Category: 3GSM / MWC 2009

Sunday, 15th of February and I am in the midst of the Fira to get things up and running for the Mobile World Congress. Not only physically but also virtually.

This year we are using Twitter to organize ourselves and by following the #mwc tag its fun to see what others are doing and experiencing. I noticed that while for other purposes 160 characters per SMS or Twitter message is far to short, for the current purpose it's actually too long. 160 characters are too long, that's a thing to think about in itself. When skimming through the #mwc messages on the mobile or the PC, the 100+ character "long" messages are just too difficult to read and I mostly skip them.

It's also interesting to observe the network load at the Fira. While the fixed line Internet worked quite well this morning, throughput is now quite erratic now in the afternoon. Vodafone's public 3G network on the other hand is still doing quite well. Let's see how that changes tomorrow with several thousands of people here in addition.

In case you are interested in pictures of what's going on here, have a look at Andrew Grill's Flickr Stream.

Time is flying and the 3GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is now just a mere month away. My plane tickets and hotel room are booked but there are still a couple of things to prepare and organize to make the best out of the event.

Back in December, I've re-opened the 3GSM Mobile World Congress Events Wiki for sharing  knowledge and since then a number of new users have joined and have put in the first information about on- and off-site events and evening gathering/parties. Thanks!

Interestingly enough, the first to add themselves to the list of people/organizations reporting from the event was Nokia Siemens Networks. I know they have some great internal bloggers and I look forward to see how the congress looks like from their perspective.

The Wiki also has a page for job seekers and offers, so if you are looking for people on site to help you with the organization, it's a good opportunity to offer/find help. So far there is one job seeker looking for a job as booth hostess, event organizer, or similar. She's fluent in English, French, Italian and German and has previous experience with booth management at the MWC.

So, there we go. If you want to know what's happening alongside the congress or know of something yourself, head over, take a look or add your info. You can also use the wiki to organize your own event and invite people. Have fun and see you at the congress!

Good preparation is everything, especially for the 3GSM / Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2009. I am sure there will be lots of events happening again in and around the congress/exhibition. As always it will be a bit difficult to keep track of all of them and select the interesting ones, so I re-opened the Wiki I created last year for everyone to share information about events, parties, job offers/seekers, apartment sharing, etc., etc.

It's open for everyone, no registration required for editing. If you like the idea, bookmark the site and check regularly. If you know of an event or if you are an event organizer, consider leaving a note and link on the Wiki. If you organize an event but don't want to create a web page for it feel free to create a new page on the Wiki for the details.

I already have one job seeker whom you might be able to help out:

Booth Hostess / Event Organizer

A friend of mine is looking for a job as booth hostess, event organizer, or similar during the congress. She's fluent in English, French, Italian and German. She's a proficient Internet and wireless technologies user so she'll be able to represent your company in a professional manner. In addition, she has previous experience with booth management at the Mobile World Congress from previous years. For details send me an email to gsmumts (at) gmx.de

Oh yes, and before I forget the Wiki has RSS feeds for new and updated pages which makes keeping track easier.

• 3GSMEvents.wetpaint.com
• RSS feed for new pages
• RSS feed for updated pages

If you like the idea, please spread the word on your blog, by eMail, word of mouth, etc. 🙂