(July 14, 2003) - Continuing its three-year tradition of tech program excellence, SYS-CON Events has ensured that one of the finest and most insightful speakers in the industry will be giving the opening keynote at its Web Services Edge 2003 (West) - International Web Services Conference & Expo, to be held in Santa Clara, CA, Sep. 30 - Oct. 2, 2003.

The opening keynote on September 30 will be given by Allan Vermeulen, CTO and vice president of Amazon.com - the world's largest online retailer - and coauthor of one of the classic texts on Java programming, The Elements of Java Style. Allan directly oversees Amazon's Platform Technologies group, which is responsible for guiding Amazon.com's technology architecture, including building and acquiring foundational components.

"Allan Vermeulen isn't someone who just talks about Web services, he is someone whose company has been implementing them at the most fundamental levels throughout Amazon's operations for most of the past two years," says Grisha Davida, president of SYS-CON Events. "We are delighted to welcome him to the faculty of what promises to be a tech program this year replete with information and insights into real-world implementations throughout the American and indeed the global business world," he adds.

"The Elements of Java Style is one of the few 'Java classics'," says Alan Williamson, Java Track chair at Web Services Edge 2003 (West). "As a champion of Java in the enterprise who has always put his deployments where his mouth is, as it were, the Conference Advisory Board is preeminently confident that every one the software developers and IT/IS managers in our audience will be interested, engaged, and inspired by whatever Al Vermeulen has to say to them."

The technical pedigree of the Web Services Edge series of Conference & Expos is well known and documented: past keynoters have included "The Father of Java," James Gosling; "The Father of Markup," Charles F. Goldfarb; and the prime mover of pioneering open-source vendor Ximian, Miguel de Icaza.

"At this year's Conference, we are endeavoring to provide delegates with as much exposure as we can to current case studies and enterprise implementations of the technologies we are showcasing," says Michael Lynch, conference manager of the Web Services Edge series.

After the Fall show, in Santa Clara, the series will enter its fourth year and return to the East coast.

"Web Services Edge 2004 (East) will be held in Boston, at the Hynes Convention Center, February 24 - 26, 2004," says Lynch. "The Hynes has proven itself to be an extremely popular venue with Expo exhibitors and Conference delegates alike," he notes.