Web 2.0 Expo 2008: Do You Know What’s Missing?

Can you spot what is missing from this photo?

click for larger

I’ll give you a hint, last week I covered Ad:Tech San Francisco.

The photo is of a selection of stickers which Web 2.0 Expo is handing out to all attendees as you register, the intention is to personalize your badges with the phrases and sentences that describe what you are looking for, who you hope to meet, topics you are interested in discussing while you are here in San Francisco at the Expo.

But conspicuous in its absence is advertising or more broadly revenue. Not the abstract and theoretical "business model" but actual revenues. The assumption appears to be that companies and individuals attending the Web 2.0 Expo are seeking funding, looking to hire (or be hired) and are interested in the technical aspects of the new web but are not interested in the business aspects of the new web. As one friend of mine noted when I pointed out this discrepancy (he is the CEO and founder of successful and venture backed software startup) that far too many people conflate funding with revenues, though the two are very different.

This is not to knock Web 2.0 Expo, the expo and especially related events throughout San Francisco promise a week of intensive networking opportunities. In addition to the many great firms exhibiting at the Expo, hundreds of entrepreneurs are in San Francisco from all over the world for the Expo and related events. In town this week are "missions" from Finland, the UK, and elsewhere. Not to mention the countless entrepreneurs who have flown here on their own for the week (or longer).

But having just spent the past week at Ad:tech which suffered from a degree of lack of technical expertise, of technical innovation. I think that Web 2.0 Expo shows a different lack, a lack of business emphasis and focus.

Of course, like everything in life, I see this through my own personal biases. Full disclosure: I am the founder of an advertising network. Thus, of course, I’m rather focused on the need to think deeply about the business aspects of Web 2.0 applications, and the appropriate ways in which advertising and commercial messages can participate. But even were I not making a business focused on this need, I do wonder if the attendees and companies participating in the Web 2.0 Expo are missing out an opportunity to network not just about the technical aspects of the latest innovations around Open ID, but also about ways to innovate in business models that can serve the needs of all parties – individual users, startups, and in many cases the advertisers (and related agencies and networks).

This week as I attend Web 2.0 Expo I will be talking with many people about not just the technical innovations they are seeing (and in many cases creating) but also the business approaches they are taking. I hope to also capture in later posts some of the atmosphere here in San Francisco this week. It is a chaotic, overly scheduled week we are facing, every night there are SXSW levels of parties – last night there were at least six major events, tonight another 6+ and Wednesday night there are well over a dozen different parties and evening events. And even on Thursday and Friday there are still a few additional evening events. During the day besides the conference (with some great panels and speakers), there will be the Web 2.0 Open (a barcamp like space free to all exhibit hall attendees where anyone can propose a talk), a blogger lounge, and the very full exhibit hall.

Perhaps not the best week for a company not here at the show to make any product announcements, though there are indeed many scheduled for this week.

As an entrepreneur my advice to anyone attending the show would be to take it slow. To indeed take a walk through the exhibit hall and see the booths, see how potential partners and competitors present themselves. But then to find a good spot at one of the many table filled seating areas, announce your location via twitter, then settle in for a few hours of lobbyconning (sitting still and letting people come to you to stop, meet, and reconnect). Check out the Web 2.0 Open and perhaps schedule a session on a topic of interest. And get to the parties but don’t stress out too much about any that you miss – follow along on Twitter and see where people are going.

But, and this is important, remember that you and you alone are the judge of what makes a conference for you – if, like me, you are interested in conversations about Ads and Revenues, ignore the missing stickers and seek out those conversations. Take a few people out to dinner (and skip a few overly crowded parties) and have some in depth conversations.

In my next post – some advice for attendees to make the most of their time in San Francisco.

Shannon Clark is a founding partner at Nearness Function, a new ad network for the publishers of dynamic content which will launch in a few months.