Niall Kennedy is a web technologist in San Francisco, California specializing in the platform web, syndication, and widgets. Niall produces the annual Widget Summit conference, operates web technology analyst site Startup Search, and provides syndication strategy consulting for companies interested in expanding beyond their website.
Niall built the event management software powering Widget Summit and the large data aggregation behind Startup Search. Both sites are written in Python using the Django framework and YUI JavaScript libraries. Niall has contributes RSS, Atom, and widget code and strategy to open-source projects Python, Firefox, Movable Type, and WordPress.
Niall's past work experience includes building an RSS infohub platform for Microsoft's Windows Live Platform group and managing syndication, community, and developer APIs for blog search engine Technorati. Niall has published websites since 1990, when the Web was still a command line. In the past two decades his work has scurried down a crater on Mars, helped geeks find the cheapest Palm Pilot, indexed millions of bloggers minutes after publication, and attempt to predict the financial future.
Niall is an nationally-recognized soccer coach with a past that includes international, professional, and college programs. He has managed teams of up to 25 players, confronted international press incidents, and developed top-notch defenders.
Niall is a published photographer, an amateur foodie, and a contributor to the Web's cutting edge.