Mobile World Congress 2009, Barcelona

It is again here. The MWC 2009, the Congress of the Crisis, starts tomorrow. Today I have been in the booth as to check that everything was working correctly and I had a first impression of what was going in there. A lot of workers setting up the stands and changes in the presence of some exhibitors.
I will be in the G&D booth (Hall 8, Stand 8B65) these days and will try to meet as many people as I can and get first hand information of the industry. Forecasts say that there will be a fall in the number of visitors and also in the days of stay. Hope they are not very big and the Congress and the Exhibition keep the leading role they have in the Industry.
On the organisation, unfortunately this year was not included along the badge the four day ticket to use the public transportation system. Hope it is the only reduction in the reasonably good job that was done in the previous years and that the congress is celebrated here for some more years.

I will keep posting on the results from the MWC2009!

Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona and NFC

Last Friday, while I was going to watch a cinema movie to Gràcia, I was shocked after what I watch underground. As can be seen in the following pictures, in Universitat Underground station there is an access barrier that is activated with NFC... this has been a big surprise because I have not found any official announcement in the net, but they have installed this access barrier and also a "recharge point" near the ticketing machines...






It does not seem supported by any mobile operator, as the logos and information there was unbranded. I guess they are using Nokia 6131 NFC enabled phones that does not use the SIM card for storing the sensitive data but an "embedded chip" that is inside the handset and managed over-the-air... will continue investigating.

Mobile World Congress 2008 (II)

The Mobile World Congress ended a week ago and I have invested all this time in recovering from the 5 days work. Tough hours standing up at the booth, but also good conversations with my colleagues from around the world (Germany, Singapore, Argentina, Egypt, France...) and also with customers, partners and people passing by. These also from countries I have not yet visited: Romania, Saudi Arabia, Korea, Mexico, US... and some I have the opportunity to visit sometime in the past: UK, Netherlands, Germany, Brazil...

As can be seen the MWC is a preeminent international event. People from the Mobile industry once a year meet in Barcelona to talk with their customers, competitors, colleagues, students... and try to get some competitive advantage at the end, be it better image, more contracts, sensitive information or just more motivated stand crew.
On Monday there was a party held at "El Palauet" organized by Giesecke and Devrient. It was intended for all the staff of the Barcelona event but also for customers, partners and other G&D related people. It was a bit tiring going directly from the booth to the party and have dinner in the buffet also standing up, but the "El Bulli" catering, from the Ferran Adrià group of companies, and the musical events entertained us as well that it was a pity to had to leave so early.

The worst things of the MWC was like in the past, thefts, that were produced even inside the trade fair, and prices, quite high even for an international event like this. For the first, I saw a lot of police at the doors of the event after Tuesday, but they should be from Saturday on. Attendants to the Congress start doing the registration and taking their badges this day and so, they must be protected, because a theft becomes thousands of comments between attendants and its impact in the image of the organization is impressive. On the prices, I understand that the attendants to the MWC are mainly of the managerial levels and that they can pay 35 ? for having lunch, but would they want to pay for it if they have to take it in a tray by themselves, wait for a long queue and stand a high noise environment? I guess they will not. And less if they have a 15? alternative 100 meters walking from the venue with a good quality of food. These two things, security and prices (hotels, food and transportation) must be addressed for the next year if we want to keep this world leading event for next years.

Mobile World Congress 2008

Today I have been at the MWC trade fair. It has not yet started, it will tomorrow, but there were all the people setting up the stands for the show. It is incredible how many people comes from the other side of the world to meet here in Barcelona.
This fair is very important for Barcelona. Not every city has a world leading fair like this and so we must take care of it. Just arriving the congress I was told that a colleague was stolen his laptop and luggage. I did not see any policeman in the entrance of the event, so this is something that must be improved. The people that attends this fair is closed to the decision makers, so if we do not take care of them, the continuity of the event in the city.
Another issue is the hotel prices. It looks like some hotels have increased their rates because the high demand these days. This was one of the reasons, beside the smaller beds offer, for Cannes lose the fair. Some agreement has been achieved on this so hope the presence of the Congress in Barcelona will be assured at least until 2012.