MWC Barcelona

The mobile industry's yearly meeting

MWC Barcelona is organised by the GSMA, the association of mobile operators. It grew out of the GSM World Congress, held in Cannes until 2005, and has been held in Barcelona since 2006, at Fira Gran Via since 2013. Every late February or early March, operators, device makers, network equipment vendors, chipmakers and a growing number of companies from other industries meet there for four days.

The floor is organised by hall and theme, and the largest exhibitors build multi-storey stands with meeting rooms. A great deal of the business happens in those rooms, in meetings booked weeks ahead, while the open parts of the stands take the passing traffic. For a smaller exhibitor, the challenge is to get noticed by the right people in that flow, and to record who they were.

Planning your participation

Start with the meetings. MWC visitors are busy, and the people you most want to see plan their days well before they land in Barcelona. Book what you can in advance, and leave room on the stand for the conversations you did not plan.

Barcelona hotels are in high demand during the congress and prices rise accordingly, so book early, or look at the towns along the coast and the train lines that serve L'Hospitalet. Metro line L9 Sud connects the airport to the venue, which helps when the team arrives on the first morning. Before leaving, give each person on the team their own link and QR code, and agree on the two or three questions that sort a contact: company type, project and timing.

On the floor

Many MWC visitors carry a badge and expect to be scanned. Trade show mode lets the salesperson photograph the badge or the card, tick the answers and add a note in a few seconds, and it works when the hall network is saturated, which happens on the busiest days. For visitors who prefer to type their own details, a QR code on the stand or a visitor tablet at the entrance of the meeting area does the job without a salesperson.

Keep notes specific. "Interested" says nothing after four days of MWC; "wants a quote for 200 units for the third quarter" does.

After the show

The week after MWC is crowded with follow-ups from every exhibitor. Stand out by being precise: name the meeting, the product and the next step, and send it while the conversation is recent. Hot contacts, marked on the stand, deserve a call before any email; the rest can receive the automatic follow-up a few days later.