Ping Pong Robot, prizes, fundraising and more at Swedish Beers tomorrow night!

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!

Swedish Beers Goes to Barcelona Once Again. Come and Join the fun!

Oh my goodness, doesn't time fly? Here we are again in the New Year 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 at Dos Trece! It will be our 12th visit to Barcelona. Can you believe it?! 

Our lead sponsor is confirmed but there are slots available for co-sponsors and start-up supporters. Get in touch with Helen to discuss. The more the merrier etc

Like our previous events, this is a relaxed evening, no formalities, no presentations. Just come with an open mind, meet friends old and new, chat, enjoy a drink or three (courtesy of our sponsors - soft drinks available too) and have yourself a good time. Oh, and please leave the ties, the corporate personas and the sales spiel at the door. The Swedish Beers crew will be on hand to welcome you as well as Alex and the friendliest bar staff in town at Dos Trece.

Please RSVP on eventbrite to give us an idea on who's coming and we'll do our best to accommodate as many of you as possible but it does mean there's no guaranteed entry. Just come and go as you please. 

It is likely to get a bit busy at times. But don't worry, people will be coming in and out all evening. If it's very busy, there's no need to queue to get in, we'll have a second bar nearby for you to hang out in which will be just as good and where there will be plenty of people for you to network with.

Powered by Eventbrite

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

Check out the photos from our bash in Barcelona in 2016 on Flickr or Facebook.

Swedish Beers London needs YOU!

I had a lovely conversation earlier with my friends at The Nordic Bar to plot the next London edition of Swedish Beers. I'm a bit overdue a session on home turf having run successful parties in Barcelona and San Francisco earlier this year. So I've decided to crack and get it sorted sooner rather than later.

I have some potential dates available in the next 5 weeks but to make it happen, not only do I need you lovely lot to come along and join the fun, but I also need some lovely sponsors too to pay for the drinks and shenanigans. I already have one sponsor confirmed and am talking to another, but there's certainly room for two or three more to join the merry throng.

Who's up for being lead sponsor or a co-sponsor and help a couple of hundred mobilists mingle, chat and network?

Get in touch if that sounds like you and I can fill you in costs, how it works and the value you get for your money and support.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Skål!

Swedish Beers in Barcelona #10 on Wednesday 4 March 2015

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. Packages available for all budgets. 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. You can buy those online or get in touch for more info.

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.

Of course, none of this could happen without our sponsors.

Introducing our lead sponsor, Kochava

They're the bees knees when it comes to analytics and mobile attribution. They have some very nifty ways of getting the data you need whilst adhering to all data protection and privacy rules and best practice. They are unbiased and independent and empower advertisers to achieve their mobile media goals. Through mobile device recognition and tracking, the Kochava platform provides precise, real-time analytics that span from initial launch through conversion, optimization and lifetime value (LTV) reporting. They're using a really interesting scientific approach to do all this, so feel free to chat to them about game theory, big data and probability as well as chewing the mobile fat. Oh, and they'll have a big bunch of beer tokens so you know where to go to get your drinks! Find out more on their website http://www.kochava.com/

Sponsors

Welcome back AQL! If you've been to Swedish Beers in Barcelona before, you may well remember Adam and his crew as they've supported us for several years now. They really know their onions when it comes to voice, SMS and hosting. They've been in the mobile business for a very long time, have the most amazing data centre in a converted church in the North of England and are great fun to boot. Meet the gang to chew the mobile fat, enjoy a few beers and have a good time.
You may have met Futurice before at Swedish Beers in Berlin or London. They're a fab creative technology company, with offices in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Finland, have innovation and digital creativity in its DNA. Renowned for building digital services for people to love, they’re equally at home with enterprise software as they are with consumer products. And they’re not just working on websites and online projects; they’re also experienced in electronics and internet of things. Not only that, but they pride themselves on creating a great place for people to work (they were the No 1 company to work for in Europe in 2012 and 2013) which makes for great client services too. These guys are on a mission to work with people who want to build the world’s most awesome digital services. If that sounds like you, then Futurice are the people to meet. Jarkko and his team will be at Swedish Beers and they’re particularly interested in meeting marketing people, retailers, heads of mobile, innovation leads and people interested in designing and building great digital products and services. They’re a friendly bunch and will happily chat to you about all things mobile. I hope you’ll give Futurice a very warm Swedish Beers welcome!

Further sponsor and supporter announcements as they come...

Sell Tickets through 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.

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

Registration now open for Swedish Beers London!

Hurrah! Your favourite mobile networking party is back in London to bring you more beer and more chat! You’ll find the party at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel from 6.30pm onwards on Monday 19th May.

The first sponsor is confirmed - that's our friends at Open Mobile Summit. You may have met them at the Barcelona party in February as they had a lot of beer tokens! They enjoyed meeting you so much that they're sponsoring the party again and that means we have a new, bigger location. We're going to be at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel and the delegates at the Open Mobile Summit will be joining us too so there'll be a good mix of familiar faces and new friends. Don't worry, the party is still free to attend, it just means we have more room, and with a bit of luck, more beer too.

You can sponsor too!

I'm looking for more sponsors so talk to your FD, your CEO or whoever holds the budget and see if you can't join in the fun too on 19th May. Just like Barcelona, I'm offering some Start-Up specials as well and if you really fancy splashing the cash, there are combined Open Mobile Summit & Swedish Beers sponsorship packages. Get in touch with me to find out more.

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 and the lovely people at Open Mobile Summit and the Victoria Park Plaza have promised to look after us well.
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.

I've checked the Wi-Fi and it works and even though we're one floor down, the mobile signal seems to be good too so you'll be able to demo your latest mobile thing whilst enjoying your beer and a chat. We'll have the usual beer tokens and if they run out, we'll revert to a pay bar. There is a smoking area to the left of the main entrance of the hotel and is well signposted.

So let me introduce our first sponsors....

Open Mobile Media

I’m  delighted to welcome Open Mobile Media again to sponsor the London edition of Swedish Beers. As part of their sponsorship, they're giving away 10 Gold Passes to their upcoming Open Mobile Summit. It's free to enter the competition and the closing date is 23:59 on Thursday 1 May 2014. More information over on the Swedish Beers blog and click here to fill in the entry form.

You don’t have to register, but if you do, you’ll get a handy email reminder of the time, date and location. And it will also give me an idea of how many are coming and keep our sponsors happy.

Online Ticketing for Swedish Beers - the London edition, May 2014 powered by Eventbrite

Looking forward to catching up with you all

Skål

Helen

Like Swedish Beers on Facebook http://facebook.com/swedishbeers or follow on Twitter http://twitter.com/swedishbeers

Please note, your registration details will be shared with all sponsors.

Announcing aql and Adjust

It really warms the cockles of my heart to welcome back sponsors year after year. And that’s exactly what I’m doing here now. When you get to Swedish Beers next week, you’ll need to keep your eyes open for the sponsors as they’re the ones with the free beer tokens. Go find them, and you’ll have free drinks!

In case you haven’t met them before, may I introduce (drum roll please) aql and Adjust.

aql is sponsoring us once again. Adam and his team will be on hand to chew the fat with you and generally make sure you have a lovely time. Who is aql ? Well they’re award-winning messaging specialists: They integrate mobile messaging and voice communications into your existing business processes. It just works. They have a rather fabulous data centre too in Leeds in a converted Methodist Church. That means you can also colocate securely in their datacentre (it is like Fort Knox in there!). They serve over a quarter of the FTSE100 and are as happy to work with SMEs as they are large corporates and public sector. They really are one of the friendliest bunch of people you could hope to meet and they really do know their mobile stuff – and not just the stuff they do. They really understand your business too.

 

You may remember Adeven from last year’s Swedish Beers party and the one we held in Berlin last summer (the beer garden was lovely!). Well, they’ve rebranded as Adjust. They’ll tell you much more about it at Swedish Beers. Wanna talk analytics? Adjust.io is the way to go.

Mobile app tracking and analytics company adeven is rebranding to take on the identity of its driver product, adjust which is the leading business intelligence platform for mobile apps. As an official Facebook mobile measurement partner that is also integrated with over 120 other networks worldwide adjust ensures that marketers and publishers know exactly how their app is performing, absolutely anywhere that they choose to market it. Their BI platform displays insightful and actionable metrics on a streamlined dashboard offering key insights into in-app behaviour to reveal any campaigns most promising marketing sources.

Watch out for further sponsor and supporter announcements…

And if you haven’t registered already, or would like more information, then you can do that here.

BYOD time tonight at Swedish Beers, LDN

Yes, Swedish Beers is happening tonight in London Town and it looks like it will be a good one. The theme of the night is BYOD. It's an acronym that has been running through the mobile industry recently, especially amongst enterprises. What's that you say? BYOD - Buy your own drinks. Not to be confused with Bring your own device... Yes, it's a buy your own drinks night tonight, but don't let that put you off. The Nordic Bar are looking forward to welcoming you and there'll be a good crowd there with friendly faces and mobile banter. I hear tell that it's also 2 for 1 on cocktails. I know what I'll be having later :)

Never fear though. There will be a few beer tokens lurking on the night. If you speak nicely to the Mobile Marketing Magazine guys, they will have a few tokens for the early birds. And they'll also have the latest issue of the magazine to give away which includes columns by Mobile Hero, Russell Buckley and our very own Helen Keegan. 

You may also find that there are a few beer tokens courtesy of our friends at the Payforit Summit. It's a new Heroes of Mobile partner event (you can find out about it here) and they've given Helen a bit of cash to buy a few rounds. So you may be able to blag a free drink yet... Looking forward to seeing you tonight.

Skål

So good we had to do it thrice

Swedish Beers parties galore klaxon alert!

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/

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/

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/

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

If you’re coming to one of the 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

Swedish Beers–Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Edition, BCN 2013

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 of the week is back to bring you more beer and more chat.

We do have some lovely sponsors lined up for you and we’ll be telling you about them shortly but there's room for one or two more if you fancy getting involved. 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 – Helen, Jenny, Russell and the crew - as well as the friendliest bar staff in town are all waiting to welcome you.

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.

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.

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 on Wednesday 27 February 2013.

See you in Barcelona!
Skål
Helen, Jen and the Swedish Beers crew

This is a Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival Event http://mobileheroes.net/
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
http://swedishbeers.org/

Please note RSVP’ing on eventbrite or Facebook does not guarantee you entry. It’ll just help you keep track of the venue, timings and other relevant details of the event and you’ll get an automatic reminder of the event by email from eventbrite registrations.

Event registration for Swedish Beers, Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Edition, BCN 2013 powered by Eventbrite

Photos from the 11th Birthday Party, London

Yes, yes, I know it’s taken a little while, but here are the photos from our fantastic birthday bash at the Nordic Bar. Eleven years of mobile networking was celebrated with a lot of chat and quite a bit of beer too. Alas, no professional photos this time, but some friends took the time to take some snaps.

Thank you to our sponsors as ever.

A big thank you to our lead sponsor, mobile advertising and analytics people, Millennial Media. They were ably supported by our friends at Inspiring Interns, Loop Me, and mobile messaging app yuilop.

 
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

If Facebook is your thing, the photos are up there too and feel free to tag yourself and your friends!

Until the next time.
Skål
Helen, Jen and the Swedish Beers crew.

Next stop will be Barcelona on Wednesday 27 February as part of Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival 2013. Details coming soon.

**********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

Photos from the Jubilee Edition, London

I know it’s a bit late posting these, but better late than never. Professional photographer and artist, Tugba Tirpan, took the photos for us and I think she did a great job.

Thank you to our sponsors as ever - Lead Sponsor were our generous friends at premium mobile advertising and analytics company, Millennial Media. millennialmedia.com

Additional sponsors were recruitment people Inspiring Interns inspiringinterns.com, TVGuide.co.uk (who do a fab tv guide app and site) - tvguide.co.uk, Swiftkey (the best keyboard app for Android. Don’t take my word for it, they’ve won a bunch of awards too) swiftkey.net

A good time was had by all I think!

 

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

If Facebook is your thing, the photos are up there too and feel free to tag yourself and your friends!

Until the next time.
Skål
Helen, Jen and the Swedish Beers crew.

Next stop will be Barcelona on Wednesday 27 February as part of Heroes of the Mobile Fringe Festival 2013. Details coming soon.

**********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–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.
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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.
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**********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

BlackBerry DevCon–Special Swedish Beers Offer

In case you needed something to do before Mobile World Congress next year, I thought I’d let you know that I have a discount code for the upcoming BlackBerry DevCon Europe happening on 7/8 February 2012 in Amsterdam http://www.blackberrydevcon.com/europe for Swedish Beers regulars. It’s the first time they’ve brought their popular DevCon to Europe (previously, it has only run in Asia and USA) and it promises to be a great event.

Aimed at the more technical people in our community, the BlackBerry® Developer Conference is the showcase for the latest innovations and breakthroughs with the BlackBerry® Development Platform. Thousands of BlackBerry enthusiasts come together to collaborate with platform experts from the community and attend sessions, demonstrations, hands-on labs and keynotes — all focused on developing leading mobile applications, no matter your skill level.

It's an amazing opportunity to connect with BlackBerry experts, get tips and discover ways to build for the BlackBerry platform whether in native or using web standards that allows you to extend your work onto other platforms. You'll walk away ready to reach a community of 70 million subscribers.

There’s an early bird rate (Euro 250) available until Friday 23 December and you can get 50% off that using this blog’s special offer code DSTNS0. And after that, you’ll get 50% off the standard rate (Euro 350) with the same code up until 18 January 2012. In addition, all delegates will receive a BlackBerry Playbook Tablet. Now that’s not too shabby a deal.

You need reasons to go? Well, here’s a few for you

• Train on the latest developer tools first hand, like BlackBerry WebWorks, APIs, BlackBerry Messenger SDK, BlackBerry 7, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet
• See best practices that will ensure a better understanding of the options for connecting to back end infrastructure, deploying apps, and how to use web services to our advantage
• Get up to speed on not just developing apps, but how to come up with multi-endpoint strategies using web technologies
• Be inspired by looking at what other companies are doing and how their approaches could benefit your company
• Learn how to develop Super Apps that do more for staff while they work away from the office
• Connect with the best of the best in the industry — from Research In Motion (RIM) leaders to partners and colleagues — ask questions and see if they've solved challenges you face

Hope to see some of you there. And failing that, see you at Swedish Beers in Barcelona… news on that coming very soon.

Skål

Happy 10th Birthday to Us!

What a lovely time we all had last week, celebrating Swedish Beers 10th anniversary – yes, that’s right, 10 whole years of mobile networking events in London, Barcelona and Sydney. We celebrated in style with a little help from our lovely friends and supporters at Somo and Inspiring Interns, who generously bought all the beers, my friends and cohorts, Jenny, Gabriel, James (who took all the photos) and Catherine, the Nordic Bar for looking after us, and of course to everyone who came.

As ever, there was an eclectic mix of people covering everything from Art to Science with some marketing, brands, media and entrepreneurship in between. For me, it was particularly fun to hear stories about Swedish Beers past where friendships, business partnerships, sales, and investments have been made. It warms the cockles of my heart to hear these and to know that networking at Swedish Beers works! And it wasn’t just the old-timers who turned up in force, there were lots of lovely new faces too to welcome to the Swedish Beers family proving that we’re in a vibrant, growing sector.

Well, not much more for me to say, except thank you to everyone and hope to see a lot of you in Barcelona on Wednesday 29 February for our annual Barcelona bash (get in touch if you’d like to be a co-sponsor – two spots left at the time of writing). In the meantime, enjoy the photos from the party last week.




Created with flickr slideshow.




Skål
Helen, Jenny, Gabriel, James and Catherine

Swedish Beers–The 10th Birthday Edition–7 Dec 2011

Rather amazingly, Swedish Beers is 10 years old. I can’t quite believe it. I can’t quite believe that I’ve been in one industry that long. The first Swedish Beers event was in the back of the Nordic Bar (our natural home) and was the brainchild of friend and colleague, Steve Flaherty. He got some of his mates together under the guise of a networking event about technology, put a bit of money behind the bar, courtesy of BT, and a royally good time was had by all and it turned into a regular thing. From the 25 or so people at the first event, we’ve grown somewhat and seen 1000s through the doors and have had parties in London, Sydney and the big one every year – Barcelona during Mobile World Congress. But for our birthday party and a bit of a pre-Christmas bash, we’re back to our old favourite, The Nordic Bar. James and his team will be looking after us.

But of course, it couldn’t happen without the financial support of our lovely sponsors, Somo, and Inspiring Interns and of course, the friendship and support of our friends and regular attendees. It’s all of you who make Swedish Beers what it is today. And for that, I really am grateful.

So back to the birthday bash. It’s the same formula as before – mingle, make friends, talk of mobiles, marketing, life in general, drink beer, talk some more, rinse and repeat. There’s no PowerPoint, no formal speeches, and no agenda. Just come with a smile on your face and be prepared to hang out with everyone from mobilists to marketers, brands, agencies, creatives, media owners, journalists, pundits and more. We hope there’ll be a good mix and friendly faces for you to chew the fat with.

We will have free* house beer, house wine and soft drinks for you courtesy of our lovely sponsors Somo Agency and Inspiring Interns. You’ll have to look for them to get your free beer tokens. There are plenty to go around. *While the bar tab lasts. If we run out of beer tokens and/or the bar tab is spent, then we’ll revert to a pay bar.

What: Swedish Beers Mobile Networking Party – The 10th Birthday Edition

When: Wednesday 7 December 2011 from 6.30pm until 11pm

Where: You'll find us at the Nordic Bar on Newman Street which is the North side of Oxford Street, nearest tube Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Circus or Goodge Street. We’ll be taking over the whole bar and there’s outside space with heaters for those who like to stand outside in the Winter. There’s no need to RSVP, just turn up. If you’re really feeling the need to RSVP somewhere, then you can do that over here https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=265361270178751

Skål

Helen, & the Swedish Beers crew

About the sponsors

Somo

Somo is the leading independent mobile marketing agency. Our mission is to help our clients benefit from the rapidly evolving developments in the mobile market. We do this by identifying the potential that mobile marketing can bring to a client’s business, then designing, building and delivering first class campaigns across all mobile platforms. We use sophisticated reporting and tracking tools to measure the success of campaigns to ensure that, whatever the objectives, they are achieved. Head honcho and very knowledgeable, Carl, and his growing team of experienced mobilistas will be on hand to chew the mobile fat with you and to hand out beer tokens.

Inspiring Interns

Inspiring Interns is today's intern recruitment solution, connecting businesses with fresh graduate talent. We search for talented, intelligent, and motivated young interns who want to learn, grow and importantly make a positive contribution through their skill sets and attitude. Any team, whether it is finance, administration, sales, marketing, HR, design or otherwise will benefit from having an intern as an additional team member.

We screen and interview every potential intern that we put forward for a position. We psychometric test them and ensure that we are dealing with highly motivated as well as talented people. If you want to meet any of our interns now you can perform a search or view via the player on our website. Search out the founders and long time friends of Swedish Beers and technokitten, Ben, Benedict, Sam and Charlie who will be on hand for fun, frolics and beer tokens.

**********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 (we’re phasing out the Swedish Beers FB group)

Heroes of the Mobile Fringe (working title)

Cross posted from http://technokitten.com.

Not content with just running Swedish Beers…. my new thing, or at least one of my new things is the very unofficial fringe festival happening in Barcelona at the same time as Mobile World Congress. You’ll find a landing page at http://mwcfringe.com where you can add your email address to be updated, there’s a group on facebook (likes are always much appreciated and if FB is your thing, then you’ll see the updates in your stream too) and you can follow proceedings on twitter and Lanyrd.

So what’s this all about then?

The unofficial fringe festival during Mobile World Congress is down to me. I've been attending the show for many years now and the events on the side (discussion sessions, parties, lunches, roundtables) that have proved at least as valuable and interesting to me as the main event. I've been running the Swedish Beers party and a ladies lunch at MWC for the last 7 years already, and I've also organised panel sessions, dinners, discussion groups and formal lunches. Back in London, I ran Mobile Monday London for the last 4 years or so, Swedish Beers for the last 10 years, and have run my own conferences and workshops in between the day job as a mobile media consultant.

The concept for the fringe festival is pretty simple... inspired by The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the aim is to bring the grass roots mobile community together.

- The website (and hopefully mobile friendly version – funds and resources permitting), will help you find events and happenings that interest you and add them to your diary.

- If you're an event organiser, then you can apply to include your event as part of the festival (and unless it's really dull, we’d love to include it and the more grass roots it is, the better). That way, we share the marketing effort through co-branding and make the pie bigger for everyone to share. If you wish to charge for your event, or you have a sponsor for your event, that's ok with us too.

- If you've not run an event at MWC before, we will try to make it a bit easier for you...I'm currently in the process of blagging cheap/free space so that small companies and communities of interest can apply to hold an event in that space so we'll act as a bit of a matchmaker. We don't mind whether your event is for five people or for 500 or anything in between.

- There'll be an email newsletter and we'll have editor's picks - a bit like The Time Out Guide to Congress if you like. On top of that, I hope to have a roving fringe reporter sharing what's going on under the radar during the festival at Barcelona.

- And if you sign up to our service, there’ll be fringe benefits too, ranging from the big stuff – free tickets to access the exhibition to the smaller stuff – free mobile apps and services to make your week easier to who knows yet – it’s all still in negotiation.

There is no fee to include your event for the fringe festival in February 2012. The business model is sponsorship and advertising. There is also scope for media, community and association partnerships.
The festival will start the weekend before Congress (I'm just negotiating an event for the Sunday, but others may have something up their sleeve for the Saturday too) and we hope to finish a day or two afterwards. Like all good festivals, it is open to all – individuals, big companies, small companies and everything in between.

Get in touch

If you'd like to get involved or would like to discuss further (e.g. sponsorship opportunities, volunteering, media partnerships etc.), please get in touch.

*Please note that the festival is not connected to or endorsed by the GSMA*