5 Lessons from First Time Exhibitors at Mobile World Congress (MWC)
In July 2021, crowds composed of IT and Telecom companies, businessmen and tech enthusiasts, along with the city of Barcelona successfully (and safely) held the Mobile World Congress (MWC), a year after it was cancelled due to COVID-19. mojitok, first time exhibitors at MWC, who were originally supposed to exhibit at the event in 2020, learned an astonishing amount leading up to, during, and following the event.
About MWC Barcelona
First , for those unfamiliar with MWC (or el Mobile to Barcelona locals), the event is a multi-day IT conference/show- extraordinaire. Having changed names and locations since its inception over 3 decades ago, it is now held annually in Barcelona, Spain by the GSMA. MWC is now not only known the world over, it has also expanded to different regions (such as Los Angeles and Shanghai).
However, in 2020 — for the first time in the event’s history, MWC was cancelled, due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Normally, more than a hundred thousand visitors gather at MWC where industry giants break news or announce new products. The city of Barcelona also benefits from the MWC, due to the masses that flock to the city to attend the event. In 2019, GSMA recorded over 109,000 attendees. For mojitok, it meant losing an opportunity to learn the cutting edge of industry trends, and forgoing meeting various companies and potential partners.
That’s why most visitors and exhibitors this year started the event on a bittersweet note. Despite missing the event completely in 2020, and in light of the world experiencing the difficulties brought on by the pandemic, many were excited just to get back in person and meet each other face-to-face.
Yet, for the first time MWC attendee/exhibitor mojitok, the event was a completely novel and exciting experience. We did, saw, and learned so much in only four days. Here are 5 lessons we learned from our virgin trip to el Mobile.
1) Plan Ahead…a lot ahead.
If you think that the event starts when the doors open (or even during set up the day prior), that would be a huge miscalculation. In truth, the event can start from as short as a few weeks out — to months (and even years in this case!). With an event at this size and scale, and considering all the costs of attending the event (exhibitor’s fee, air travel, accommodation, local transport, food, etc.), it is crucial to plan and leave as little to chance as possible. Especially this year with the extra travel and safety precautions, it was a challenge just to figure out PCR tests, quarantine rules, and local COVID-19 guidelines.
When you factor in the actual preparation for the event — such as researching and reaching out to other companies in order to set up meetings, planning and outlining the booth design, to filling out and uploading everything that goes into your company and personal profile page…the time needed to accomplish everything really stacks up. And you can trust on good old Murphy’s Law to rear its ugly head — anything that can go wrong, will go wrong — hence you should prepare for and have a plan to tackle those worst case scenarios.
2) Have a strategy going in.
There is so much to see and experience at MWC (and it goes by so quickly) that it is incredibly easy to experience some FOMO — causing you to run around the exhibition without any real game plan. This year with three different halls, various areas, and with a list of goals that we wanted to achieve, we knew it was crucial to have a strategy, both for the entire event, and daily. As you should have already researched, selected, and contacted some companies that you are interested in meeting, that would mean that you have some meetings planned and scheduled.
The time other than those scheduled meetings is what you need to strategize around — for example, how many people will stay and man the booth vs. how many will walk the halls? Is it better to go booth by booth — or take a first pass and then come back to the most interesting opportunities? Have you considered when the best day is to go out and about rather than stay planted to the booth? (Some of these concerns aren’t present in the case that you have more than enough people — or if you’re just attending the conference alone). However you decide to do things, having a game plan and sticking to it will certainly help you manage your time and efficiency.
3) Don’t blend in — stand out!
From the beginning, one of our goals was to get as much attention to our booth as possible. This influenced our booth design, what we would do when people approached our booth — it even went as far as having a uniform look for mojitok exhibitors! One of the most consistent compliments we received from visitors and other exhibitors alike was how fun and inviting our booth was.
With only limited space in our booth — and an even shorter window to catch the attention of a passerby, we utilized everything in our arsenal to draw the eye in. Colorful and youthful could be said to be our booth design theme — with large cutout poster/stickers of our mojitok characters adorning the walls of our booth. A monitor (packed and brought to Spain…with love) displayed our interactive mojitok SDK demo — allowing us to give real-time demonstrations of our product. And perhaps the pièce de résistance, actual, physical mojitok stickers — some of which were designed and printed specifically for the event.
Anecdotally, our strategy worked as people remembered us as “The Sticker Guys” — or people would come by to take a look and grab a sticker, but stay to listen and learn about mojitok and our services. (Tip — rainbow unicorn stickers were the hit sticker this year. I repeat, rainbow unicorn stickers are all the rage.)
4) Pay attention to your body.
Yes — it is crucial to get as much out of the event as possible, but that won’t be possible if you don’t listen to your body and pace yourself! It can be mighty easy to rationalize cutting hours of sleep in order to be as productive as possible, or try to walk around the entire convention space on the first day to get acclimated, however if that extra sacrifice means you have less energy or are experiencing pain in the next couple days, you might find that you regret going 110% effort.
In our case, one core lesson we learned was to have proper footwear for the event — standing on your feet at the booth all day, or walking around the hall is more tiring than you might expect. For those who enjoy the nightlife more, moderation will be your friend — as a hangover is the last thing you want to be nursing as your booth is being approached (thankfully this isn’t a lesson we had to learn first-hand). Staying hydrated and making time to eat (and making an effort to eat clean and healthy) are also key activities to ensure a successful, and happy MWC!
5) Enjoy yourself!
Last, but definitely not least, is to remember to enjoy yourself! After all, unless you’re a local to the region, you’ll still be visiting the 8th Best City in the World. With so much to do, be it admiring intricate and gothic architecture, eating and drinking your way through the narrow and winding alleyways, or simply enjoying the nearby beaches or mountains — there is really something for everyone. It would be a shame to come all the way to Barcelona for MWC and not at least enjoy yourself a little! In our opinion, it doesn’t get much better than sitting outside with a cold Estrella, eating tapas and enjoying good weather and conversation.
mojitok
Developed by Platfarm Inc. in South Korea, mojitok is the ultimate sticker solution for all communication platforms. Preloaded on Samsung smartphones and Google’s official content partner, mojitok transforms digital communication through 200,000 GIF stickers and advanced AI technology. We hope to connect our 300 million users around the world emotionally through the universal visual language of stickers.
