Web 2.0 and social media have already had transformative effects on the press, brands, and entertainment. But perhaps the greatest impact of all will occur when the net generation changes the workplace.

Connected, empowered, resourceful, and used to working across artificial company boundaries, net genners are showing how Web 2.0 applications and services are changing where innovation comes from in companies, how work happens, and how the employee-customer conversation may create more value than senior management does.

In this session we’ll look at the fascinating case of employee-led innovation at Best Buy, the global electronics retailer with over 140,000 employees, more than half of whom are under 24 years old. They are a leading indicator of what’s to come. We’ll look at how the Best Buy employee social network, BlueShirt Nation, built to help the advertising department, went on to transform HR and IT development; how the application of idea market places spurns innovation and cuts through hierarchy; and how tapping the collective wisdom of employees and customers and making this available online helps define the future of the brand. This keynote will be given by Michele Azar, VP internet strategy at Best Buy, and Peter Hirshberg, chairman of the conversation group and longtime technology executive. It will feature videos, animations, historical clips, and music as we examine what happens when Web 2.0 goes to work.