Facebook was only seven months old when journalists and Web enthusiasts convened for the Online News Association’s first conference in Hollywood, Calif., in 2004. Blogs were still sometimes referred to as “Web logs.” Real-time social media? Barely there.

Take a look at this 2004 comment from conference attendee and college professor Barbara Iverson:

Real time blogging

I experimented with blogging during several events. As I have found previously, it is not that easy to do. You try writing and posting and end up feeling like you weren’t at the actual event.

There was no one blogging with me from outside or inside the room and that might have made for some interesting commentary.

Like a bunch of 3 year olds, there were folks who were engaging in “serial blogging” throughout the room. Maybe next year we can do more of a community realtime blog.

Of course the work suffers from no editing, too, but just in case someone wants to see how the “Uber Panel” played to one in the audience, here’s a link to my blog: current buzz and look for the November 13th entries. Because I go way back with computers and Internet, you will notice that the entries are published in several chunks to make sure if something crashed, I wouldn’t lose all.

November 15, 2004 2:46 PM

Conference culture has drastically changed. More than half of session attendees are using social media of some form–or often multiple forms–on not just laptops, but mobile devices and tablets. Some are using combinations of the three. They’re doing the very thing Anderson saw as difficult to do, and they’re doing it as if it’s a second nature.

What are the benefits of using social media during conference sessions? What are the disadvantages? Do you attend the sessions and workshops for the speakers, or has this second nature significantly shifted the focus–do you attend in real life to better participate with what others are saying online?

Join the conversation in the comments below, or tag your thoughts on Twitter with #ona10speakup.

Here’s Webb’s list of 10 tech trends from 2009, with a short status update on where they are and how companies are using them now.

#1 The Real Time Web (like Flock, Samepoint, Socialmention)
Webb’s comments:”It’s happening, it’s living, it’s breathing.” Webb pointed to Google Instant and Twitter.

#2 Lightblogging (like Tumblr, Posterous)
Webb’s comments: “Huge.” Webb pointed specifically to Tumblr, and says she plans to demo a new product related to lightblogging at today’s session. News organizations, Webb said, have dabbled in them, but are mainly sticking to “about 30,000 blogs.”

#3 Personalization (like Bing, My6Sense)
Webb’s comments: “Huge.” Webb said the trend that has emerged now is curation, particularly hyper-personal curation, including products like Flipboard and Paper.li.

#4 Interactive TV (like Verizon FiOS TV)
Webb’s comments: “Huge.” Webb pointed to the buzz around Apple TV and Google TV, particularly their ability to sync with smartphones and tablets to deliver contextual information while watching a show.

#5 Identity Recognition (like 1-800–411-GOOG, Picasa, Face.com)
Webb’s comments: “Being used a lot,” but not so much by news organizations. Webb said they should be.

#6 Augmented Reality (like Living Sasquatch, Wikitude, AcrossAir)
Webb’s comments: Webb plans to speak about this more at today’s session, highlighting AR technology. She also mentioned interesting implementation of data with location by some news organizations, such as what The Wall Street Journal is doing with tips on Foursquare.

#7 User-generated sensor data (like Vitamin D, The Office’s Emmy-nominated site)
Webb’s comments: Webb says she will highlight the “next version” of this at today’s session, including a product that allows a user to monitor their bodies — from things like heart rate to temperature — in real time. She also mentioned the rise of services that allow users to share more personal information than ever before, including recent credit card purchases. Webb said this opens up a new world and conversation for data mining.

#8 Mobilife (like the Kaywa 2D barcode reader, Starbucks’ iPhone app)
Webb’s comments: “Obvious, happening whether or not newspapers are paying attention to it.”

#9 Geolocation 3.0 (like Loopt, Navteq)
Webb’s comments: “Geofencing is the new thing.” Webb plans to demonstrate this at the session, and highlighted current problems, including her ability to use Foursquare to check-in to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear from the conference’s hotel lobby.

#10 Internet of things (like Centralen, Panchube, Glympse)
Webb’s comments: Objects are being connected. Webb plans to outline new uses of RFID technology at today’s session, and said there are ways for the technology to be used in print publications like magazines and newspapers, ones that can be used “not in a gimmicky or stupid way.”

Webb, CEO of Webbmedia Group, an international advising firm that advises various organizations on emerging technologies, is expected to reveal a list of 10 tech trends in 2010 at an 11:30 a.m. session in the Renaissance Hotel Auditorium.

UPDATE: Miss Webb’s presentation? Here are her notes.