June 2011
The Call for Papers opens today for GSMA Mobile World Congress 2012 and ends at 23:59 GMT on 25 August 2011. The theme for the upcoming MWC is Redefining Mobile. This theme reflects a shift in the industry - mobile is no longer limited to communications, it is a force transforming our world in an unprecedented way.
Building on this theme, the conference programme will include topics that demonstrate the diversity of mobile. This year, MWC will feature four full days of conference programming with track sessions added throughout the week. Areas of focus for this year's programme include:
- Advanced Services for Developing Markets
- Advertising
- Applications
- BRICSA
- Cloud
- Converged Networks
- Devices
- Embedded Mobile
- Mobile Broadband
- Mobile Health
- Mobile Money
- Network Capacity
- Next-Generation Networks
- Operating Systems and Alternative Development Platforms
- Security
- Social Networking
- Video
Beginning with a shortlist of more than 150 topics, the GSMA will narrow the focus down to 20 - 30 key topics after the Call for Papers, with all members of the wireless value chain invited to contribute in-depth insight and the latest examples of best practice from around the world. The team looks for topics that are thought-provoking and offer a fresh take or a forward-looking message.
While it can often feel as though network operators and handset manufacturers dominate the keynote schedule, smaller players who can offer presentations on innovative technologies or disruptive business models, backed by customer references and case studies, can often secure a speakership on this prestigious conference agenda.
To level the playing field, the GSMA is introducing a new step in the application process this year called Research Open Days. These meetings, which take place throughout the summer, provide companies with an opportunity to meet the GSMA’s research team and present a topic for consideration.
For a more complete guide to all of the PR and marketing opportunities available before and during Mobile World Congress, download our free ebook Blueprint for Barcelona.
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event,
marketing,
Mobile,
Mobile World Congress,
public relations,
Tradeshow Tips
Posted by Annie Klein on June 29, 2011 at 7:09 AM
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It may feel like you’ve only just recovered from the 2011 Mobile World Congress but key dates – such as the call for papers, which opens this week – are already appearing quickly on the horizon for next year’s conference.
Organised by the GSMA, Mobile World Congress is a must attend event for any wireless company. With key decision-makers from the world’s leading operators, technology providers and content owners descending on Barcelona for four short days, MWC is where the industry comes together to strike deals, meet with colleagues old and new and set the agenda for the year in mobile. But with 1,400+ exhibitors hoping to secure mindshare amongst 60,000+ delegates and 3,000+ media attendees, it’s easy for smaller companies and first time attendees to get lost in the noise.
Planning early and maximising your public relations programme before, during and after the event is an absolute must. The Schwartz Communications “Blueprint for Barcelona” is designed to help you navigate the huge variety of PR and marketing opportunities at the show, and give you useful advice on strategy, as well as a timeline to help you plan ahead.
To download the 2012 Blueprint for Barcelona, please click here.
Tags:
event,
marketing,
Mobile,
Mobile World Congress,
public relations,
Tradeshow Tips
Posted by Annie Klein on June 20, 2011 at 9:33 AM
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Take a look at the billboard below. Do you think this is effective communications or not?
I took a photo of this billboard as I was driving through Connecticut. I was convinced this was one of the worst billboards I had seen in my life.
Yes, the message was simple. If you are injured, you should get Carter.
I love simplicity, and frequently point out that a simple message delivered with a 10 lbs. sledgehammer can be very effective.
But sometimes simplicity goes a bit too far.
- Carter who?
- Most importantly, how do I “Get Carter?”
There is no phone, no email, no twitter, no address, no Website. The full name is in tiny print that is tough to see as you are speeding by.
I knew who to get (but not why), but had no way of getting him.
I was pretty set on writing a fairly critical post about the billboard. But then I did what millions of people do. I Googled it. The search was simple – Injury Carter.
The results are below:
So in this case, a simple message, tied into an effective search engine marketing program – makes the billboard actually work to an extent.
Mind you, it loses folks that don’t have internet access or think to search – but it communicated very effectively in a time- and space-limited medium. One of my colleagues, Laura Kempke has written a great whitepaper on how to blend inbound marketing with communications.
What do you think?
Tags:
communications,
inbound marketing,
simplicity
Posted by Mark McClennan on June 16, 2011 at 10:28 AM
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I’ve always loved the Sinbad and Jason and Argonauts movies, especially the older stop-animations filled with all kinds of creatures. The worst? The skeletons called forth by magicians, rising out of the ground in vast numbers. They are particularly hard to kill, and force Jason (in this scene) to jump into the ocean to escape.
For several days since news broke of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner’s inappropriate tweet pic of his groin, his secret skeletons have been giving chase. After dozens of press interviews and stories, RadarOnline.com and biggovernment.com then posted more photos and exchanges. Lots of fighting, dodging and weaving, but the accusations and incidents piled up to the point where the volume and momentum of the story simply overwhelmed all efforts to diffuse it.
And Monday, Rep. Weiner’s finally gave his teary-eyed press conference. Weiner told the truth (or so it appears), admitted his faults, asked forgiveness and took the questions head on. It was sincere enough.
Of course, the whole incident(s) shouldn’t have happened and Rep. Weiner should have shown far better judgment. But since this is a blog about PR strategies, I’ll skip the morality lesson and look at how one can better navigate a public mistake. (As I recently wrote in PR Week, it’s a teaching moment. What if Weiner was your client? What if it happened to your company? What would you have done? What would you do now?)
Rep. Weiner and his advisors should have taken the playbook of fellow New Yorker David Letterman. Instead of waiting and wishing something worse happened to grab media attention, the conference and confession should have come much earlier. If you’re at fault, and you know it, you tell the truth, and you tell it quickly. That’s what David Letterman did, and without skeletons chasing him, he was able to build some trust over time and regain some of his dignity. (Of course, in the case of Letterman, there was another villain to share blame: the blackmailing producer.)
Show all the skeletons or else those secrets will keep coming out of the ground, and drive you, like Jason, right over the cliff.
Tags:
crisis communications,
PR,
PR strategies,
PR tips,
press conference
Posted by Bryan Scanlon on June 7, 2011 at 12:30 PM
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