Conference focuses on Social Tools for Business

Web 2.0 and the new participatory culture with Blogs, Wikis, RSS, Virtual Worlds and more

With the growing adoption of social software based on Web 2.0 by large organisations, the second Unicom Social Tools conference will focus on how to harness the benefits to address real business issues, rather than just for the novelty factor.

The event in London on 21/22 of February 2007 will show how understanding technologies such as Blogs, Wikis, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Virtual Worlds is becoming essential in todayís rapidly evolving business communications landscape.

The Unicom conference will bring together experts from industry and academia and include speakers from BBC News Interactive, Guardian Unlimited, Allen and Overy and IBM to provide real life examples of social software in action in a business environment. The focus will be on internal and external communications for the enterprise, with a strong emphasis on the practical solutions.

Web 2.0 has been defined as any web site that provides value through the actions of its users, says David Gurteen of Gurteen Knowledge, who chairs this event. Blogs, Wikis and other forms of collaborative or social tools can deliver greater involvement and transparency. Originators become real, human and influential, while the new, participatory culture gives power to users and draws them in to taking ownership of their actions and material.

The conference will also look at why games, MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) and Virtual Worlds such as SecondLife are now being investigated seriously by organisations for their corporate and commercial possibilities.

Key themes will include:

- How Blogs and Wikis change the traditional models of managing knowledge and how they can support purposeful social networks

- The use of podcasting and RSS feeds to target customers with clearly defined interests

- Why IBM and other organisations are investing time and money in Virtual Worlds

- How to plan a strategy for encouraging use of social software in business

- Protecting your legal rights and your reputation with blogging and other social media

- Case studies from those who are achieving real business success using social network tools

This is the second UNICOM conference on this topic. Organisations that attended UNICOMís first Social Tools conference in September 2006 included: Allianz Cornhill; Atkins; BDO Stoy Hayward; British Nuclear Group; BT; Ernst and Young; Highways Agency; IdeA; Leeds City Council; London Borough of Camden; London Borough of Lambeth; NHS; Norwich Union Insurance; Open University; Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; Registers of Scotland; Royal Mail; SAS Institute; Telegraph Business Club; Unilever.