Musings of a mobile marketer: 2026

Saturday, May 02, 2026

Every vote counts

A head shot of an elderly lady with short salt and pepper hair wearing a light grey wool challis scarf and a dark grey coat. She is smiling in the foyer of the local theatre which is also the polling station for the local election in Worcester in 2019

Mum always voted. This is her, aged 93, partially blind and a little unsteady on her feet, voting at the local elections in England 18 months before she died. It would have been very easy for us to not bother, but Mum was adamant about voting. So I helped her walk to the polling station and I was permitted to go into the voting booth with her to help her mark her paper as her eyesight was too poor to read the card.

When Mum was born, not all women had the right to vote - equal voting rights didn't happen until 1928 so she didn't take this privilege lightly. She took it very seriously and saw it as her civic responsibility to do so. And if my late Mum at 93 could do it, then so can we all.

I will be voting next week in the local elections. This round of elections is particularly important for many reasons, not least that I do not want to see liars and charlatans get their way. Turnout for local elections is often really low so every vote really does count.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today When Swedish Beers First Came to Play in Barcelona

Doesn't time fly! I can hardly believe it but it's 20 years since Swedish Beers first came to BCN at MWC! It wasn't even called Mobile World Congress back then, it was 3GSM and it took over La Fira at Placa Espanya. I took a last minute decision to head to Barcelona for a few days and take in the show. (I'd missed out on visiting 3GSM at Cannes due to the lack of accommodation and the huge cost of staying anywhere remotely nearby.)

I'd already been hosting Swedish Beers in London at that point for almost 5 years so I put the word out I'd be in town and some of my regulars and some international bloggers about mobile who I'd met online turned up in a bar in a hotel in Gracia. There were about 25 of us there if I remember rightly. Not only was it lovely to hang out with my tribe but I also saw that week that there was a real need for a more grass roots style event during Mobile World Congress where people could connect on a human level. I feel that is still true today. Little could I imagine back then that I would still be doing this 20 years later! But here I am.

The next Swedish Beers party is happening next week on Wednesday 4 March from 7pm onwards and we're back at Space Cowboy where I'm sure we'll be well looked after by Adam and his team at the bar. And for conversation and good vibes, we'll have Shanks Kulam and Nick Allott with beer tokens in hand. More sponsors tba.

If you work in or around mobile, this networking event is for you! RSVP required and you can do that over on Eventbrite.

If you'd like to connect with several hundred mobilists, meet everyone on the night, and create and contribute to memories that people will be talking about for years to come, please sponsor the event. Sponsorships available from £500. All the money goes behind the bar and to the related people and admin costs of running the event. This is not a money-making exercise for me. The more sponsors, the more beer tokens and the more fun for everyone. Please contact me to discuss to help the legend live on.

Below are some memories from last year's bash.