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The Social Stack for Fun & Profit

Your session in a few words: 
A look at existing & upcoming “Social Stack” technologies (OpenID, OAuth, Activity Streams, …) and how they can be used for business maturation, market swashbuckling & lulz growth.
Date: 
September 2, 2009 - 11:20 - 12:10
Room: 
La Galerie
Track: 
Business development and strategy
Session Type: 
Lecture
Level of expertise: 
Beginner
Language: 
English

“As profits increase the margin reaches a second break-even point here, after which enterprise falls into loss.” —Terry Tate, Office Linebacker

So you've read a good article or two about the OpenID revolution in Wired Magazine, 01Net says you should OpenSocial-ize your site, Michael Arrington dissed your company in front of potential investors because you didn't offer OAuth and your grandmother has express regret re her inability to use XRDS to syndicate her identity profiles on your web service.

So you know, by name at least, the usual suspects of the so-called “Social Stack”…

  • OAuth,
  • PortableContacts,
  • ActivityStreams,
  • XRDS & XRDS-Simple,
  • OpenID,
  • OpenSocial,
  • OpenBar. (Hmm, is it just me or is it getting thirsty in here?)

But is there something behind all the buzz? Is all that hype warranted? What can the big O's do for you? Is there a man behind the curtain? And when the f**k are Sawyer & Kate gonna admit their mutual love, damnit?

You're a business man. You have pressing concerns, you think about the bottom-line. If you want to know how to lower your debt-to-equity ratio, go check with Bernie, I hear he's gonna get a good cell without too much sunshine down in Arizona. But if you want to know what are the true incentives for using those technologies and what the future may hold for your business and the Social Stack, please do come in to the session!

The lecture will follow the classical 5-act, progressive raison d'être, as introduced by Lord Byron and interpreted by Thomas Kinkade:

  1. In the Beginning, There Was Friendster
  2. Harry Potter and the Lure of the False Good Ideas
  3. Damnit, who Opened the 67th Ticket Requesting OpenID Support?
  4. ????
  5. Profit!