I’ve been working with the VLAB team to pull together what I think will be an excellent event on OpenSocial and why developers should consider a multi-platform strategy for their applications. More details below – you can register here if you want to go.
Shaking the Money Tree of Multi-Platform Social Networks
Why Pursue a Multi-platform social network strategy? Find Out the Pros and Cons.
Event Date: Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 6:00pm
Moderator
Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst
Forrester Research & Blogger of www.web-strategist.com
Panelists:
• Kevin Marks, Developer Advocate, OpenSocial
• Keith Rabois, Vice President Business Strategy, Slide
• Steve Cohen, Head of Platform, Bebo
• Ken Gullicksen, Managing Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures
Event Description:
Since Facebook launched an open API last summer, it has benefited by seeing a tsunami of more than 15,000 applications created to run on its platform. In November, Google followed suit by introducing its OpenSocial API, which offers participating developers a way to create an application that can run across multiple social networking platforms. Both are compelling approaches, and developers are currently at a crossroads as they decide which of these two approaches to choose and to commit resources for their company’s long-term direction and strategy.
The panel will examine the viability of the multi-platform strategy for social apps, with an emphasis on exploring the revenue side of the equation. Panelists will share their insights across a spectrum of important issues, including: development, deployment, distribution and promotion of the application. Lastly, the panel will discuss how the advertising options shake out on both platforms.
Our forum takes a critical eye from the entrepreneur’s perspective to examine unfolding opportunities offered by major social networking platforms, specifically OpenSocial and Facebook.