[Web4lib] VALA2010 Announces More Conference Details

[VALA Executive Officer]

  ----Apologies for cross-postings----

VALA is pleased to advise that full details of the inaugural VALAtech
Boot Camp will be available on our Website on Monday 7 December,
together with a link to enable registered delegates to apply for a free
place in the session(s) of their choice.

Already announced has been the OCLC API Mashathon, on Monday 8 February
2010. We are very pleased indeed to be able to make the following
announcement.

Please feel free to pass it on!

THOMSON REUTERS' TOM TAGUE JOINS VALA CONFERENCE LINE-UP
 IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

OpenCalais Initiative Lead to Share Insights and Perspectives
 on Emerging 'Web 3.0' Trends

VALA is delighted to welcome Thomas Tague, OpenCalais Initiative lead
from Thomson Reuters, to the VALA2010
conference(www.vala.org.au/conf2010.htm).

"I am extremely pleased to join the impressive roster of speakers at the
VALA conference this year," said Thomas Tague, OpenCalais Initiative
lead, Thomson Reuters.  "Some of our earliest adopters have been based
in Australia, including the pioneering Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, and
we look forward to meeting face-to-face with the region's top content
experts to exchange insights and ideas on building success in tomorrow's
content landscape."

OpenCalais is the fastest way to tag the people, places, companies,
facts and events in content.  Found at OpenCalais.com, the free service
makes it easy to streamline editorial processes, enhance the value of
content and drive user engagement.

§       Tuesday, 9 February, 2:05 - 3:45 p.m., Boot Camp: OpenCalais
Workshop:
OpenCalais Initiative lead, Thomas Tague will hold a workshop during
VALA's first Boot Camp, sharing the top 10 ways to add value to content
with the free OpenCalais service.

§       Wednesday, 10 February, 3:15 - 4:40 p.m., 'Office Hours' in
Thomson Reuters booth (#59 & 60): 
Tom will be available to answer questions on how OpenCalais can help you
streamline content operations and enhance the value of your content.

§       Wednesday, 10 February, 4:40 - 5:40 p.m., Top Trends Panel: 
Tom will join the discussion of the rapidly evolving new content
economy, including innovations in the Semantic Web and the dialogue
between content and users in next-generation information portals.

§       Thursday, 11 February, 1:45 - 2:15 p.m. 'Next up? The Linked
Content Economy': 
Tom will share insights on the emerging media landscape - and the
rapidly evolving ecosystem of open data assets - based on more than two
years spent meeting with publishers, content curators and entrepreneurs
in the 'Web 3.0' space.

OpenCalais (www.opencalais.com) is a free Semantic Web service from
Thomson Reuters. OpenCalais used natural language processing (NLP) and
text analytics to analyse content, finding the entities, facts and
events it contains. Used by publishers such as The New Republic, Al
Jazeera, CBS Interactive / CNET, and the Huffington Post, OpenCalais
allows content providers to build richer and more engaging content.

About Thomas (Tom) Tague:
Tom Tague leads the Thomson Reuters OpenCalais initiative and overseas
the developer community at www.opencalais.com.  He is an internationally
recognised expert and keynote speaker on top trends in the semantic web,
and is a regular on Paul Miller's Semantic Web Gang
(http://cloudofdata.com/category/podcast/).

About the OpenCalais Initiative:
The OpenCalais initiative supports the interoperability of content and
advances Thomson Reuters mission to deliver intelligent information by
connecting all the world's business-relevant content. It offers free
metadata generation services, developer tools and an automatic
connection to the Linked Data cloud.  The free OpenCalais service and
open API makes it easy to automate content operations, enhance content,
increase audience engagement and extend distribution across the content
ecosystem. Visit OpenCalais.com. With headquarters in New York and major
operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more
than 50,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. For more
information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com


Alyson Kosina
Executive Officer
VALA - Libraries, Technology and the Future Inc.
Reg No A0011933K  ABN 75 344 574 577
P.O. Box 509
Mooroolbark VIC  3138
Phone: (03) 9725 2725  Fax: (03) 8625 0079
Email: vala at vala.org.au