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Thursday July 30, 2009
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 The world's biggest cell-phone trade show, Mobile World Congress, aims to stay in Barcelona through 2012, GSM Association spokesman Daniel Lowther confirmed this morning.
"The GSMA has signed an agreement which will keep the Mobile World Congress in the city of Barcelona for an additional three years following the 2009 event," Lowther said in an e-mail.
There's a lot of buzz around whether Apple will show up at CES in Las Vegas next January, but for the mobile-phone guys, MWC is where it's at. It's safe to say that everybody who's anybody in the mobile industry has to keep an eye on MWC, which has grown over the past few years from a regional European show into a globe-girdling behemoth.
Last February I filed more than two dozen stories from MWC; if you're doubtful about the value of trade shows in general, you might want to read my column championing them.
Siting very large trade shows is a difficult task; there are only a few cities that can handle a really huge crush of people. That's what keeps CES in Las Vegas, though periodically they murmur about leaving if hotels don't lower their rates. Smaller trade shows have more flexibility; my other major show, the biannual CTIA (the US mobile phone show) has bounced between Las Vegas, Orlando, Atlanta, San Francisco, San Diego and New Orleans over the past several years.
Some of the problems trade show organizers face aren't obvious. To throw a successful show, you need a major airport, lots of hotels, a good convention center, adequate weather and decent transportation. MWC had to leave Cannes some years ago because the town didn't have enough hotels to house the attendees. CTIA's venture to Orlando was widely considered a failure by reporters because of extremely poor transportation to off-site venues.
MWC has its own issues; Lowther said "we paid particular attention to the rates charged by hotels, the level of petty crime and other security issues," and they've put a clause in their Barcelona agreement letting them cancel with twelve months' notice.
"This agreement is dependent on an annual review of performance against set specific targets, up to 2012. It covers specific enhancements to ensure the continued smooth running of the event, with key performance targets set for hotels, security, transport and continued investment in facilities at the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc site, where the Congress is held," Lowther said in an e-mail.
I'm glad MWC is staying in Barcelona. It's a pleasant city with great public transportation and decent hotels. If GSMA can use their clout to keep hotel rates reasonable and make the convention-going experience more pleasant, more power to them.
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