Social Networks Explored for Business and Tech Users

Sebastopol, CA--Following its tremendous success in California the past year, the O'Reilly Graphing Social Patterns (GSP) conference debuts on the East coast this summer. GSP East occurs June 9 through 11 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Washington, D.C. Registration has opened for this two-tracked conference covering business, marketing, and advertising opportunities around popular social networks, as well as the technology and applications for the new platforms.

Program chair Dave McClure says, "If you're a business leader, social networks appear to be the most remarkable viral method for acquiring new users quickly. The breakout growth of a number of Facebook apps in the past year, several that topped a million installs in just a few weeks or sometimes days, demonstrated that integrating social network connection data into traditional software applications enables astonishing levels and rates of customer acquisition."

Describing GSP East's allure for developers, McClure continues, "If you're a web developer, these are most certainly the best of times. With the groundbreaking launch of Facebook Platform last year, and the subsequent emergence of multiple new open social platforms this year, including MySpace, Bebo, and LinkedIn, we are experiencing a Geek Renaissance the likes of which the software community has never before seen. This moment offers amazing platform innovation opportunities. In less than a month an independent developer can create and launch an app that acquires a million users."

GSP East tutorials, sessions, and keynotes exploring social networks from a business and marketing perspective include:

-"Overview of MySpace and Facebook Platforms"
-"Distributed Communication: Widgets and Feeds"
-"Social Advertising and App-vertising"
-"Social Networks for Mobile Devices"
-"Privacy Management for Social Networks"
-"The Zen of Poke: Social Network Ethics and Etiquette"

The sessions dedicated to app development and technical strategy include:

- "Overview of the Google Social Graph API"
-" Social App Development: Elements of Style"
- "Intro to OpenSocial Apps and Containers"
-"Viral Strategy and Engineering the Viral Loop"
-"Driving Fanatic User Engagement and Retention"
-"Business Models, Ad Networks, and Monetization"

Lance Tokuda of RockYou, Justin Smith of Watercolor, Nick O'Neill of Social Times, and Dave McClure have joined the roster of featured speakers.

For complete conference information, visit:
http://conferences.oreilly.com/gspeast

Early registration ends April 21. To register now, visit: https://en.oreilly.com/gspeast2008/public/register

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To read articles and blogs about GSP East 2008, visit: http://en.oreilly.com/gspwest2008/public/content/news-coverage

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