3GSM cometh

3GSM is the biggest mobile phone expo in the world. it is coming here in February and during the week you cant get a hotel room for under $500 (unless you are prepared to stay 40 miles away).

Business wise it is the biggest thing to hit Barcelona for years and a huge coup for the city and its event-hosting ability. Tens of thousands of delegates and exhibitors will be here Mon-Thurs and a large percentage will haul their spouses out for the subsequent weekend.

They will fall in love with the city (as long as the weather improves) and tell their friends and/or come back again. I know this because Sarah and I first spent time here after a much smaller trade fair and did thus, going on to buy a flat here then move here for this year.

3GSM moves here from Cannes, the self-styled convention centre of the world which has justly got its come-uppance. Friends who attend the TV/film conferences there have nothing good to say about the hospitality of the French or indeed the long drive in from Nice airport. Delegates here will have some fun.

I have registered for 3GSM as a journalist which means a blizzard of calls from sweet yet terribly ernest PR interns from the US who go through whole lists of journalists going 'Hello I'm Mary Lou Thrackenhack from Mousehole PR and I wanted to set up a briefing with George X. Hackenabush, the CTO of eergizmo inc. which employs the latest bluetooth technology to facilitate one-to-many communities empowering people using mobile interaction...'

Meanwhile Yahoo just announced the launch of a big research centre here. This city is carving out a tech future...