http://www.semantic-conference.com/
It does appear like the momentum is picking up. The brochure says the market for "semantic technologies" will be $63 Billion by year 2010. I haven't any idea what that means, I wish they could tell me where exactly the market is so that I can cash out.
"Semantics" has always been hot, so there isn't much new there. There will certainly be some progress in both exiplicit representation of semantics (using RDF/OWL/Rules) and derivation of semantics (from raw data) over the next decade, but there won't be miracles. VCs, use caution and tread carefully!
