incuTANK: Sharing ideas and innovation.

Overall the conference was awesome! Great food, great speakers, and a concert to top it off! Zuckerberg began with lofty, almost spiritual, visions for facebook. Seeing it as a tool for people to share and actually connect on a ‘live’ (or as current and personal as any virtual network can be) level with people. It transitioned quickly to a fun, and casual keynote; even taking the time to share a recent favorite viral video that made its way around facebook. Its basically Bill O’Reilly flipping out (just when u thought u couldn’t dislike O’Reilly any more…)

Now for some beefy content, here are some highlights:

New facebook interface / profiles: Very clean. More canvas space for developers. The extra space is also in anticipation of aging baby-boomers who poor eye site joining facebook – giving fbook designers more space to work with larger fonts and buttons. There is a also a heavy focus on the news feed which combines the wall, and will also publish from external sites using Facebook Connect. I have been using the new interface for a few days and now I prefer it a lot to the original - overall feels a lot less cramped.

Application Improvement: This is huge. You will no longer need to ‘Opt-in’ for applications to view them or information that your friends on storing on them (ie. You can see what’s on your friend’s bookshelf without installing the app.) Also facebook will be embracing Applications that they believe are good based on their 10 principles (below). Rewards are given to good apps in the form of a “Verified” seal, and for even better apps they get a “Great Applications” seal. Similar to a service eBay has been offering to its API developers for a while now.

Facebook’s ‘Ten Guiding Principles” for developers

Meaningful:
Social
Useful
Expressive
Engaging

Trustworthy:
Secure
Respectful
Transparent

Well Designed:
Clean
Fast
Robust

Facebook connect: Now this is really going to change the way people interact inside and outside of facebook. It is very similar to Google’s ‘Friend Connect’ but has a lot of promise because of everyone is on facebook (the count is about 90 Million active users!) With facebook connect, developers will be able to add a simple piece of script that allows them to pull any facebook information from a user you agrees to ‘Connect’ – allowing users to bring their profile with them. Additionally it allows people to connect with other facebook friends of theirs using the same site. The coolest part is authenticated registration. Imagine signing up for a new beta site, with the registration taking only one-click. This gives websites more accurate and current profile, and gives the user simple and quick registration. A large part of Facebook connect is seamless flow to news feed. Completely at the discretion of the user people can publish from the external site to their newsfeed. Users can choose the size of the post to the news feed, from one line to a large image, or to nothing at all – lots of user control and well executed. Developers can begin working with it now, should be in a site near you in a few months.

The fun part!

After the all the networking and speakers the fun started! After eating great food and drinks all day, the open bar was opened in the evening. There was also an Octamasher set up…this thing was awesome! Eight keyboards set up each with different sounds/kits from drums to vocals, allowing people to collaborate and create music. I couldn’t get enough of this machine! The guest concert performer was ‘Thievery Corporation’. Amazing concert. The group rocked: music was on point, and the performance was busting with energy. Throughout the evening facebook provided snacks: chili cheese fries, mini tacos, and dumplings…what more could I ask for