Boomerang

Move over Facebook, enterprise software is about to steal your headlines. At least that was one prediction that came out of last week’s PRSA dinner at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. The theme of the evening, “What’s Hot and What’s Not in 2008” was a popular topic with PR pros and top technology reporters at the sold-out event. I couldn’t help but think that my colleagues in the room will be among the folks that will help establish these hot trends, companies, and technologies. And, who better to forecast emerging trends in the technology sector than the reporters whose job it is to separate hype from reality.

A panel of luminaries offered their perspectives on everything from Facebook overload to Google’s numerous product initiatives. The panel included the astute Victoria Murphy Barret of Forbes, the very musical Don Clark of the Wall Street Journal (his band “Off the Record” rocked the house), the very funny Jim Goldman of CNBC, the insightful Rob Hof of BusinessWeek, the omnipresent Robert Scoble of Podtech, and the rapid-firing Kara Swisher of All Things Digital.

For the most part, there seemed to be consensus that the looming US recession will have an adverse impact on technology. A few of the panelists commented that with the recession, the ever-popular advertising model that most Web 2.0 companies hang their hat on will no longer be enough to sustain them next year. Also predicted was the return to the limelight of heavyweights such as Microsoft, HP, Oracle and IBM, as consumer tech hype subsides a bit, more than likely a direct result of the recession. And when it was declared that “enterprise software will make a comeback in 2008” – the audience came alive and broke into fervent applause.

Sam Whitmore, everyone’s favorite confidant, was the dapper emcee of the evening while Ann Winblad was the composed and gracious panel moderator. A few more worthwhile panelist predictions for 2008:

Victoria: Consolidations will occur driven mostly by a dip in the stock market as companies ride it out. She also believes widgets will take off and be more ubiquitous.

Don Clark: Second Life will crumble and go away. Clean energy will be a big story next year.

Robert Scoble: He sees “live video” being a huge headliner next year and hopes that unified ID will finally take hold. He also commented that print media will get a huge boost from political advertising in 2008 but will suffer tremendously after the presidential election is over.

Jim Goldman: Yahoo will get acquired or at the very least be seen as an attractive purchase.

Rob Hof: The current technology environment will push more companies into the deadpool.

Kara: Hollywood will finally get digital and become more of a collaborator with technology companies and make entertainment more consumer friendly. She also sees online privacy and presence becoming more of a hot topic in the coming year.

Tom Foremski, an attendee at the dinner but who should have been part of the panel, offers his take on the event at SiliconValleyWatcher as does Brian Solis at Bub.blicio.us. For those of you interested in watching a video of it, our friends over at Podtech.net have captured the lively conversation.

Photo courtesy of Brian Solis - More photos from the event can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/briansolis/sets/72157603331062749/.