Facebook developers head to the garage

A range of software developers, businesses and tech-savvy types will meet in Melbourne this afternoon for a conference on exploiting the potential of online social networking site Facebook.

It is only the second Facebook Garage – calling it a conference implies something altogether too staid and conventional – to take place in Australia, but according to organiser Craig Hodges interest in the site is exploding.

“Facebook is really at a tipping point at the moment – there is enormous commercial interest and venture capital waiting in the wings,” Hodges says. “We’ve expect a broad cross section of people from the developer community and representatives from people across the business sector, from BP and NAB through to ad agencies.”

Speakers at the Garage will talk about the latest demographic information on the Facebook community, how businesses can use the network and how developers can make money from the applications they’ve developed.

One of the speakers will be David Eedle, the former Arts Hub boss who is now working on his latest start-up, collectzing.com

He says businesses and developers alike are trying to come up with ways to tap into the new demographic Facebook is capturing.

“I don’t think anyone is doing it properly yet, it’s all so new. And if you can come up with a magic formula you could make it big very quickly, so people are just now thinking about how to create viable products and help people connect into services,” Eedle says.

The Facebook Garage is being held this afternoon from 2pm to 5pm at The Function Space at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne.