Meffys 2012–Global Awards Open for Entries NOW–deadline 9 July 2012

Just a week to go to your entry in for the 9th Annual Meffys. The organisation behind them is MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce. MEF has been going for more than 10 years now as a trade association and has witnessed the worlds of mobile content and commerce grow and flourish in that time and these awards reflect that dynamic environment.

Judged by an independent and uniquely international panel of journalists, academics, analysts and VCs (and that includes our organiser Helen Keegan and friend of the family David Murphy amongst others), the Meffys are the global benchmark for measuring success and rewarding innovation in mobile content and commerce. Last year, more than 350 industry leaders from over 30 countries gathered in London to attend the Meffys, reflecting their stature as the premier global awards for the mobile content and commerce industry (aka, they’re awards worth entering).

So the nitty gritty -

Key dates:

From 29th May, companies are invited to submit entries in 13 categories until the deadline of July 9th (that’s next Monday people). The 2012 winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 12th September 2012 at the prestigious Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair. You can start the entry process here.

How much does it cost?

These awards are not free to enter but don’t let that put you off. The price per submission for non-members is £350 and for MEF members is £150. And start-ups, sit up and take notice of this one, for you, there’s a special price of just £75 to enter the four innovation awards categories if you’re a start-up*.

*A start-up is a company that is less than two years old and has received less than £1.5m in funding.

It doesn’t matter where your start-up is based. These are global awards after all. So get your thinking caps on and get those entries in sharpish for a chance to be a nominee and pitch to a group of influential CEOs and a chance to win one of the awards. More details here.

What are the categories?

The 2012 Meffys categories in full:

1. Social & Entertainment App - NEW
2. Life tools App - NEW
3. Brand on Mobile
4. Publisher on Mobile - NEW
5. Content Service
6. m-Commerce Service
7. Consumer Trust - NEW
8. Discovery & Engagement - NEW
9. Social Responsibility & Development - NEW

Innovation Categories

1. Innovation Award for Apps
2. Innovation Award for Technology
3. Innovation Award for Growth Markets
4. Innovation Award for Monetization

All nominees in each of the four innovation categories will be given the opportunity to pitch to the C-level executives at the MEF CEO Summit to be held at City Hall, on the evening preceding the Meffys. The CEOs will then vote to determine the most innovative mobile product or service and the winner of this “CEO Summit Award for Innovation” will be honoured at the Meffys Gala Awards Dinner. And if you get a chance to attend the dinner, you should! It’s great fun and great networking. Ruby Wax was also totally brilliant last year as the host.

Swedish Beers–The Jubilee Edition, London

Following a successful event in San Francisco, we're ready to hit London Town again and with it being a time of celebration what with the Jubilee and the Olympics ‘n all, we 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 San Francisco–the photos

It was just last week that we had our first Swedish Beers party in San Francisco and I was so busy chatting to everyone that I didn’t get around to taking many photos. In fact, there are just nine to be exact. If any of you who went have photos to share, please send me a copy or a link to your pictures by email.
Thank you to everyone who came to make the first event such a success. Lots of lovely people there – friends old and new – and you all helped create the Swedish Beers vibe once again. A BIG thank you to our sponsors – StrikeAd, Mojiva, Swiftkey and Somo. Their generosity and moral support really made it all a lot easier for me and hopefully made it much more fun to you due to the free flowing beer and wine. Thank you to Mario for connecting me with the venue, Jones and their team, who were wonderful.
All in all, a great night. And with a bit of luck we’ll be back in a few months time – time and sponsorship permitting.


Created with flickr slideshow.
Until the next time.
Skål
Helen and the Swedish Beers crew.
PS. If you're in London on 30 May 2012, please join us there. Details here.

**********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 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 and chat to the sponsors and their friends to get more free beer tokens - don't be shy! 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

*Breaking* Swiftkey is joining as a sponsor for our event. Their award-winning technology makes typing much easier on touchscreens by intelligently understanding how words work together and learning a user's contextual writing style. Its Android keyboard has already saved people over 50 billion keystrokes and is consistently one of the best-selling apps on the platform and supports over 40 languages. Joe, who heads up their marketing, will be on hand to reveal all. http://www.swiftkey.net


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 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 group

Swedish Beers: Barcelona 2012–The Photos!

Yes, I know it has been a while since our little party for 1000 or so of you happened in Barcelona, but what with travelling and work and life getting in the way, I haven’t had time to update things much round these parts. But better late than never, I say.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen the photos already on Facebook, they’re now on flickr and in a handy slideshow format for you below.

But before you look at those, I want to thank all the sponsors for the event – Millennial Media, Apadmi, AQL, Boost / MadMaker and Pearson. We could not have run the party without their financial and moral support. A big thank you also to the worthy crew of volunteers who helped man the door as we were fantastically busy for the whole night. Apologies to those who weren’t able to get in this time. We didn’t think we’d be as busy as we were. And yes, I’m looking for a bigger venue for next time around in Barcelona. And finally, a big thank you to the team at Dostrece – Gabriel, Abraham, Suji and the rest of the staff. Always so friendly and fun, even on a busy night like Swedish Beers.

Our next parties are scheduled for 16 May in San Francisco and on 30 May in London. See you there!

Skål
Helen, Jenny, Gabriel, James and Catherine

 

Created with flickr slideshow.

**********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 group

**********About our Sponsors***********

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Our lead sponsor this time around was 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. 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. 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 Heroes of the Mobile Fringe 2012 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. http://madmaker.com

New Media Age Award Nomination

I’m absolutely thrilled to bits to be nominated for a New Media Age Award for The Greatest Contribution to New Media by an individual. Swedish Beers and the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival gets a mention in the write-up. I'm in such good company too, I'm not sure how I managed to sneak my way on to the list, but I’m very pleased I did.

Anyway, if you feel so inclined, and you have a UK mobile, you can vote for me by SMS until 27 April 2012. Text NMA3 to 82100 if you'd like to vote for me and it's a standard rate text. The text service is provided by Sponge so you know you’ll be in good hands. More details about the awards, the other nominees and how to vote for them here http://www.nmaawards.co.uk/GIC2012.aspx. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony on 28 June 2012.

Thank you to the NMA editorial team for including me in this year’s nominations and thanks to everyone voting for me. You’ve made this technokitten very happy.

Swedish Beers–the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival edition

I can hardly believe it. It’s that time of year again and it’s all systems go for Mobile World Congress and the Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival. Thank goodness we have an extra couple of weeks before it all kicks off. anyway, as part of the annual road trip, your favourite networking party of the week is 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 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 group

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