ZoomAtlas Taking the Wiki Geo-social, Mapping Trends at Where 2.0 from March 30 to April 1

BOSTON, March 30 /PRNewswire/ -- ZoomAtlas is taking the wiki geo-social this week at Where 2.0 in San Jose from March 30 to April 1 with Mark Sherman, founder and CEO of ZoomAtlas, to present at Ignite Where on March 30 and Ward Cunningham, chairman of the Technical Advisory Board for ZoomAtlas, to present during the mapping sessions on April 1.

ZoomAtlas, is the largest, most detailed, photo-realistic geo-social wiki-mapping site that connects its users with friends, family and places from their past and present.

At Ignite Where, Sherman will take the audience on a fast-paced, PowerPoint adventure through neighborhoods, cities, countryside and more to see how the ZoomAtlas map editor and wiki work. He will also share his motivation behind the creation of ZoomAtlas, and read touching notes and stories from people looking to reconnect with long lost friends and family. Finally, Sherman will speak about the social aspects of micro-location and the trends ZoomAtlas has seen since launch in November 2009.

Cunningham, inventor of the wiki, will give a presentation titled, "Social Wiki Atlas," where he will discuss how the wiki is going geo-social networking with the unique technology behind ZoomAtlas making it all possible. In the early stages of development, ZoomAtlas shunned Google, Yahoo, MSN and TeleAtlas, building proprietary interactive proprieties into its own mapping layer. The company also owns all of its satellite imagery.

"We are excited to be a part of Where 2.0 and to be able to share our unique experiences and the trends we are seeing as the only geo-social networking site charting the past and the present," said Sherman. "One striking trend we are tracking is the significant involvement from users in the baby boomer generation, with 1975 as the average year referenced in notes posted on the site. Through ZoomAtlas, many baby boomers are reconnecting with long-lost friends and family from their past, while keeping a historical record of their personal experiences at important places in their collective lives for the generations to come in the future."

Another trend ZoomAtlas is carefully monitoring is the concerns, or lack thereof, about location-based information sharing and its impact on user privacy.

"As a geo-social networking Web site, we recognize that there are people online who access and use social networking sites with malicious intent," said Sherman. "We take privacy very seriously at ZoomAtlas. While users need to be responsible participants in protecting their privacy and understand the dangers of over sharing, we believe that social networking sites also have a responsibility to develop privacy policies that ensure consumer safety."

During the Web site development, Sherman ensured safety was integrated into the experience. When users post notes or map their Life Path, only past information is publicly available. All current location information is marked private by default.

Sharing and collaborating online with people in different locations was made possible with the invention of the wiki, which turned 15 on March 25, 2010. In celebration of the wiki's birthday and its inventor, Cunningham, ZoomAtlas is holding a digital scavenger hunt scheduled to kick off on March 30. For live details and updates about the scavenger hunt, follow ZoomAtlas on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Anyone can use ZoomAtlas anonymously, including searching, editing articles, and uploading pictures. Users who post notes, register on the site or use Facebook Connect, so that ZoomAtlas can contact users when a friend locates them or there is a reply to their note.

About ZoomAtlas

ZoomAtlas, founded by Mark Sherman in 2007, is a free, photo-realistic map that enables individuals to reconnect with friends, family and places from their past while leaving tips, stories and recommendations. Sherman is responsible for the strategic and technical direction of the company. In his 25 years of technology experience, Sherman has designed applications ranging from computer graphics systems to trading systems for financial firms. In 1996, he co-founded Microsurf, Inc., a comprehensive network of consumer Web sites including MortgageQuotes.com and MoverQuotes.com that focused on relocation and other home services, which later was sold to TMP Worldwide/Monster.com. The technical advisory board is headed by Ward Cunningham, the Chief Technology Officer of AboutUs.org. Cunningham is well known for his contributions to the developing practice of object-oriented programming; the variation called Extreme Programming, and is the creator of the world's first wiki. For more information, visit www.zoomatlas.com.

SOURCE ZoomAtlas