Belated Web 2.0 Expo wrap

Much has been written about this years Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco and I will keep my contribution short. Not least as I’m kinda’ late to the party due to crazy amounts of work on at the moment.

In short this years Expo was very good! In part it probably had something to do with Andreas being there, as well as Niclas, Sami and David. But those rockstars aside, the Expo once again managed to attract the “let’s do it” crowd. So, if you are looking to convince yourself, or the person who is paying your way, to attend next year maybe these three points will help.

#1 The people
For the three days I attended I met people with ideas, and people with the guts and the willingness to get web stuff done.

At many conferences the overly skeptical and cautious simply take over. Not so at the Expo. If you are looking for an environment where people want to know what’s happening in the web world, who want to learn and be inspired and then go out and do fab things, the Expo is for you.

#2 The mix of speakers
From the business focused Charlene Li to the excellent (and my fav) Tom Coates, via the inspiring Erika Hall, to the entertaining (but a tad old skool) Adaptive Path crew to the always straight talkin’ David Hornik, and many many more.

#3 The space
Moscone West is a bright, airy and big-enough yet compact-enough space for this type of event. Good space to sit and work between sessions, easy to get to and from, easy to find people, and… it’s in the middle of San Francisco. Can’t go wrong with that. (But power outlets on the big round tables and more reliable wifi would be nice next time around!)

And, yes, the partying is another good reason. The South Park Crawl was a brilliant idea. Walking around the area, popping in to parties at Citizen Space, Six Apart et al, bumping in to people on the streets… it was just a lot of fun. The Y! Brickhouse party seem to have been most people’s favorite, and I agreez.

See you in 2009? Good!