24 May: Where Mobile Meets Media, Round 2

Yes, we covered this topic in Barcelona during Mobile World Congress and it's such a hot topic, we're revisiting it at our next Mobile Monday London event on 24 May 2010.

The world of traditional media is experiencing difficulty in matching declining advertising revenues with the costs associated with production. At the same time, they're also facing the problem of the increasing fragmentation of audiences. A whole new world of social media is also emerging, the revenue models for which are, to say the least, unclear. With mobile devices all around us, games devices having ability to upload, sideload and download content, e-readers, iPads, this area is growing rapidly. And with some media owners opting for a paywall, this sector is dynamic.

Please join the Digital Communications Knowledge Transfer Network (DC-KTN) and Mobile Monday London at this evening discussion that will address these issues, and in particular, the likely future role of mobile in the creation, delivery and monetisation of media.

Russell Buckley from Admob will be chairing the session again as he did such a good job last time. The panel will include Ulyssa Macmillan from the BBC, David Gibbs from Sky and Neil Johnson from Teletext. Further panellists tbc.

Venue is tbc. We'll publish details as soon as we have them but it will be central London. It is free to attend.

Agenda:

6pm - doors open for a prompt 6.30pm start.

6.30pm - welcome and introductions

6.35pm - keynote: current state of play in media and mobile

6.50pm - panel session

8.00pm – networking and drinks

9.30pm – close

Places are limited, but if you’d like to come, please register and RSVP at http://momolo.org

*Due to the high number of no-shows, we are not always able to guarantee you a seat - especially if you're late!

*Please note that all registration information from this event only will be shared with DC-KTN

Technorati Tags: mobile media,events,teletext,sky,bbc

About Mobile Monday London:

Mobile Monday London is a grass roots community for mobile industry professionals and their colleagues in media, marketing and web 2.0 who have an interest in mobile. It's run by Daniel Appelquist, Jo Rabin, Alex Craxton and Helen Keegan, supported by a wonderful team of volunteers and generous sponsors.

Join our free Yahoo! email discussion group to keep up to date with what’s going on and discuss what’s hot and what’s not in the world of mobile.

We also have an events and community website (it’s work in progress – bear with us) and a blog which we do our best to keep updated.

Join our facebook group or our Mobile Monday London linkedin group or have a look at our photos on flickr.

Follow us on twitter too.

Technorati Tags: mobile media,mobile monday,momolo,mobile monday london,events,sky,bbc,teletext

160 Characters brings you the Global Messaging Awards 2010

I’m so pleased to be able to write this blog post. For a while there, a few months back, it looked like 160 Characters had shut up shop and turned its back on the mobile world. I’m very pleased to say, that due to popular demand, Mike Grenville has reopened the shop. And even better, he’s running the Global Messaging Awards again this year. And I’m very happy to be a judge again.

So without further ado, I’m pleased to tell you that the Global Messaging Awards are now open for entries until 31st May 2010.  If you enter before 28 April, it’s £95 to enter, between 29th April and 17th May, it’s £145 to enter and after that until the closing date, it’s £245. So get your skates on if you’d like to take advantage of the early bird entry fees.

With ten different categories of awards this year, anyone involved in the messaging community will find something that they can enter. To enter just visit the awards web site awards.160characters.org, choose the right category and complete the form. The 2010 categories are:

• Messaging Infrastructure or Platform
• Messaging Application or Service: Public Sector
• Messaging Application: Business
• Messaging Application: Consumer
• Innovation in Messaging
• Best new Marketing Campaign Using Messaging
• Mobile Financial Services Solution
• Messaging Application or Service: Social Use
• Effective Use of Mobile Ticketing
• Telematics/Telemetry/M2M Messaging

I’m particularly interested to see what the entries will look like for the ‘Best New Marketing Campaign using Messaging’ and the best Consumer Messaging Application.

SMS is still alive and kicking and is still on the increase. It seems that with each new mobile technology that’s adopted, the volume of messaging just increases. Which is fantastic news. It might not be the sexiest technology out there, but it’s very convenient and it works on every phone. I think there’s a lot of mileage yet in SMS based services and marketing. And no, I’m not talking about sending bulk SMS advertising – I’m talking intelligent use of SMS. Let’s see who enters!

Not every mobile user is able or wants to access an App Store and the savvy mobile companies realise that to reach out to the mass market text messaging is still the way to go. Whether it is to offer bank account updates; to pay for content; to allow machines to ‘talk’ to machines; or to deliver business messages to your team or customers - SMS is the method of choice. And that doesn’t include the messages sent to friends and family.

In fact, the Mobile Data Association recently reported that the UK sent an average of 11million messages every hour - an increase of 23% on 2008 and an increase of 70% in just two years.

This year’s awards are once again organised by 160 Characters and the awards ceremony will be held during Informa’s Global Messaging Congress, held at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in London.

The panel of judges will be headed up by Mike Grenville, CEO of 160 Characters and is made up of industry experts who all have experience of how to put SMS to best use.

The final closing date for entries is 31st May 2010.

More information on the awards can be found here - awards.160characters.org

Technorati Tags: messaging,sms marketing,sms,global messaging congress,global messaging awards,awards,160characters

The Meffy’s are open for Entries

BREAKING NEWS: DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR ENTRIES UNTIL 23 APRIL!

I’m really pleased to be part of this for the second year in a row. This means I get to judge the mobile marketing related entries which is always lots of fun and absolutely fascinating. An honour and a privilege no less.

So what’s this all about then? Well The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), the global trade association of the mobile media industry, is running its 7^th Mobile Entertainment Awards, known as the ‘Meffys’. And they are now open for entries until 16th April. The Meffys span the entire mobile entertainment & media industry, from apps to social media so there should be a category for everyone.

Companies wishing to enter should visit: http://www.meffys.com/ and submit their entries by 16th 23rd April 2010.

Now I know folks will be wondering if it’s worth entering, and I’d have to say I think it is which is why I personally support it and why Mobile Monday London supports it too. These are world class awards and genuinely do attract entries from across the globe. Which also means that the winners and runners-up are on a global stage with the appropriate reach – not just to the MEF membership (which is not insignificant) but also the associated media partners. Of course, not everyone will win. And yes, there is an entry fee. But it’s not unreasonably priced at £300 for non-members and £100 for members.

Further details below. And if you do enter, good luck!

For highlights from the 2009 awards ceremony and a list of 2009 winners, please visit http://www.meffys.com/about/2009-highlights

This year’s new Meffys categories include Content Discovery & Personalisation, Cross-Platform, App Store Blockbuster, M-Commerce and Mobile Connected Device. These new categories not only reflect the growth in the number of apps and apps stores, such as the App Store Blockbuster Award that will recognise the best app on an individual app store, but also reflect current and future trends. Two such awards are the M-Commerce award and the Cross-Platform award, which reflect the 2010 trends identified by MEF at the beginning of the year.

In addition, the MEF board will once again present the Outstanding Contribution Award to a talented individual whose work has had a critical impact on the growth of the mobile entertainment industry.

Entering the Meffys 2010

MEF will be accepting entries for the 2010 Meffys awards from today. Companies interested in entering the awards or nominating a candidate for the Outstanding Contribution Award should go to the new Meffys website at http://www.meffys.com/ for full details. Entry costs have been frozen from last year and are as follows: £100 per entry for MEF members and £300 for non-members.

Meffys 2010 Categories:

Games Award
Music Service Award
TV & Video Service Award
Video Content Award

Content Discovery & Personalization Award
Cross-Platform Award

Social Media Award

Ad Campaign Award

App Store Blockbuster Award

Innovative App Award

Consumer Experience Award

Technology Innovation Award
Innovative Business Model Award
Mobile First Innovation Award

M-Commerce Award

Business Intelligence Award

Mobile Connected Device Award

Outstanding Contribution Award

Technorati Tags: meffy's,awards,mobile,mobile entertainment forum

Make and Mend – exploring needlework, vintage stylee

Those of you who know me well may also know that I’m a secret stitcher. I used to make all my own clothes when I was younger and had the time, am a dab hand at embroidery and needlepoint and am fascinated by textiles. Unsurprisingly the V&A is my favourite museum and I absolutely loved their latest exhibition about Quilts (go see it whether you’re into stitching or not – it’s just fascinating to learn and imagine the stories behind each of the pieces).

Anyway, I digress.

I’m going along to a new evening workshop this Friday evening in Shoreditch called ‘Make and Mend’. Lucy Wills is the brains behind it. She’s an RSA fellow who has been promoting recycling and reuse for years via http://www.weallreuse.com and is always looking for ways to combine performance and creativity, and this event is an example of that by the sounds of it.

Lucy tells me that Make and Mend is a mix of workshop, master class and performance held in the most vintage of venues, Time for Tea http://www.timefortea.org.uk. We’re invited to bring along  scraps and pieces – we’ll be admiring, using and swapping anything we bring. We’ll also have a chance to explore techniques and get help with our vintage projects and repairs. There’s also entertainment in the form of  Mae West movies, talking about her style & costumes with a Q&A as to how they were made & worn. And there’ll be special guests, couture jeweller Lucy Wills from http://www.seraglia.com and costumier and vintage stylist Helen Kathryn Goule to lend a hand. Oh, and there’ll be at least one sewing machine on hand as well as fabric and thread for us to try out techniques ourselves.

So, if you’re even slightly curious, why not brush up your vintage and join the fun at Make and Mend! It starts at 6.45pm on Friday evening and costs just £7 / £10 including some materials, so please book here: http://www.meetup.com/weallreuse/calendar/12923763/ 

The venue, Time for Tea is a charming former bank decorated with 1940's antiques which I’m absolutely fascinated to explore. What a treat for a Friday evening.

Technorati Tags: needlework,workshop,craft,vintage,fashion