renowned DEMO and DEMOmobile Conference programs. Shipley will continue to be host of the two events she has spearheaded since 1998.
-END-