The first Web 2.0 innovations helped us make new connections on a
global scale. The rise of location-aware tools, linked with the growing
ubiquity of real-time, social, and mobile, is swinging the pendulum back
to the human and local scale.

Location has permeated our collective wisdom, informing our online
and in-person experiences, our business models, and our ability to
change the world. Location information is a force for both opportunity
and disruption, ready to explode our assumptions about the limits of the
internet operating system.

The dramatic increase in the number of products, companies, and
people affected by the expansion of location technologies has shaped the
2010 edition of Where 2.0 into three distinct, simultaneous tracks:

* Mobile Innovations

It's not just consumers who have taken to the increased access to information on their hand-held devices. Businesses, institutions, and organizations are all becoming significant players in the mobile arena along all points of the global-local axis, building multiplatform services on the cheap. Smartphones and other devices equipped with mapping apps are forcing stand-alone navigational devices—and their business model—into obsolescence.
Meanwhile, corporate behemoths are taking the "location is everywhere" mantra to new heights. Apple, with its recent geo acquisitions and overtures to Microsoft, is positioned to compete head-on with Google  for location domination.

* Mapping for Consumers

Advanced consumers now expect location to be a requisite feature, helping us to make more informed choices, from a new home purchase to following our favorite food cart. Some ignore location at their peril, but savvy companies are already leveraging location information to engage customers via new mapping data, augmented reality, and relevant data layers. Even Wall Street has started integrating geodata into its business intelligence applications.

* Local Opportunities and Models

Mass consumer adoption of mapping and location-aware technologies has inspired restaurants and Main Street merchants to use tools like foursquare and Yelp to drive new traffic. Are local search and advertising tools really making money, even in this down economy?

How will the location ecosystem shake out as the big corporate rivalries heat up? Are mind-bending tools like augmented reality and 3D mapping delivering on their potential? What unconventional ideas are connecting the dots of location with mobile, social, and real-time—the other pillars of Web 2.0—to create the next generation of killer apps, services, and devices?

Mission-critical technologies. Ideas that matter. Industry-shaping trends. Really smart people. Keep track of where the location conversation is going at the 2010 O'Reilly Where 2.0 Conference.

Schedule

    * Tuesday, March 30
      Workshops: 9:00 a.m. - 5:05 p.m.
      Registration Desk: 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

    * Wednesday, March 31
      Sessions: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
      Evening Events: 6:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
      Exhibit Hall: 10:15am - 4:30pm and 6:00pm - 7:00pm (Exhibit Hall Reception)
      Registration Desk: 7:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

    * Thursday, April 1
      Sessions: 9:00 a.m. - 5:05 p.m.
      Exhibit Hall: 10:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
      Registration Desk: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

After Hours at Where 2.0

There are lots of evening events happening each day after the conference. Check them all out and plan to mingle, meet and network while you are here