SDForum Collaboration SIG: Analyzing Social Networks - Beyond Social Software March 27, 2006

http://collaborationsig.jot.com/WikiHome

This is an opportunity to learn from some of the leading experts in analyzing the social networks we are all part of to not only discover important people and relationships, but to make some accurate predictions down to the level of individuals about what they will do in the future.

Social software is used for what is sometimes called "social networking," which is plain old "networking," but on-line. Users identify themselves by attributes, their age, gender, physical location, work experience and so on. People search for others by following links through the network. But the networks have other properties as well. Some people are hubs, connected to many others, some people are bridges linking between groups and there are many other special network positions.

Knowing the network position of a Web page is what make Google so effective as a search engine. Knowing the network position of a person or an organization gives a measure of importance far beyond his or her attributes. It is possible to not just know the number of links, but the type and quality of the links as well. The patterns of relationships people have tell a great deal about them. In fact, the changes in patterns of relationships over time can allow us to predict who will fill a role in the future.

The data to do this is increasingly available. Come and hear why this works, some case histories of results and some insights into where this exciting technology will be going in the near future.

About the Presenters:

Don Steiny
Don Steiny is president of the Institute for Social Network Analysis of the Economy. He lecture and teaches about social networks all over the world, including Ars Electronica in Linz, the Kauffman Foundation, University of Oulu, Finland (where he teaches), Stanford and many other places.

Harald Katzmair
Harald Katzmair is CEO and founder of FAS.research. FAS Research, with offices in Vienna and San Francisco, is the leading firm in business consulting based on social network analysis. Its customers include Pfizer, the Austrian Council, the EU, a number of European telecommunications firms and many others.

Event Logistics

Location
Pillsbury Winthrop Office Silicon Valley
2475 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1114
Directions

Agenda
6:15 - 7:00 p.m. Registration/Networking
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Presentation

Cost
$15 at the door for non-SDForum members
No charge for SDForum members
No registration required

See Also: http://www.sdforum.org/SDForum/Templates/CalendarEvent.aspx?CID=1866&mo=3&yr=2006