Pssst, wanna take a look at the future? Then look no further than Earl’s Court 2 (until Thursday) where the wonderful world of all things internet will be laid before you on a platter. And don’t tell your friends, they’ll all wanna come, and to be honest, only the cool kids are allowed into this one. Send them to the Business Continuity Expo instead.

Apart from a significantly higher proportion of good looking people than Infosec, just what does Internet World have on show this year I hear you ask. Well, like any popular trade show it’s usually a pretty good barometer of what’s going on in the industry – the fact that this year’s is the biggest since 2000 says a lot about the confidence, nay arrogance, returning to the show floor. The keynote theatres were again woefully too small and inadequate for the masses of people craning their necks to hear, though – I gave up on several because, quite frankly, life’s too short to be fighting for a seat in a seminar on affiliate marketing.

Lots of stuff then on marketing and how to make the most of your paid and organic campaigns, and a keynote by Forrester analyst Rebecca Jennings focussing on how to use Web 2.0 phenomena of user-generated content and social networking to your advantage. I’ve sat through roundtables covering this stuff before, but it’s still worth pointing out to firms (as many are still living in some kind of fairytale Web 1.0 world) that you are no longer solely in charge of the way your business is perceived. The customer is actually pretty much king these days, and online firms have to be a lot cleverer and a lot more subtle at working around this and finding ways to engage and interact with them.

Jennings focussed particularly on Nike, whose web site allows users to design and customise their own shoes, which the firm then cobbles together and sends out. Great idea…touching lots of Web 2.0 bases like interaction, giving the user what he/she wants, looking cool without seeming to try too hard etc. And as Jennings pointed out, by monitoring what designs their customers are choosing, the firm could even pre-empt rushes on certain types of shoes in the stores. Nike is actually taking a loss on this campaign of twenty odd Euros per order, she told us. But the publicity is of course priceless.