Three guest speakers included , considered by many to be a candidate to run for governor in California. He was joined by , the political advisor credited with harnessing the Web to build 's grassroots presidential campaign back in the 2004 democratic primary, and , founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post (which publishes a lot of citizen journalism).

The group first reflected on the 2008 campaign. Trippi noted that innovations in the Web 2.0 space, particularly around social technologies and the proliferation of online video, allowed Obama to take internet-generated politicking to a whole new level than realized under Gov. Dean back in 2004, when mainly the fundraising abilities of the Web were realized.

"Back in 2003 and 2004, Facebook was just on a few college campuses," Trippi said. "All these new tools came in [since then] and changed everything."

As Trippi noted, Obama has carried Web 2.0 into his upcoming administration by launching , a website that allows users (or citizens) to interact with their new president by weighing in on issues of importance to them. A user could click on "health care," for instance, where they'll be taken to a page where they can send their ideas to the new administration.

But while Obama raised an unprecedented amount of money on the Web, and many see Web 2.0 technologies as enabling his rise to power, it also left questions as to whether a gaffe can unfairly bring down a candidate in the public discourse.