Is Video Not “Web 2.0” Anymore?

This morning I scanned the program for the upcoming Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco for sessions I should cover for NewTeeVee. It turns out there’s not a single online video panel or speech on the agenda, with the exception of a 10-minute talk by Current TV.

I usually consider online video to be a part of the greater Web 2.0 sector, especially if you consider the impact of YouTube on the key phenomena of user-generated content, the democratization of media, and the promise of a Google payday. But maybe web video is a separate category these days, as caught up as it’s gotten with the trappings of Hollywood.

I asked Web 2.0 Expo program co-chair Dave McClure to explain the absence of video from the agenda. “I don’t have a good answer other than it wasn’t any specific decision,” he said. Upon reflection, he said he was “second-guessing” whether or not the conference should have included an entire video track. “It’s kind of an interesting question whether it’s at the center of this or a different world.”

McClure said he did have a recent cancellation that I could fill with a video-oriented panel, if I had a good suggestion. Let me know if you guys have any ideas for something new and interesting (see here for who their audience is). I would want it to be significantly different, and more focused, than the panel I did there last year (not to say it wasn’t fun, but why repeat ourselves).

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