Salvatore Reina, Programme Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC, UK is this weeks speaker. Salv is a track keynote speaker on day one of the conference.

Day 1: Track 1 - Web 2.0 after the buzz, Innovators under the spotlight - who stayed the distance

Q: Which are the most important topics, for you personally, due to be discussed at the Online Information Conference 2008 and why?
Salv: For me it's how social tools can help businesses get the most bang for their buck as we enter more austere times. Quantifying the ROI is key where possible. The other key areas for me are both search and how social tools will affect the role of the information worker.

Q: Which tracks would you recommend to delegates attending the conference?
Salv: It would of course very much depend on what line of business you are in as to which tracks are most useful, but there are several tracks that are relevant for all. Web 2.0 - After the Buzz is a good one as it has a focus on business value and ROI. Also, Understanding Behaviours is relevant for all as it looks at Generation Y...

Q: What are you looking forward to most about participating in Online Information 2008?
Salv: First of all, it's a great opportunity to hear from a range of experts and to have a chance to discuss the latest thinking in our field. Secondly, good old fashioned web 0.0 networking! Meeting people face-to-face, sharing ideas, thoughts and creating opportunities.

Q: If you had to choose only one - which social network would you recommend to colleagues?
Salv: It would be micro-blogging. When I first saw this idea, I thought it was an irrelevance and I dismissed it. Then I started blogging internally at work and thought that the idea of mini status updates, posted to my site, could be useful. This proved true when I posted an update to say I was going on a conference. A loosely connected colleague saw this and subsequently joined me at the event as he shared an interest. I also started following others and quickly found that I had a very good sense of what key people in my network were doing.

Q: And finally, just out of interest - where are you planning to spend Christmas this year?
Salv: This year I will be at home with my family in Surrey. As well as the usual Christmas activities, we'll probably spend a bit of time wandering around the North Downs and taking in some of the winter sights in Guildford.

About Salvatore Reina
Salv has worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 12 years in a number of technology related roles. In recent years he has specialised in Knowledge Managment (KM), seeking out opportunities to maximise the business value from KM technology implementations. He currently heads up a number of programmes aimed at making it easier for PwC people to connect with each other and to find useful knowledge.
This has led him to explore the world of social media. Salv believes that social technologies provide huge potential for organisations to help their people connect with each other more effectively. He has led the development of a number of innovative products that are testing the extent to which PwC can derive benefit for important business scenarios; scenarios that include client engagements.

Salv is also at the forefront of the User Profile work currently in progress in PwC globally (the facility for people to store and access expertise, interests, networks and etc). He is keen to develop the firm's capability in this area as he sees the strong connection this has with social media and the benefit that this linkage would give.
Salv runs an internal PwC blog in which he comments on the world of social media and profiling.
Email: salvatore.reina@uk.pwc.com

For more information, or to view the conference programme in full, please visit:
www.online-information.co.uk/conference