Attending Mobile World Congress 2012 in Barcelona is an ideal way to show off your new business product or capabilities in the mobile industry field. Staying in our Barcelona apartments while participating in the event lets you:
- Invite new industry contacts back to your shortstay apartment so you can continue networking,
- Deliver presentations in a comfortable space, or
- Host a few new contacts to build rapport with your new colleagues.
Of course, our apartments are also ideal if you are looking for a space to unwind properly after each day. Where a hotel can quickly feel cramped, your stay in one of our Barcelona apartments near Fira de Barcelona lets you recharge your batteries for the next day. You will have access to wifi, a DVD/TV, and both full kitchen and bathroom. If you are sharing with a business colleague, it also works out cheaper per person than a hotel alternative.
If you are a small mobile business or independent apps developer, you can even build a specific app just for Mobile World Congress. What better way to show your skills than by building a tool that delegates can use while they attend?
We have asked participants of previous years what would be useful for them when attending a conference event like Mobile World Congress 2012.
You can use our research to build a mobile app tool for delegates at MWC 2012!
Overall, there were three types of tools that participants said would be useful to use throughout the Mobile World Congress event:
Following exhibitors and their news announcements at Mobile World Congress 2012
In previous years, the official GSMA MWC app has been an essential download for everyone attending. However, given the major sponsors of the event, the app has tended to be focused on the telecommunications networks and the sharing of their perspectives on the event rather than being a real tool you can use to manage your own time and networking. Mobile business delegates focused on sales – like Alfons from Veliq who attended Mobile World Congress 2011 – wants to see a better MWC exhibitors guide app.
He also nominated a news app to assist delegates keep up with industry launches and announcements. This need not be overly complex. A budding entrepreneur could even find a way to utilize existing twitter hashtags for the event – #mwc2012, #mwc12, #mobileworldcongress and #welovemwc to find a way to filter these streams, add value and offer a unique product to delegates.
Messaging delegates at Mobile World Congress 2012
Award winning mobile executive and business leader Julia Dimambro suggested a messenger type of app specifically linked to your MWC contact list. While everyone makes business meeting plans beforehand, these invariably change at the last minute with everyone shuffling their plans about to take advantage of a new networking opportunity, or with the sudden realization that teleportation hasn’t been invented yet and they actually do need to allow time for physically moving from one location to another, even when the meetings are scheduled back-to-back.
“Something that linked up with your MWC network account, so that you have all your meeting contacts logged and can message them for free throughout the day whilst you’re running around the show,” suggests Julia.
A meeting location scouter app for around Mobile World Congress 2012
While delegates we interviewed universally wanted more help and convenience with an app that helps them locate nearby food, shopping, and good coffee, it is the opportunity to use surrounding venues as meeting spaces that stood out as having the most potential for leveraging into an app tool. Given she has been attending for 10 years, it is no wonder that Julia again is able to share some insights: “Something that is lacking EVERY year is a good source of nice, comfy (preferably sponsored) bars and café areas where you can meet people. I wouldn’t even mind paying a bit extra to gain ‘membership’ to these areas for the 4 days, just so you know it won’t be over-crowded and you won’t have to queue 30 minutes to get a coffee for a meeting that you have 40 minutes allocated to. A nice app would tell you where these areas are located and, if it’s really smart, monitor which ones are full, or have plenty of seating left, additional facilities (i.e. food, drink, toilets, etc).”
So there you have it! We hope these ideas inspire you to build a mobile app tool specifically for Mobile World Congress 2012 delegates. If you are planning to follow this advice, please let us know when you make your Barcelona apartments booking and we will assist you with more detailed information about surrounding venues and physical locations. Use the comments below to share your ideas about mobile apps for MWC 2012 or to alert readers to the mobile apps you have built for the event.