WebProNews

IDG's content syndication conference, Syndicāte, begins today with Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google among the speakers discussion social media topics like blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds.

Six months have passed since the first Syndicāte conference in New York, and conference chair Doc Searls has noted the tremendous growth in social media in that short time frame. In a statement, Searls said syndication has rapidly changed several fields like publishing, advertising, and corporate communications.

Searls will be among the many speakers at the San Francisco conference, which runs today through December 14th. Sun Microsystems president Jonathan Schwartz and W2 Group chairman/CEO Larry Weber will deliver keynotes at the conference. Search engine competitors Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have speakers scheduled for the event as well.

The conference covers four topic tracks. The Syndicated Media Environment examines how syndication and the availability of content have affected old and new media. Syndicated Company & Product Environments touches on why content syndication brings businesses of all sizes closer to their customers.

Syndicated Technologies & Trends provides all the buzzwords any techie could want, as it features tagging, wikis, blogging, and new syndication technologies. And, Syndicated Public Relations shows how companies have taken podcasting, blogs, and RSS feeds and are using them in ways a typical press release could never accomplish.

WebProNews will provide conference updates, as publisher Rich Ord keeps track of the various hot topics and companies at Syndicāte this week.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.