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.

See you in Barcelona! Tell your friends! Let's have a blast!

Skål

Helen

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Follow us:

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LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/swedish-beers-mobile-networking/ and https://www.linkedin.com/company/heroes-of-mobile/

Yes, we're heading back to Barcelona for Swedish Beers! Join me on Wednesday 28 February.

Yes, it's that time of year mobile friends. The GSMA is expecting about 90,000 of us to descent on Barcelona at the end of the month for our annual shindig celebrating all things mobile technology. And thanks to you lovely lot making last year's reunion sooooo good, we are coming back to Barcelona one more time. If you are an executive working in or with the mobile industry please do RSVP. Feel free to share with your friends and colleagues too.

We're back at Space Cowboy as they looked after us so well last year. We'll be open from 7pm until late. No admission after 01:00. We will revert to a pay bar if/when the beer tokens run out. Photo ID (eg. your MWC pass) may be required. We reserve the right to refuse admission. 

The format will be the same as previous years - a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations. Please come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, chat, enjoy a drink or three (courtesy of our sponsors) and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door! There's no need for them here. The Swedish Beers crew and the friendliest bar staff in town will be on hand to welcome you.

If you'd like to support the party by being a sponsor, please get in touch with Helen. The more sponsors, the more beer tokens. Last-minute supporter level options are available allowing you to have your own beer tokens to distribute on the night.

See you in Barcelona.

Skål

Helen and Team Swedish Beers

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Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

See our blog for parties past http://swedishbeers.org/

Please note, RSVP'ing here or on Facebook DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU ENTRY! We managed to get everyone in who wanted to come last year so don't be put off! The queue does move quite quickly. All are welcome to attend if you are working in and around the mobile industry and enjoy a good chat. You may be asked for ID on entry. There might be a queue which usually goes down pretty quickly - Spanish licencing law requires us to keep to a specific capacity. We reserve the right to refuse entry. Beer tokens valid while bar tab lasts. No admission after 01:00.

Swedish Beers Barcelona #15 - The Reunion Edition

Yes, that's right, we're back! Fighting fit and raring to go.

Despite having had to take an enforced break due to the pandemic and family responsibilities, and despite thinking I was done with the whole mobile networking event thing, and despite not deciding to go to Barcelona until a week ago, here I am, hosting another Swedish Beers party!

I'm both thrilled to bits and a little bit scared at the same time as I'm a bit out of practice. But with the outpouring of Swedish Beers love from so many people and amazingly supportive sponsors and friends, I'm delighted to tell you that we're back one more time. It's shaping up to be a good night. 

I'll tell you more about our sponsors and venue over on the Swedish Beers blog, but in the meantime, here's the registration form for Swedish Beers so you can get it in your diaries and share with your friends and colleagues.

As usual, we'll be expecting a down-to-earth crowd of mobile execs from all areas of the industry keen to chew the fat about all things mobile over a drink or three. I'm especially looking forward to hearing from our sponsors, World Mobile, about how they're connecting the last mile of connectivity using blockchain and from 51 Degrees about what nifty things they can do these days with device detection.

You do need to register to come and we reserve the right to ask for ID on the door. And if it's busy, there may be a short wait to get in. Please be patient with us if that happens. We will do our best to get everyone in.

We'll be open from 19:00h until late. Last entry is at 01:00. Food will be available to buy on the night.

Skal and see you there!

Swedish Beers is back in Barcelona once more for Mobile World Congress!

The Swedish Beers team is busy getting organised for this year's edition of Swedish Beers in Barcelona! We loved Muy Buenas and its fab team so much last year that we've booked in with them again.

The format will be just the same - a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, chat, enjoy a drink or three (courtesy of our sponsors) and have yourself a good time all whilst extolling (or not) the virtues of our mobile connected world.

The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand to welcome you as usual and we'll have the friendliest bar staff in town in we're in one of the most stylish and historic bars in town on two floors. Muy Buenas will also have food available to buy on the night. Here are the photos from previous years' events to give you a flavour of what to expect.

Tell your friends and get yourself registered!

**Two sponsors confirmed. But we need more to make the party really fly. If you'd like to sponsor and join the fun and get to meet and mingle with the crowd, please get in touch with Helen to discuss. All budgets catered for.** 

See you in Barcelona.

Skål

Helen

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Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

This is a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Event

http://mobileheroes.net/ |  http://swedishbeers.org/

Powered by Eventbrite

There may be a queue to get in at times but we managed to get pretty much everyone in who wanted to last year so please don't be put off! The queue does move quite quickly. All are welcome to attend if you are working in and around the mobile industry and enjoy a good chat. You may be asked for ID on entry. You must be pre-registered to attend the event. We reserve the right to refuse entry.

Swedish Beers Barcelona #13: Thank yous and photos

What a fab time we had at Swedish Beers a couple of weeks back in Barcelona. Admittedly, the weather wasn't up to much, but Muy Buenas gave us a very warm welcome despite us drinking the bar dry and having to have an emergency beer and wine delivery at midnight!

First up some thank yous:

Swedish Beers Sponsors & Supporters BCN 2018

To Carolina and her team at Muy Buenas for looking after us so well.

To Rosa, Patrick, Irene, Ida and Angel for being the welcoming committee with me at the door.

To Erika Arias for her fabulous photographs once again. Check out more of her fabulous photos here.

To all our sponsors for providing the cash for the beer tokens and being such good co-hosts on the night. They are - Equal Experts, x-Mobility, Headforwards, 51 Degrees, Evernym, 1NCE ably supported in cash and in kind by NOBA, Kairos Future, ZZZ Accommodation, Idka, White Bull Summits, Trustonic, Joshua PR, When in Barcelona and Claire Coombes.

And to all of you who came and who keep the Swedish Beers spirit alive and kicking.

The photos
I've uploaded all the ones I've received and all the professional ones by the fabulous Erika Arias. But if you have any to add these, please let me have them and I'll include them in the Swedish Beers party albums on Facebook and Flickr with appropriate credits. Feel free to tag yourselves in the photos and share away!





Thanks again and hope to see you at another event soon.

Skal

Helen

Swedish Beers - #13 Barcelona Edition, 2018 - Wednesday 28 February

Plans are afoot for the next edition of Swedish Beers in Barcelona in 2018! (Doesn't it come around quickly?!)... We will be in a NEW venue! More on that soon. The format will be just the same - a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, chat, enjoy a drink or three (courtesy of our sponsors) and have yourself a good time all whilst extolling (or not) the virtues of our mobile connected world.

The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand to welcome you as usual and we'll have the friendliest bar staff in town.

**Two sponsors confirmed. More to come. And there's room for more on top of that. If you'd like to sponsor and join the fun, please get in touch with Helen to discuss. All budgets catered for.** 

See you in Barcelona.

Skål

Helen

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Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

This is a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Event

http://mobileheroes.net/ |  http://swedishbeers.org/

Powered by Eventbrite



There may be a queue to get in at times but we usually manage to get pretty much everyone in who wants to so don't be put off! All are welcome to attend if you are working in and around the mobile industry and enjoy a good chat. You may be asked for ID on entry. You must be pre-registered to attend the event. We reserve the right to refuse entry.

Ping pong robot, prizes, beer, mobile chat and more at Swedish Beers on Tuesday 21 November

Not long to go now until the next Swedish Beers bash in London. We'll be back at the Nordic Bar, our favourite London haunt, and as well as the usual chat, drinks and mingling, we will also have a Ping Pong Robot competition to raise funds for Bloodwise.

We're busy sorting out the prizes for that, but I can confirm that two of them are these latest release books.

The first is a copy of The Startup Way by Eric Ries of Lean Startup fame. I heard him speak at an event last week and wrote a few thoughts about that over on my personal blog. I managed to come away with an extra copy of the book which will be one of the prizes tomorrow night.

The other book that's up for grabs tomorrow is Rough Diamond: Turning Disruption into Advantage in Business and Life by Nicole Yershon.

We will also have some collection buckets, so please bring your small change - every coin counts.

If you prefer, you can donate on the justgiving page here  https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/4carlo

Or you can text in with your donation (UK only). Text BEAT01 £x to 70070 to donate to Bloodwise. The amount can be edited so that you choose how much you wish to donate, so if you're donating £5, then text BEAT01 £5 to 70070 or if you'd like to donate £2, then text BEAT01 £2 to 70070 - you get the idea!

The guest list for tomorrow night is shaping up nicely. If you haven't already registered, please do that here.

Entry is free and we'll have free drinks courtesy of Kindred Capital and Inspiring Interns for as long as the bar tab lasts. Everyone working in, around or interested in the mobile industry from a professional or academic point of view are most welcome. Do spread the word with your friends and colleagues.

Until tomorrow night then!

What do you do when your boss is an algorithm?

I was lucky enough to go to Business of Software's great event in London with entrepreneur and best-selling author, Eric Ries, talking about his new book, The Startup Way. The house was absolutely packed which is a testament both to the popularity of Eric Ries and how well Mark Littlewood and his team organise their Business of Software series of events.

I'm still mulling over much of what Ries was saying and I haven't yet read his book. The question that really stuck in my mind was about what workers will do when their boss is an AI or an algorithm. I've thought quite a lot about working with an AI as a colleague. Arguably, we're already doing that to some degree with our use of online tools such as search, productivity tools, graphic design software etc.

My boss is an algorithm
But what if the algorithm is our boss? Ries cited the example of an Uber driver. Who is the driver's boss? Who do they report to? Who tells them what to do? The answer, to all intents and purposes, is an algorithm (putting aside recent UK legislation about their legal status).

Imagine the scenario whereby a customer uses the app to hail a taxi in a high traffic area where there is a choice of driver. The algorithm decides which taxi driver(s) to show that too. That could be based on reviews (perhaps unverified), where the driver was the previous night, how frequently the driver chooses to drive for Uber, how safely the driver drives, who the driver is connected to on social networks and much more. And in that instance, who do you complain to anyway and what could they do? These algorithms are getting ever more complicated and anyway, this isn't a technical bug, this is an ethical question as much as anything.

I'm afraid, I don't have the answers, but I'm thinking about the implications of this in different aspects of work life.

Free book giveaway
Everyone at the BoS event last week got a copy of The Startup Way. I was lucky enough to come away with an extra copy which will be given away tomorrow evening at Swedish Beers in London as part of the Robot Ping Pong challenge. I do hope you can join us!

Eric Ries' Lean Startup talk & BoS archive
You can see Eric Ries's talk for BoS from 2010 when he'd just written Lean Startup. It's well worth revisiting.

Business of Software has archived all their previous talks and it's a fantastic resource. You can check it out here.

Day 21/30 NaBloPoMo (publishing a little ahead of schedule!)

Swedish Beers (Not Tears) on Tuesday 21st November

Well, it's the 1st November which means that it's the first day of NaBloPoMo and my commitment to post something here every day in November.

Usually, I'd have plenty of time to think about that, but today I've been running around all day struggling to get much time at my laptop at all. And despite my penchant for all things mobile, as a touch typist, it's much easier to write at a proper keyboard than trying to punch something in on a phone on the bus or tube.

That said, I do have something to announce today. That's the next Swedish Beers bash in London on Tuesday 21st November. This next edition is the Swedish Beers (not Tears) in memory of Carlo Longino, one of our mobile industry stalwarts who died last month at the age of 39 after a 2 year battle with lymphoma. I first met Carlo via this blog, funnily enough. He was writing for The Feature for Nokia and also with Russell Buckley at Mobhappy. We were among the first ever bloggers about mobile technology and we regularly commented on each others posts and participated in the Carnival of the Mobilists. We also exchanged emails and then met in person for the first time at the first Swedish Beers party in Barcelona in 2006 and remained firm friends thereafter.

I know that Carlo was very keen to encourage people to donate both blood and blood platelets. Apparently hospitals are often running very low on blood platelets and not that many people know about donating them. I certainly knew nothing about that until Carlo and his wife, Alex, started talking about it. So whether you knew Carlo or not, please do go and find your nearest place to donate blood or blood platelets and do it! You never know when you or a friend, colleague or family member will need it.

It would also be lovely if you're based in London and knew or knew of Carlo to join us in raising a glass in his memory on Tuesday 21st November. And if you didn't know him but work in the mobile industry, please come along and join us too. We'll be chewing the mobile fat and doing some fundraising for Bloodwise on the night too. I've set up a Justgiving page to that end so feel free to add your donation there.

RSVP is required for Swedish Beers so please do that over on eventbrite.

Powered by Eventbrite

Until tomorrow...

Heading to Barcelona next week for Mobile World Congress?

I'll try and keep this one short as I know you have a busy schedule but I wanted to alert you to a few things that are going on that you may or may not know about.

• Win an expo ticket for Mobile World Congress courtesy of Trustonic - enter before 15:00 GMT Thurs 23 Feb. You can do that here.

• Fancy showing off what you're doing to an enthusiastic crowd on Sunday afternoon at NUMA? I have a few demo slots left. If you would like one of those, please register for a demo ticket here. There is no charge to demo. Anyone else who wants to come, please add yourself to the waiting list. I hope to release the last batch of tickets tomorrow. And if you fancy sponsoring the event and connecting with 200 mobilists, let me know.

• Last call for sponsors for Swedish Beers on Wednesday night. I have a super roster of sponsors this year led by DigitasLBi and joined by Headforwards, x-Mobility, 51 Degrees, ZZZ.co.uk and Inspiring Interns. There's space for one or two more if you'd like to join them. Get in touch if you'd like to sponsor at start-up or co-sponsor level. 

• The 12th annual ladies lunch is on Monday 27 Feb. Tickets available here for Euro 32.

• Further events are listed at http://mobileheroes.net. It's probably easiest to view by day: Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

See you in Barcelona!

Quick links for registration

Heroes of Mobile Goes to Leeds 3 & 4 November

I can't believe it's November already and it's just nine weeks to Christmas. Where does the year go? But as the evenings start to draw in, it's time to gather round campfires and tell ourselves stories about the battles we've won and lost, the monsters that lurk in the dark and the bright future that is waiting for us on the other side of winter. 

Ok, so maybe we don't have an actual campfire this time but we do have a beautiful converted Methodist Chapel in Leeds to hang out in. So this means that November is chock full of brain food from the team who brought you the Hacklands festival in August (you missed a cracker if you weren't there) – I'll be working again with Lloyd Davis of Tuttle Club fame, the fab aql team in Leeds and and James Tagg of Truphone.  

On Tuesday and Wednesday next week, we're all up in Leeds for the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Goes North series – two days of talks and conversations about the future of work and mobile tech with contributions from Lesley Cowley, Bernard Ginns and Patrick Smith and includes the legendary Swedish Beers for the first time in the North of England. I'm also co-hosting a fabulous ladies lunch at Harvey Nicks. Fellow ladies in mobile and tech, you don't want to miss this! 

Come to as many of the sessions as you like, they're all free to attend and our friends at aql will make you very welcome indeed. There's plenty of space to hang out and co-work between sessions too.

Tuesday's sessions

10.00 for a 10.30 start to 12.30 Future of Work: Open Space with Lloyd Davis

14.00 to 15.00 Nothing Great is Easy with Patrick Smith

15.30 to 18.00 Innovation on the Fringe Goes to Leeds 

18.30 onwards Swedish Beers

Wednesday's sessions

10.00 for a 10.30 start to 12.30 Future of Mobile: Talk and Open Space with James Tagg and Lloyd Davis

12.30 to 14.30 Ladies Lunch with Lesley Cowley

14.30 to 15.15 The Yorkshire Post: The Journey from Print to Digital with Bernard Ginns

15.30 to 17.30 The Future of Mobile Advertising: Open Space with yours truly and Lloyd Davis

To RSVP, please click on the links above or go to http://heroesofmobileleeds.strikingly.com where all the registration forms are handily listed in one place.

And if you fancy making the trip from down South to Leeds, then may I recommend using http://hotwire.com for your hotel. I got a great deal there when I booked last week. Expedia also had a comprehensive list that included B&Bs and not just the big hotels.

Swedish Beers, London - Midsummer Edition - Wednesday 17 June 2015

Yes, it’s just a few days to go until our next party in London. It's coming up for midsummer so it's about time we had another Swedish Beers party. For those of you who were in Barcelona, it's time to relive some of the memories and for those of you who weren't, then it's time to create some memories of your own in London town.

Drinks are courtesy of Buzzcity (mobile advertising specialists and our lead sponsor for the evening), Inspiring Interns (recruitment agency focussed on graduate roles), Fantastic Services (London’s largest cleaning company who are about to launch their cleaning app) and US Tax and Financial Services (there’s nothing these guys don’t know about tax issues for US citizens in the UK or for UK citizens and businesses headed Stateside).

There'll be plenty drinks to go around of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties. There is food available to buy on the night if you haven't had time to grab a bite to eat before you come.

We're back at our favourite London joint, The Nordic Bar, where Swedish Beers began back in 2001 in the mists of mobile time. Doors will be open from 6.15pm and the bar has a late licence until midnight for those of you who want to stay up late on a school night.

If you haven't been before, expect a friendly crowd, lots of chat about mobile, life, the universe and why Swedish Beers is called Swedish Beers. There will also be beer pong (yes, there's a ping pong table) and, of course, refreshments (soft drinks are available and in plentiful supply) courtesy of our lovely sponsors. There will be people from all walks of mobile life there on the night - be that app developers, advertising, media, mobile marketing, handset manufacturers, payment providers, big data, brands, agencies, analysts, journalists, start-ups, veterans, noobs and much more. There have already been a lot of RSVPs on eventbrite already. Why not join them? Come alone or come with a friend but do come.

Date: Wednesday 17 June 2015

Time: 6.15pm until closing

Place: The Nordic Bar, Newman Street, London W1 (nearest tube Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus or Goodge Street)

You can RSVP below or over on Facebook. Either way, it’s free to attend.

Powered by Eventbrite

Spread the word and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Skål!

Helen

http://swedishbeers.org
@swedishbeers
http://facebook.com/swedishbeers
This is a Heroes of Mobile event.

Swedish Beers in Barcelona #10 on Wednesday 4 March 2015

Shameless plug alert and for those of you who aren’t heading to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress in March you may look away now!

From humble beginnings, where about 25 of the London Swedish Beers crowd and their friends got together in a bar in Barcelona  to chew the mobile fat during Mobile World Congress to a big annual event celebrating all things mobile. It’s been quite a ride to get here and we’ve not done too shabbily at all to be on the 10th one in Barcelona! I say ‘we’ because the party would be nothing without the sponsors, helpers, staff and attendees. It’s a collective effort! So let’s make that effort again in March to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

This year’s party will be on Wednesday 4 March at Dostrece. And sponsorship funds permitting, we will also operate a nearby chill-out lounge as well. Want to talk sponsorship? Then please get in touch with Helen to discuss.

Like our previous events, this is a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations, no business cards thrust in your face as soon as you arrive. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, talk nonsense, enjoy a drink or five and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door please. The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand to welcome you as well as the friendliest bar staff in town.

No need to RSVP unless you want to and want a reminder of when and where the party is and to get any updates by email. There’s no official guest list, no tickets and there’s no guaranteed entry. Just come and go as you please.

 

Sell Tickets through Eventbrite

 

I do have some lovely sponsors lined up for you but there’s room for more – especially as it’s our 10th Anniversary in Barcelona. Get in touch with me to discuss. And if you’re a start-up, I have a special deal for you to buy a batch of beer tokens without having to shell out for a full sponsorship package.

It is likely to get a bit busy at times. But don’t worry, people will be coming in and out all evening. That’s kind of the point as we know there’s always a lot going on and you might want to check out more than one party. If it’s very busy, there’s no need to queue to get in. Just check out one of the other bars nearby and come back a little later when it’s a bit less frantic.

There is a small cloakroom area at the bar, but it’s not secure so leave the laptops in your hotel room or apartment where they will be safe and won’t get in anyone’s way.

The venue is our favourite haunt with the friendliest bar staff in town, Dos Trece -http://dostrece.net/ We’ll be open from 7pm through until the early hours.

Sponsor announcements coming soon….

See you in Barcelona!

This is a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Event http://mobileheroes.net/  |  http://swedishbeers.org/

Skål

Helen

Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers | Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

Swedish Beers–Barcelona Edition 2014 are Go!

I must be a glutton for punishment or something! It’s almost 13 years since the first ever Swedish Beers party in London and this will the eighth party in Barcelona… Oh my goodness, doesn't time fly?

Here we are again in February which means only one thing - it's time for Swedish Beers! It’s all systems go for Mobile World Congress and Heroes of the Mobile Fringe. And as part of that, your favourite networking party is back to bring you more beer and more chat.

We do have some lovely sponsors lined up for you but there's room for one or two more if you fancy getting involved. Get in touch with Helen to discuss. More will be announced over the coming days and weeks.

Like our previous events, this is a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations, no business cards thrust in your face as soon as you arrive. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, talk nonsense, enjoy a drink or five and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door please. The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand to welcome you as well as the friendliest bar staff in town.

No need to RSVP unless you want to. There's no guest list, no tickets and there's no guaranteed entry. Just come and go as you please. If you do register, it does mean that you can add the event to your calendar and search for it in your email and easily share with friends. Fill in the form below or go direct to the eventbrite page.

Online event registration for Swedish Beers - the Barcelona edition, 2014 powered by Eventbrite

It is likely to get a bit busy at times. But don't worry, people will be coming in and out all evening. That’s kind of the point as we know there’s always a lot going on and you might want to check out more than one party. If it's very busy, there's no need to queue to get in. Just check out one of the other bars nearby and come back a little later when it's a bit less frantic.

There is a small cloakroom area at the bar, but it's not secure so leave the laptops in your hotel room or apartment where they will be safe and won't get in anyone's way.

The venue is our favourite haunt with the friendliest bar staff in town, Dos Trece -http://dostrece.net/
We'll be open from 7pm through until the early hours.

AQL is our first confirmed sponsor - more tbc. I’ll introduce all our sponsors over the coming days and weeks.

See you in Barcelona!

This is a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Event http://mobileheroes.net/

Skål

Helen

Like us on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

Once, twice, three times a party…

Swedish Beers parties galore klaxon alert!

It’s fair to say, I’m a bit busy at the moment but it makes for exciting times and I’m thrilled to bits at the prospect of meeting and hanging with some interesting people. Lots of events coming up, including not one, not two, but three Swedish Beers parties and a mini-Heroes and a client event. And more to come…

Well, they say you can have too much of a good thing, but I’m not so sure when it comes to Swedish Beers! We have Swedish Beers coming to three cities near you in the next few weeks so come on down and join the fun, hang with other people with a passing interest in mobile and enjoy a relaxing evening chewing the fat and putting the mobile world to rights.

New York – 2 May 2013

First up, it’s a last-minute jaunt to the Big Apple. Helen will be there on Thursday 2 May with Lubna, Grace, Becky and Petra lending a hand to ensure you have a good time. Antony and Jerome from Ribot will be sponsoring the first few beers but there’s room for another sponsor if you’re up for it. It’s free to attend and we’d love to see you.

More info and RSVP here http://mobileheroes.net/events/event/swedish-beers-hits-the-big-apple/

While I’m in New York, I’ll be chairing a session for BrandPerfect looking at seamless brand advertising (an impossible dream? we’ll see.) It’s free to attend and includes a lovely tour of the Pencil to Pixel exhibition which I highly recommend having experienced it in London before Christmas. http://brandperfect.org/index.php/events/details?id=8

Berlin – 15 May 2013

Next we’re off to Berlin to take in the culture, enjoy a panel discussion, check out some new mobile start-ups and then finish the day with some cheer from Swedish Beers and our friends at Adeven. Again, we’d love to see another sponsor or two benefit from getting involved (get in touch here) but in the meantime, do join Helen, Russell and Kristina for some Swedish, (well probably German), Beers.

More info and RSVP here  http://mobileheroes.net/events/event/swedish-beers-on-tour-in-berlin/

While I’m in Berlin, I’m also organising a half-day of Heroes of Mobile discussions and demos also on 15 May at Betahaus. Details coming for that very soon. Keep your eyes peeled.

London – 13 June 2013

And it wouldn’t be the Summer if we didn’t have a Swedish Beers bash in our home city of London Town. All we’ve done is reserve the date at our favourite London watering hole, The Nordic Bar, and we’re ready and waiting to get sponsors on board. Helen’s talking to a few already but get in touch if you’d like to join the fun. We just wanted to make sure you had the date saved so we can have a blowout party….

More info and RSVP here: http://mobileheroes.net/events/event/swedish-beers-is-it-summer-yet-party/

There will be further Heroes of Mobile discussion events in London in May and June as well. Watch this space as they say!

Sponsorship and time permitting, I’ll be visiting more cities from Leeds to San Francisco. If you’d like to see Swedish Beers and/or Heroes of Mobile happening in your city and can help make that happen, then let Helen know.

If you’re coming to one of the Swedish Beers parties, please bring a business card with you to get your first beer token. Sponsors will have the rest of the tokens so you’ll need to get chatting with them to get your hands on more. There should be enough to go around!

So spread the word, and come on down for a fun evening with friends old and new. You don’t have to be a mobile expert to join us. All welcome with a passing interest in mobile technology and a cheery disposition!

Skål

It was twenty years ago today

Well, almost. It’ll be twenty years ago on 3rd December since the first text message was sent over the Vodafone network and a new era of communication and data dawned or should that be ‘spawned’? It took some time for SMS to break through to the mainstream, but when it did, it seemed to happen pretty fast. Now it seems a bit old hat as I find myself reverting to email, twitter, facebook and IM to connect with friends, family and colleagues. As for calling, well, I barely need that function on my phone any more. We’ve all been part of this change and it has been hardly noticeable as we migrate from one service to another. And with these changes, you’d think that incumbents like Skype and BBM had the sector sewn up. But if Skype’s future isn’t as clear cut as we may have thought, that means there’s still wiggle room and there’s still scope for new services to emerge and I’m interested to see how and when these take off.

So the newest kid on the block is yuilop who happen to be based in Barcelona, one of my favourite cities in the world. My friend Phil has gone to work for them and I challenged him on why he’d chosen to go and work for a start-up in, what I thought, was a market hard to penetrate and with little (obvious) sources of revenue for all the above reasons. And why would you go for yuilop and not, say, Whatsapp (which seems to be almost ubiquitous now and a real threat to the once dominant BBM)?

Yuilop seems to have greater ambitions than Whatsapp or BBM and calls itself a ‘social communication app’. It allows free rich media messaging (so audio, pictures, video – what the operators may have described as MMS once upon a time), free yuilop to yuilop voice calls (all via mobile) and on top of that, you can message your friends who are not on yuilop via standard SMS or voice. This means you can get in touch with your friend who has an old Nokia handset without app capability and still message or talk to them. The latter has some significant cost to it, but they don’t charge customers for this at the moment, but instead require them to get Energy by getting your friends to sign up and by engaging in consumer offers. The free calls and messages angle is always popular in youth markets and they’re savvy when it comes to taking advantage of them.

The ad-funded telco offering is not new. We saw it with Blyk back in the day, and more recently with Ovivo Mobile. But it’s a tough one. Will the maths stack up or, like one commenter on Yuilop’s Google Play page, should you just let the customers buy credit if they want to? I’ve been wary of wholly ad-funded services for digital services. The danger is that you attract the freeloaders who suck you dry and find every loophole in the system. They’re also the customers who will never ever respond to an advert. Or even if they did, they don’t have the money to spend anyway. The customers you’re trying to attract can probably afford to pay. It’s a dilemma. That’s not to say new business models shouldn’t be tried. They absolutely should. And our digital lives are changing and moving so fast, exponentially even, that anything could happen and the innovators and the businesses nimble enough to try something new are the ones who will win out in the end.

So is there room for something like Yuilop? Yes, I think there probably is. They’ve had very fast growth in the last 6 months with over 30,000 Google Play ratings which is just a proportion of the overall number of downloads, it’s clear that this one is doing something right. If they can get the balance right between consumer insight and marketing offers, then they’re on to something. Add in a dollop of big data when they get to 250,000 customers to do interesting targeting beyond age, gender, location and device, and we might start to see some interesting results for advertisers and customers alike. Will they catch up with the likes of Viber, Whatsapp, Kakao, Line, Skype and more? Time will tell.

Phil from yuilop will be in the UK on 17th October and you can meet him to talk about the opportunities with yuilop in Spain and the UK at Swedish Beers.

Find Yuilop online at http://yuilop.com, on Facebook and Twitter. Download the app for free. Currently compatible with Android and iOS.

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Want to know more about what exponential actually means? Well, I could explain it, but I’ll leave it to friend and colleague, Russell Buckley, to do that in this short video.

Swedish Beers–The Jubilee Edition, London

Following a successful first event in San Francisco, we're ready to hit London Town once again and with it being a time of celebration what with the Jubilee and the Olympics ‘n all, Jenny and I thought it was about time we had another shindig.

It's the usual format - no presentations, no formalities, no sales pitches, no ties - just friendly people chatting about mobile over a beer or three. We're at our usual haunt of the Nordic Bar on Newman Street in London and the doors will be open from 6.30pm onwards.

Of course, we couldn’t run the party without a little help from our friends…

Our lead sponsor this time around is Millennial Media. And if you haven't met them already, they're specialists in premium mobile advertising and have a mobile advertising and data platform. They're a super-friendly bunch and are very knowledgeable too. And as lead sponsor (again! We’re very grateful), they'll have the most beer tokens ;) Look out for Gavin, Stephen and the rest of the team. http://millennialmedia.com/

They'll be ably supported by...

TVGuide.co.uk - they do what it says on the tin and offer a UK TV guide on your computer or mobile device. And it’s the one I use most of all as it’s user-friendly and comprehensive. Lila, Mo and the team will be on hand to tell you more about what's new with them and to talk TV apps with you. http://tvguide.co.uk/

Inspiring Interns - they're a recruitment company specialising in helping companies recruit interns and helping set-up and manage intern programmes. They also have years of experience in the world of mobile and are possibly the loveliest recruitment people out there. Yes, I'm biased, their founder, Ben, is a close friend of mine! Look out for Ben, Benedict, Sam, Charlie for beer tokens. http://inspiringinterns.com/

Swiftkey - Want to type faster on your Android device? Swiftkey is the answer. They won a GSMA award in February and a Webby Award this week so they must be on to something. Joe, Rhod and the team will be on hand to show you how it all works and how many keystrokes you can save yourself. http://swiftkey.net/

If you’re interested in joining these lovely companies as a fellow sponsor, please get in touch with Helen by email.

So to recap:

What - Swedish Beers Mobile Networking
When - 30 May 2012 from 6.30pm
Where - Nordic Bar, Newman Street, London. Nearest tubes are Tottenham Court Road or Goodge Street.

RSVP - (optional) over at Facebook and please bring a business card with you to get your first beer token.

So spread the word, pray for a dry evening so we can use the outside area and come on down for a fun evening with friends old and new. You don’t have to be a mobile expert to join us. All welcome with a passing interest in mobile technology.

Skål
Helen, Jenny and the Swedish Beers crew

**********Keep in touch***********

Email: Just add your email address to the Feedblitz box at the top left and you’ll get our blog posts (and therefore event notices) to your inbox.

Twitter: Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/swedishbeers

Facebook: Like us http://www.facebook.com/SwedishBeers or join the Swedish Beers FB group

Swedish Beers On Tour in San Francisco, 16 May 2012

Not content with holding parties in London and Barcelona for just shy of 11 years, we thought we'd give the West Coast a shot of our Swedish Beers cheer since a few of the gang are in town, including me, Helen Keegan - aka technokitten and chief organiser of Swedish Beers. We’re very excited to hold our inaugural event in such a beautiful city and one where the mobile scene is so active and fast-moving. The mixer will be our usual style - no PowerPoint, no speeches, no formalities, just good people, good chat and good drinks courtesy of our sponsors. And if you’re wondering what the photo is, it’s of the view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the living room of the apartment where I’m staying on this trip!

What: Swedish Beers Mobile Networking
When: Wednesday 16th May 2012 – 6.00pm until we run out of steam
Where: 620 Jones: Jones adjoins one of San Francisco’s stunning historic landmark buildings, built in 1929, just three blocks west of Union Square. Look for the towering blue-steel gates just to the right of the Gaylord Suites at 620 Jones. You can’t miss ‘em. 620 Jones Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. There’s a link to the Google map here.

RSVP: You will be asked for your business card on arrival in exchange for a beer token and then you need to find the sponsors to get more free beer tokens. And it would help us if you wouldn’t mind RSVP’ing on Facebook please so we can get a handle on numbers as it’s our first time here. All welcome. No charge for entry.

About our lovely sponsors:

Our first sponsor are Swedish Beers regulars, the lovely team from Somo. With offices in London, New York, Singapore, LA and San Francisco, Somo is really going places. Expert in all aspects of mobile marketing - be that engagement campaigns, branded apps, creation and management of mobile services, mobile advertising or performance marketing - they can handle it. The founder, Carl Uminski, is in San Francisco at the moment with some of his team so they'll be on hand to share the Swedish Beers vibe with you and will have a few free beer tokens to hand out. http://somoglobal.com/ @somoglobal

Next up is StrikeAd - the world's first demand side platform for mobile advertising. Their West Coast team will be on hand to chew the fat about mobile advertising and how using StrikeAd Fusion makes your life that bit easier when it comes to planning and buying mobile media. Garrett and his colleagues will be on hand to explain all and to hand out beer tokens. http://strikead.com/ @strikead

Mojiva is also joining our merry throng this time around. Mojiva makes your job easier by developing unique, cutting-edge mobile advertising campaigns and monetization strategies for agencies, brand advertisers and publishers around the world and provides a monthly reach of over 1 billion unique devices worldwide, with 270 million of those devices coming from the US. Not bad going, I'd say. Join Brian and his colleagues to find out more. http://mojiva.com @mojiva

If you'd like to join these sponsors and be part of our inaugural event in San Francisco, please get in touch with Helen - swedishbeers@gmail.com

Thank you also to Mario Tapia from GetJar and Mobile Monday Silicon Valley for supporting the event.

See you on 16 May in San Francisco and 30 May in London.

Skål

Helen and the Swedish Beers Crew

**********Keep in touch***********
Email: Just add your email address to the Feedblitz box at the top and you’ll get my blog posts (and therefore event notices) to your inbox.
Twitter: Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/swedishbeers
Facebook: Like us http://www.facebook.com/SwedishBeers or join the group

Swedish Beers–the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Edition

As some of you know, I do like a good party, and the annual road trip to Barcelona is a great excuse to have one. So Swedish Beers is back with a vengeance and is now part of the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival too. It seems to be a lot of people’s favourite networking party of the week and so we’re back to bring you more beer, more cheer and more chat. We’re in danger of this year being better than ever thanks to our very generous sponsors. I know for a fact there’ll be even more beer for starters. So let me introduce them to you…

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Our lead sponsor this time around is Millennial Media. They're big fans of Swedish Beers and sponsored our London come back party in the summer. And in return, we’re big fans of theirs too. The company is really going places and the team will be on hand to chew the fat about mobile advertising and will have a bountiful supply of free beer tokens. As lead sponsors, it really will be a bountiful supply! You couldn't be in better hands with Gavin, Stephen, Mack and the crew. They definitely know how to have a good time. http://millennialmedia.com/

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Next up is AQL. So good they had to sponsor us twice. And we're very glad they did. Adam Beaumont and his fine team will be there to talk all things mobile messaging and voice communications with you . There's not much he doesn't know or can't do with mobile messaging. Oh, and yeah, he'll have one or two beer tokens in hand too. http://aql.com/

Newcomers to Swedish Beers are Pearson. Yes, that's right, the parent company of FT.com, Penguin books and much more besides. They're exhibiting this year at Congress and are particularly interested to talk about mobile technology in emerging markets as well as innovations in eBooks and the like. The FT.com team will also be on hand to tell you about their adventures in HTML5 and their dealings with the behemoth that is Apple. http://pearson.com/. We're also very pleased that they're sponsoring the overall festival too.

Up next is Apadmi. Fans of Swedish Beers for many years and now it's their turn to join the party as a sponsor. Garry and the team build mobile apps and solutions and very experienced at it they are too. They're also great fun and have kick-started the mobile networking scene in Manchester by taking the lead in setting up Mobile Monday Manchester. http://apadmi.com/

Madmaker is launching very soon and is a do-it-yourself mobile ad maker - you see what they did there with the name? I've seen the system in action and it's really very neat. Oystein, Andy and the team from Boost are behind this new product and will be at Swedish Beers to give it a proper Nordic vibe as they hail from Norway. Oh, and they know a thing or two about mobile marketing as well so will be happy to chat away about that with you until the wee hours about what's hot and what's not in the sector. You'll also find them at 2F33 in the MWC exhibition too.

Like our previous events, this is a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations, no business cards thrust in your face as soon as you arrive. Just come with an open mind, be prepared to see friends old and new, talk nonsense, enjoy a drink or five and have yourself a good time. Oh, and leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door please.

The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand – Helen, Jenny, Gabriel, Shafiq, Cat, Sarah, Russell - and the friendliest bar staff in town at our regular haunt, Dos Trece, are all waiting to welcome you. The venue holds about 300 or so folks at any one time so there’s plenty space for everyone. There will be bars upstairs and downstairs so please make full use of both floors so that more people can enjoy the fun.
No need to RSVP unless you want to. There's no guest list, no tickets and there's no guaranteed entry. Just come and go as you please. But if you would like to RSVP, you can over here on Facebook. You'll see some familiar faces there I'm sure.

It is likely to get a bit busy at times. But don't worry, people will be coming in and out all evening. That’s kind of the point as we know there’s always a lot going on and you might want to check out more than one party. If it's very busy, there's no need to queue to get in. Just check out one of the other bars nearby and come back a little later when it's a bit less frantic. Dos Trece is where the action will be. We'll be open from 7pm until the wee hours so there'll be plenty time for you to drop in and say skål.

We don't have a cloakroom so we don't recommend you bring your laptops or briefcases with you - it's a liability in Barcelona I'm afraid – especially at this time of year and they’ll just get in the way of your enjoyment of the evening. Drop them at your hotel or apartment first. You won't need them anyway what with this new fangled thing called the mobile phone ;)

So just to recap:
What: Swedish Beers Mobile Networking
When: Wednesday 29th February 2012 - 7pm until we run out of steam
Where: DosTrece, Calle Carme 40, 08001 Barcelona

DosTrece is behind La Boqueria market and the nearest metro station is Liceu. Just walk up La Rambla, walk past La Boqueria and Teatro Grec, then take a left at Calle Carme (or Carrer del Carme) and DosTrece is at number 40 (Google map here). (They also have free Wi-Fi if you want to demo your latest phone app.)

**********Keep in touch***********
Email: Just add your email address to the Feedblitz box at the top of this blog and you’ll get all my blog posts (and therefore event notices) to your inbox. Or go to http://swedishbeers.com and your email address to the Feedblitz box at the top left there.
Twitter: Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/swedishbeers
Facebook: Like us http://www.facebook.com/SwedishBeers or join the group

Swedish Beers is proud to be a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival event.