It Was Twenty Years Ago Today - Edition #18 Barcelona 2026

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 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 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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Wanna talk MVNOs, eSIM, or CPaaS? xMobility and Travelroam are in the house.

xMobility are the global CPaaS, eSIM and MVNO experts. They power the services that you create. They enable the enablers, connecting clients with customers and customers with each other. As a technology partner of Three UK for well over a decade, x-Mobility pioneered the digital MVNO market with their own AppVNO® and have enabled some of the leading brands in the sector. Shanks Kulam has been coming to Swedish Beers for many years and this is not his first time sponsoring so I'm delighted to welcome him and his team back one more time.

This year, he's bringing one of his partner companies, Travel Roam.

It's a fully managed eSIM retail platform for bold brands. The Travel Roam Partners quick-to-market solution removes the ongoing cost, stress and long term commitment from launching your own eSIM Travel Retail operation. Your brand, your customers, our expertise.

New for 2025... boku!

Many of you will already know Trevor Goldberg from Boku. He's been to every single one of the Swedish Beers parties in Barcelona and many in London too. And there's not much he doesn't know when it comes to mobile payments.

Boku firmly believes that the future of payments is local - Boku is the payment network trusted by tech giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Sony, Meta, Spotify and tencent. Did you know that more people today pay with a local payment method, than with a Visa or MasterCard? (Ed: I didn't! ) Boku is a leading global provider of mobile payment solutions globally (HQ in London but offices globally)and its Payment Network has the world’s largest selection of local payment methods, reaching over 7 billion consumer payment accounts in more than 90 countries worldwide, serving 300+ payment methods, including mobile wallets, direct carrier billing, and account to account/real-time payments schemes.

Boku works with the world’s largest merchants helping them to grow their businesses, with payments that reach mobile-first consumers, targeted marketing programs that attract, engage, and retain digital subscription users, and merchant services that ease the complexities of global settlement, compliance, tax, and fraud mitigation. Sounds pretty neat to me. If you need help to simplify sign-up, acquire new paying users and prevent fraud, then chat to Trevor. This is boku's first time sponsoring and hopefully not their last!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder... welcome back Apadmi

Want talk about all things mobile apps? Then come and find Nick Black and his team from Apadmi. Apadmi designs, develops and optimises mobile apps for leading brands. They unlock new value through strategy, platforms, middleware and systems integrations that transform the way they work. Nick (not to be confused with fellow sponsor Nick Allott!) and his team are no strangers to the joy of Swedish Beers but it's been a while since they were last with us in Barcelona. Absence just makes the heart grow fonder though so I'm delighted to welcome them back.

Nick is particularly interested in finding the new new this year at MWC, you know, the real game-changing stuff with substance over style. Feel free to share your MWC Greatest Hits with him on Wednesday night in exchange for a beer token or two.

aql and Trusti are back sponsoring Swedish Beers

Oh, it's good to have returning sponsors! Professor Adam Beaumont has been sponsoring Swedish Beers since the early days and has sponsored more Swedish Beers parties than anyone else. Now that's a claim to fame!

aql is one of the UK's most innovative telecoms operators and a hidden enabler of smart cities. They believe that by powering a connected society through their enabling technology it will create more efficient, smarter and more resilient cities. in so doing, it will make society better and build a better future for all. aql can help you with messaging, connectivity, 5G as a service, voice, MTM and IOT, colocation and innovation. 

As well as running aql, he's also supporting new tech businesses including Trusti. Trusti provides trust-as-a-service in the data and physical domain. Securing SMS, IoT and code providing NFTs to preserve physical value. 

Trusti is an auditable token platform built to support lifecycle integrity across any industry or process. It's the globally trusted certificate authority and immutable ledger architecture behind Trusti Tokens, which are publicly verifiable, secure, and flexible enough to suit all use cases. That could be CA as a service for enterprise, defence or government, for example. The Trusti Token can also be generated as a secure QR code, and Adam can show you that in action on the night in exchange for a beer token or two.

Welcome to the Swedish Beers family, Trusti and welcome back aql!

Dr Nick joins us once more from nquiringminds

NquiringMinds is back for the third time supporting Swedish Beers. 

It's a trusted AI company led by the super-smart Dr Nick Allott. NquiringMinds is building secure AI agents. NquiringMinds' VOLT4.AI platform helps customers develop and deploy secure AI agents on top of a solid zero trust backbone. Everything is underpinned by fully distributed digital identities; giving the customers full control of their data and providing ultimate flexibility on where and how their systems are hosted. The company is multi-award winning, with customers across telecoms, defence and manufacturing sectors. With security at its core, Volt4.AI paves the way for confident AI agent collaboration.

Nick and his team are also lovely so I'm delighted to welcome them back. 

Welcoming David Rogers and his team from Copper Horse

Long time attendees and friend of Swedish Beers but first time sponsor -- I'm delighted to welcome David Rogers and his team from Copper Horse. 

Copper Horse is a UK-based company specialising in future cyber security. The organisation only takes on interesting and complex projects, operating in the mobile, IoT, automotive and AI domains across the world. The company is currently working on the future protection of AI systems and telecommunications networks. Copper Horse also works on international standards in the internet and mobile space, helping to make technologies 'secure by design' through better standards and recommendations.

Copper Horse also supports the security research community in the car hacking and policy domain, as well as working on interdisciplinary research - get this - the company is currently researching deciphering 17th century shorthand using AI which it intends to open source. 

And, as if that wasn't enough, it also supports STEM development for young people, sponsoring the premier league of indoor and outdoor skiing in the UK, the Copper Horse GBR Series as well as partaking and sponsoring in esports sim racing with its car hacking simulator rig (see pic).

Find out more at https://copperhorse.co.uk

With all that going on, I'm sure you'll find something to talk about with David!

Well, that was quite the night! Thank you for coming!

It always takes me a little while to get over the intensity and madness of Mobile World Congress. There's so much to see, so many people to meet and so many good conversations to digest and mull over. Throw in some sleep deprivation and being out of my usual routine means I take time out to recover.

I'm still buzzing about the whole show, but in particular, I'm buzzing about Swedish Beers. It was such a fun night. Thank you to everyone who came - Swedish Beers is nothing without all of you, whether you're one of my regulars or discovering the party for the first time.  

A big thank you to my sponsors: Toby at Headforwards, Adam from aql and TrustiUK, Anton & Steph from Imagination, Nick from nquiring Minds,  Eduardo from Monedata, the Combain Team, Ian from DigitelTalk, and Troy from SER Team. Of course, their financial support is needed and pays for all the beers. But to me, the personal support they give me means just as much.

And let's not forget the fab team at Space Cowboy who looked after us so well. They kept the beers and cocktails flowing and joined in the fun too. They tell me we were all lovely too. Praise indeed.

And finally, thank you to my gorgeous photographer Erika Arias who always manages to capture the occasion so well. You can see for yourself here.

 

I am planning a London comeback edition of Swedish Beers very soon - watch this space, as they say. If you fancy sponsoring, please get in touch.

Until the next time!

Skal

Helen

The photos are up on Flickr!

 A big thank you to Erika Arias for the fabulous photos once more. You're all looking gorgeous in them. You'll also find some of the pix over on our instagram. [Update] They were on Facebook until our page there got hacked and disappeared. Sigh.

Until the next time. Skal!

Let's not forget our Swedish Beers supporters - SER Team, Combain and Digitel Talk

We're very lucky at Swedish Beers to have friends of the family, as it were. I'd like to give a special thank you to a few people who have helped get this year's show on the road. They'll also have a few beer tokens on the night so do search them out for a chat and a token. 

First up, Troy Norcross, is no stranger to Swedish Beers. He's been a few times before over the years and is back this year. Troy heads up SER Team, and he's looking to connect with innovation leaders grappling with turning visionary ideas into reality. He's especially interested in those diving into the complex world of AI strategy. So, if you're navigating the hurdles of resource scarcity, lack of support, or regulatory constraints, join Troy for a drink and share insights on overcoming these barriers and transforming innovative potential into tangible success. 

https://serteam.co.uk 

Next, we have Yllka from Combain. She's been a superstar support behind the scenes. Although she can't be with us on the night, her colleagues from Combain are exhibiting in Hall 7, Stand 7C8. Combain is a leading geolocation service provider for IoT devices, offering AI-based indoor positioning, 5G LMF for private networks, and global cell ID positioning. They have one of the world's largest positioning databases and have clients across the globe including mobile network operators, security agencies and IOT manufacturers. Bjorn and his Swedish team will be at Swedish Beers, so make sure to find them.

http://combain.com

And last but not least, meet Ian Ginn. I only met Ian fairly recently, and this will be his first Swedish Beers party so go gently on him! Ian is a highly successful, internationally-orientated executive with decades of enterprise software sales experience. He heads up IFG, which specialises in unlocking opportunities for software providers and enabling growth in Europe's Telecom, Enterprise and Mobile markets. He's also great company so I know you're all going to warm to him.

Not only that but Ian has just launched a new podcast, Digitel Talk, with the inimitable and long-time friend of Swedish Beers, Frankie Spagnolo. Digitel Talk is a podcast with a mission to promote doing good in the mobile, telecoms and related technology industries. You'll hear from real people, find out what they have done, how it has affected them, others and the planet, and what great things we can expect. 

Ian and Frankie want to share the stories of those champions who want to help others and have found a way of using technology to achieve this. In sharing these stories, they hope that others will be inspired to do something good themselves. You can tune in right now to their first episodes over on Apple and other podcast platforms soon. Could you be their next guest?

http://www.digiteltalk.com

You gotta have some Imagination!

Another lovely sponsor, Imagination, joins the party. Imagination is a multi-award-winning Experience Design Company founded 50 years ago on a principle of Independent Creativity. Headquartered in London, with 13 studios worldwide, they bring together diverse groups of strategic, creative, and practical people to find the answers to client challenges. Still an independent agency, they've earned a reputation for consistently challenging and changing the status quo through their core offers of Consulting, Destinations, Content and Live. 

Anton Christodoulou (Global CTO) and Stephanie Balme (Biz Dev Director) will both be at Mobile World Congress this year. They are particularly interested to discover fresh ideas and companies that can help solve their client's problems in new and interesting ways. Their clients include LG, Ford, IKEA, LVMH, Samsung, Jaguar Land Rover, HSBC, Major League Baseball, 3M, Turkish Airlines, Shell and Telstra. Does that sound like you? If so, drop your contact details into this form, and one of the team members will be in touch.

Anton, Imagination's Global CTO, is part of the legend that is Swedish Beers, having been in on it from the very beginning back in London more than 20 years ago.  I'm chuffed to bits to have his continued support. Welcome home Anton and welcome aboard, Imagination!

Let's welcome our first sponsor... Headforwards

The Headforwards team are no strangers to Swedish Beers and are a previous sponsor. It's great to have them back!

Headforwards is both a consultancy (advisory and strategy) and a delivery partner for your software solutions. They're now 12 years old and are a trusted partner of clients in sectors including insurance, financial services, health, global communications and local authorities. 

Join Toby and his lovely team and find out how they've delivered value for over 120 different clients with one of the lowest attrition rates on the market. You can also find out how they support the local, growing digital community in Cornwall and form a key part of the annual Agile on the Beach festival. Oh, and they'll have some beer tokens to hand out too.

Swedish Beers - The "Are We Really Doing This Again?" Edition in Barcelona on Wednesday 28 February 2024

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.

Let's welcome long-time attendees, first-time sponsors - nquiringminds to Swedish Beers!

Well, that was a lovely surprise in my inbox just now. Nick Allott and his team at nquiringminds have been coming to Swedish Beers for I don't know how long, but this is their first time sponsoring. So let's give them a very warm welcome!

About NQM

nquiringminds provides intelligent trusted systems, combining deep AI powered analytics with strong cyber secure fundamentals. It's a deep tech UK company, which since 201 has been successfully deploying its solutions into smart cities, health care, industrial, agricultural, fintech sectors, with defence and security becoming increasingly dominant.

The company also has an impressive pedigree: Cisco identified nquiringminds as being a Top 15 Company in IOT. They were awarded a Cabinet Office Open Data Champion Award, a Parliamentary Nomination for Innovation in Productivity and Most Innovative Solution award at the Ministry of Defences AI Hackathon. They won an IOT Boost award for their health care product line, and Cyber Savvy Company of the year award for their security credentials. 

The former UK Prime Minister , Teresa May, selected nquiringminds to represent the best of UK Innovation on her first ever trade mission. nquiringminds is one of only two SMEs to feature as a case study in the UK Governments £4.6 billion Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund Whitepaper. They have featured as one of TMForums Industrial IOT 5G Catalyst projects and are a TechNation Cyber 2.0 alumni. Recently Techworks recognised nquiringminds as DeepTech company of the year in 2022. They are a DCMS UK’s Most Innovative Cyber SME 2022 finalist.

I think it's safe to say, they know what they're talking about!

Whilst in Barcelona, you'll find them at MWC in Hall 7 at 7A15 where they're launching two new products: 

TDXVolt: a zero trust services infrastructure platform and
CyberTDX: a cognitively enhanced cyber defence service designed for the internet of things (IoT)
Both products are the latest iteration of the TDX product family.

Find out more about that here and here

Drum roll please.... Announcing our lead sponsor for Swedish Beers this year... Mintegral!

I was saving the best until last! I'm delighted to announce our lead sponsor for the party - Mintegral. Mintegral is a leading programmatic and interactive mobile advertising platform, focused on the APAC region. Mintegral provides the most effective monetisation solutions for developers in more than 100 countries, providing user acquisition solutions for global gaming, e-commerce and finance advertisers to grow their businesses in APAC.

Powered by advanced AI technology,

Tomorrow night, you can hang out with Christian Atack (Head of Publisher Development EMEA) and Alvaro Gil Abad (Business Development Manager EMEA). They are particularly keen to meet with mobile app developers and mobile marketers who are thinking about going into APAC and would like to know more about the market.

Find out more about Mintegral on their website http://mintegral.com and welcome Christian, Alvaro and Mintegral to Swedish Beers!

Swedish Beers #14 in Barcelona: welcome to our sponsors!

I'm delighted to introduce you to the sponsors for the upcoming Swedish Beers Mobile Networking party in Barcelona on Wednesday night. We have a lot of support for the night so it's going to be a great night! If you haven't registered already, do it now!



On to the sponsors for without them, there would be no free drinks! We have a few newcomers to the party and lots of regular sponsors. So let's meet them.

Yes! Louisville

First up, all the way from Louisville, Kentucky, welcome to Yes! Louisville. Head honcho, podcaster and tech enthusiast, Jason Mudd, will be on hand to chat with you about what's hot and what's not at this year's MWC. He wants the low down from you all to share with his audience back home in the USA. He'll also have a whole bunch of beer tokens. It's his first time at both Swedish Beers and at MWC, so let's sure we give him a warm welcome.

Samsung Internet

Next, please welcome the fab team from Samsung Internet. The team are regulars at the party but it's the first time they're sponsoring. Go chat to them all things mobile web. Oh, and don't forget to check out their website.

Samsung Internet for Android is the web browser that is pre-installed on Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets. It is based on the open-source Chromium project, to which Samsung is a major contributor. They have a great online Developer Hub where you will find demos, articles and documentation to help you make the most of the latest web features in Samsung Internet and other browsers too.

I'm also thrilled to bits to be welcoming back some familiar names and faces as sponsors. We must be doing something right for people to come back as a sponsor.

Welcome back Equal Experts!

Equal Experts is a network of talented, experienced software and hardware consultants, specialising in agile delivery. Their in-depth expertise and an uncompromising approach to quality make all the difference – and that’s what the background of engineering rigour and proven delivery practices brings.

The company has a long-standing relationship with the mobile industry, having worked with O2 Telefónica on its mobile app platforms since 2012. Together, they delivered the Priority and MyO2 native apps along with the platform that powers them – supporting millions of happy O2 customers along the way.

Equal Experts' efforts in mobile go beyond software to include proprietary hardware. Their BluetoothTap technology unifies the 'tap & go’ experience across all major smartphones. IBM iX has adopted BluetoothTap in its vision of the future of retail, successfully using it within a prototype for a secure, mobile-first retail shopping experience to dramatically improve checkout times.

Paul Stringer, and some of his senior mobile team, will be joining us at Swedish Beers. It's their second time as a sponsor so please be sure to give them a very warm welcome. And you can check out what they're doing at MWC on their dedicated website or hang out with them and the SAP peeps in Hall 3, 3N31.

Welcome back 51 Degrees!

Next up is 51 Degrees. James Rosewell and his team will be in Barcelona and joining us as a sponsor for the second time. So let's make sure we welcome them back with open arms.

51Degrees provides The Fastest and Most Accurate Device Detection solution. That may sound like a boast, but James tells me it's true. Who am I to disagree?!

Did you know that over 150 device models are launched worldwide every week?? Well 51Degrees does, because they add them into their database every single week.

Trusted by millions of people, they have over 1.5 million active deployments in virtually every country around the world using the 51Degrees device detection software day in and day out.

This software helps companies in Adtech, Publishing, Digital Experience platforms, Ecommerce, Telco, leveraging our huge database of over 1.2 million (and growing) device combinations. This means the tech and screen size never gets in the way of the user experience regardless of device type. Using device detection makes you more money through more accurate targeting and optimized content.

So if you think you know everything there is to know about mobile device detection or optimisation, why don't you challenge James and his team and test their knowledge over a beer in Barcelona?! You can also check them out in the exhibition on stand 7UP.72.

Not only do we have sponsors, but we have supporters too. They also chip in to the beer fund so they have beer tokens too. Let's meet them.

Kairos Future

All the way from Sweden, welcome to Kairos Future. They are an international consulting and research outfit that helps companies and business leaders understand and shape their futures. Helene from the Global Innovations team will be at the party and would love to chat about innovations you've seen this week or you'd like to see happen in the future.

Noba Ventures

 

Noba is an agile execution innovation company. They combine lean startup, fast prototyping and agile methodologies to help corporates develop and launch new businesses faster. They've helped launch breakfast products, medical devices and financial services, and more. The team combines innovation with mixology, football teams with startups and created an idea store open to the public. Find out more from Daniel and his colleagues on Wednesday night.

Redmill Marketing Associates

Redmill Marketing Associates have the kind of extensive marketing know how you'd expect from a full-service agency but specialising in marketing for the telecoms and technology sectors. Meet Guy Redmill, the founder at the party. He's been to the party many times so we're extra specially pleased to welcome Redmill as a supporter. Cheers Guy!

ZZZ Corporate Accommodation

Regulars to Swedish Beers in Barcelona will have met the lovely Helen and Tess from zzz in previous years. If you need accommodation in Barcelona, Cannes, London and beyond, they will have the right place for you. And not only that, they can do your event organising too. You'll find them at lots of big industry events - not just at MWC. Next time you're on the lookout for something a little bit special, check 'em out.

Trustonic

A big up to Colin and his team at Trustonic. They're the lovely people who give me MWC passes to give away. Trustonic's mission is to embed the best security into the world's smart devices and apps, empowering mobile and IoT developers to build the trust required to deliver simple, fast and secure solutions. If you were lucky enough to win one of the passes this year, please do search Colin out to say thank you. You'll see him at Swedish Beers but also check out the Trustonic stand 6140 in Hall 6 at MWC. 

    

If you haven't RSVP'd yet, you can do that here. 

Skål!
Helen

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

Swedish Beers is back in Barcelona during 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.

Barcelona 2018 wrap up - thank yous, photos and more

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.

Next events:

The next Swedish Beers event will be in London but I haven't yet fixed a date as I need to co-ordinate sponsors. If you'd like to sponsor, get in touch by email here.

In the meantime, you may want to pop along to the panel session I'm chairing in London on Wednesday 21 March 2018 where we're discussing what we discovered at this year's Mobile World Congress. Panellists include Paul Stringer who heads up the mobile team at Equal Experts and Priya Prakash who is the founder of D4SC and is also one of the UK Government's DIT Technology Specialists.

Tickets are free and tapas and drinks are courtesy of Equal Experts. RSVP required. You can do that by registering for a ticket below or by clicking here to reach the Eventbrite page.

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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

Win a free pass to this year's Mobile World Congress expo in Barcelona with Trustonic!

The lovely people at Trustonic have come up trumps again with a lovely Mobile World Congress pass giveaway. We have five passes to give away. Closing date is Wednesday 21 February 2018. All you have to do is answer one question and provide us with your contact details. The form is below.

Good luck and hope to see you in Barcelona!

(Travel/accommodation not included)
   

Announcing our first sponsors for Swedish Beers #13 in BCN!

I'm delighted to welcome the first batch of Swedish Beers sponsors for the upcoming Swedish Beers Mobile Networking party in Barcelona.

First up, Equal Experts.

Equal Experts is a network of talented, experienced software and hardware consultants, specialising in agile delivery. Their in-depth expertise and an uncompromising approach to quality make all the difference – and that’s what the background of engineering rigour and proven delivery practices brings.

The company has a long-standing relationship with the mobile industry, having worked with O2 Telefónica on its mobile app platforms since 2012. Together, they delivered the Priority and MyO2 native apps along with the platform that powers them – supporting millions of happy O2 customers along the way.

Equal Experts' efforts in mobile go beyond software to include proprietary hardware. Their BluetoothTap technology unifies the 'tap & go’ experience across all major smartphones. IBM iX has adopted BluetoothTap in its vision of the future of retail, successfully using it within a prototype for a secure, mobile-first retail shopping experience to dramatically improve checkout times.

Paul Stringer, and some of his senior mobile team, will be joining us at Swedish Beers. It's their first time as a sponsor so please be sure to give them a very warm welcome.

Welcome back 51 Degrees!

Next up is 51 Degrees. James Rosewell and his team will be in Barcelona and joining us as a sponsor for the second time. So let's make sure we welcome them back with open arms.

51Degrees provides The Fastest and Most Accurate Device Detection solution. That may sound like a boast, but James tells me it's true. Who am I to disagree?!

Did you know that over 150 device models are launched worldwide every week?? Well 51Degrees does, because they add them into their database every single week.

Trusted by millions of people, they have over 1.5 million active deployments in virtually every country around the world using the 51Degrees device detection software day in and day out.

This software helps companies in Adtech, Publishing, Digital Experience platforms, Ecommerce, Telco, leveraging our huge database of over 880,000 (and growing) device combinations. This means the tech and screen size never gets in the way of the user experience regardless of device type. Using device detection makes you more money through more accurate targeting and optimized content.

So if you think you know everything there is to know about mobile device detection or optimisation, why don't you challenge James and his team and test their knowledge over a beer in Barcelona?! You can also check them out in the exhibition on stand 7UP.72.

Welcome back x-Mobility!

x-Mobility is the Mobile Virtual Network Aggregator (MVNA), for Hutchison 3G UK, providing a White-labeled MVNO service for brands wishing to enter the mobile space. x-Mobility has a full MVNO license and provides all the services required for a brand to create its own MVNO proposition. By working with x-Mobility, brands can become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) launching their own branded mobile service in as little as 90 days and at a fraction of the cost and time of attempting to do this directly with a mobile operator. Pretty neat, huh?

Shanks and his team will be at Swedish Beers and they're particularly interested to talk to brands (inc MVNOs & OTTs), media owners and app entrepreneurs who are looking to launch Telco Mobile Services about how to enable you with alternative mobile services which, in turn, helps you acquire, grow and own your own subscriber base. Not only that, they're a great team to hang out with and talk all things telco.

If you haven't RSVP'd yet, you can do that here. Remember, we're not in Dostrece this year but I have a brilliant new venue lined up for you in central Barcelona. More on that in the next few days.

If you'd like to sponsor this year's event in Barcelona, please get in touch with Helen. There's still time to get involved. The more the merrier!

Skål!
Helen

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