SDForum Search SIG: The Search for Attention - March 16th 6:30pm @ AOL - Featuring FeedBurner, Memeorandum, Root Markets & Technorati March 16, 2006

Information overload has become the typical issue of anyone using the web to access or search for nuggets of information. Both the search and the subscription paradigms lead to countless results, posts, articles that one needs to sift through to extract relevant facts. Using Attention metadata (blog subscriptions, document hyperlinks, URLs and keywords entered by a web user,?) is one of the mechanisms infrastructure providers will use to elevate relevant pieces of information ? as demonstrated today by the first generation of meme trackers (like Memeorandum, TailRank,?).

Our host for the March session of the Search SIG is one of the pioneers of the Attention movement: Steve Gillmor, as the President of the AttentionTrust and co-author of the original Attention.xml specification with Technorati?s Dave Sifry, has evangelized the growing importance of Attention metadata over the past two years. He is also the host of the famous podcasting series: Gillmor Gang, Gillmor Daily and AttentionTech.

Steve will be joined by a group of startup founders who have developed key pieces of infrastructure of the nascent Attention economy:

* Gabe Rivera, Memeorandum
* Dick Costolo, FeedBurner
* David Sifry, Technorati
* Seith Goldstein, Root Markets

The session will take place on March 16th, at AOL?s Silicon Valley Campus in the Shasta Conference Room (Building 12), 401 Ellis Street, Mountain View, CA ? map. We are very grateful to AOL for hosting us for the first time.

The now well established Search SIG Agenda format will be used:

6:30-7:00pm - Registration / Food & Drink
7:00?7:05pm - A few words about the Search SIG
7:05-8:15pm - Act I: the Search for Attention, a panel discussion with the Attention Gang
8:15-8:30pm - Intermission: Search Networking & Geeking Out
8:30-9:00pm - Act II: Product Demos from FeedBurner, Memeorandum & Technorati ? and Q&A with the audience
9:00-9:15pm - Open Mike Geek: Announcements (30 seconds of fame & fortune)
9:16pm - You Don?t Have To Go Home, But You Can?t Stay Here

Do get in touch with us (searchsig [at] gmail [dot] com) if you want to use a demo slot to launch a new search startup (one, and maybe two companies can take advantage of that).

Please pre-register on the SDForum site to speed up the sign-up at AOL, and allow us to plan pizza and beverages. Attendance is free for SDForum members, and charge is $15 for non-members.

And remember, there is a distribution list for Search SIG announcements ? if you want to join, send an email to [email protected].

Directions to the AOL Campus:

* Take the Ellis St. on 101
* Turn Right on Ellis if you are driving down from San Francisco, or Left if you driving up from San Jose
* AOL is located about 3 blocks down on the left hand side. It is a 3 story mirrored glass building.

Note: If you get to the light at Middlefield you have gone to far and need to come back a block.