5 Killer Sessions You Don’t Want to Miss at the 2WAY Summit

5 sessions you don’t want to miss: Calacanis vs. Denton, danah boyd on the impact of teen sexting, W3C CEO on open platforms, mobile payments panel, a behind-the-scenes look at The Onion.

Our biggest event yet, the two-day 2WAY Summit in New York City on 13-14 June, is a little over two weeks away. The event program includes a high quality lineup of speakers on Day 1 and a range of presentations and breakout sessions on Day 2. In this post I’ll highlight five sessions that I’m especially looking forward to. If you want to see any of these great sessions, be sure to snap up a ticket (see pricing levels at the bottom of this post).

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1. Jason Calacanis & Nick Denton: The Gentleman’s Throwdown (day 1)

This was the first session we confirmed when we began planning for the 2WAY Summit and it’s still the one I’m most looking forward to! These two distinguished gentlemen have been huge influences on me, as I’ve built up ReadWriteWeb over the years.

Nick Denton is founder and CEO of one of the most successful independent online media businesses of this era, Gawker Media. Jason Calacanis was the founder of Silicon Alley Reporter magazine, one of the leading online tech news publications of the Dot Com era. He then created one of the first blog networks, Weblogs, Inc., which he sold to AOL in 2005. He now runs Mahalo. The two new media titans have had a long-standing rivalry, so this "gentleman’s throwdown" is not to be missed!

2. Teen Sexting and its Impact on Tech Companies (day 1)

danah boyd is the most insightful and thoughtful researcher of social media that I know of. Her research about the social implications of technology have been required reading for me for years. These days danah is a Senior Researcher at Microsoft Research, as well as a Visiting Researcher at Harvard University’s Law School.

One of the things I admire about danah is the originality of her research and this session at the 2WAY Summit is no exception. In this presentation, danah will explore the ramifications of "what happens when teens begin sharing sexualized images with their friends on your platform." It’s something that not only tech companies need to consider, but those of us who are parents too.

3. How W3C’s Open Web Platform is Transforming Industries (day 2)

A tech event is not truly Getting Its Geek On unless the W3C, the Web’s government, is present. So we’re honored to present Dr. Jeffrey Jaffe, the Chief Executive Officer of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Dr. Jaffe will discuss a topic near and dear to my own nerdy heart: the Internet of Things.

Specifically, he will discuss how "W3C’s Open Web Platform, with HTML5 as a cornerstone, is emerging as the platform of choice for the delivery of services and the development of rich applications across a broad set of industries, including mobile, television, publishing, and advertising."

4. Mobile Payments, NFC and Your Future Wallet (day 2)

A 2011 event about web technology wouldn’t be complete without a number of mobile-focused sessions. We more than have you covered on that front. This particular session is one that I’m looking forward to, because NFC (Near Field Communication) is one of the most anticipated new features of the next version of the iPhone. If you’ve been following our own Sarah Perez’s NFC in 2011 series, you’ll know that NFC enables mobile commerce – which is one of the most exciting areas of innovation currently.

This panel offers a look into the near future of mobile commerce. It features executives from MasterCard, Rovio, Intuit, and Qualcomm and will be moderated by Jessi Hempel from Fortune Magazine.

5. Behind The Scenes At America’s Finest News Source: Your One True Chance At Enlightenment (day 2)

There is one news publication, other than ReadWriteWeb of course, that I cannot go a day without checking its headlines. No, not the New York Times. Not Washington Post. Certainly not The Daily. I’m talking about The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.

This session features no fewer than 5 Onion staff, who will present a behind-the-scenes look at how The Onion operates:

"A mix of Onion representatives from the newspaper, the tv shows, and the digital team discuss the day-to-day operations that go into creating the notoriously irreverent material, satire’s place in our culture, and much, much more. From technology infrastructure, to social media strategy, to content process, this session provides a rare opportunity to access The Onion’s digital and creative reps together on one stage."

That’s Just a Taster…

We have many other fascinating presentations and sessions at the ReadWriteWeb 2WAY Summit, including by VC Fred Wilson, Andy Carvin from NPR, Emily Bell from Columbia School of Journalism, Mike McCue from Flipboard, JP Rangaswami from Salesforce.com, and many more.

I look forward to seeing you there!

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