The surge in smart phone sales across the world has encouraged developers and designers to develop apps compatible with or exclusive to smart phones. The emergence of the mobile apps sector has added to the popularity of various mobile conferences. Apart from product showcases and launches, these conferences also help designers and developers connect with experts in the mobile industry. This post briefs some of the popular mobile conferences organized around the world.
Mobile World Congress: Organized by GSMA, the Mobile World Congress is one of the largest events in the mobile industry. The event was first held in 1987 at the coastal town of Cannes in France. The event’s importance and popularity is quite evident with its increasing attendance each year. The last edition of the 4 day event in 2011, held at Barcelona brought in 60,000 attendees. The Congress in its past editions has brought together industry bigwigs such as Ben Verwaayen of Alcatel-Lucent, Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel and Stephen Elop of Nokia. The Mobile World Congress has been a great platform for mobile and telecom companies from different parts of the world to display their work and interact with potential clients.
Mobile 2.0: The Mobile 2.0 conference brings together experts and thought leaders from the mobile ecosystem. The sixth edition of the event will be held on September 1, 2011 at San Francisco. Interspersed with workshops and interactive panels, the day long event aims to highlight the latest trends in the sector. Speakers at various editions of the event include Larry Berkin, Steve Bratt and Adam Boyden.
Voices that Matter – iPhone Developer’s Conference: The iPhone Developers Conference aims to connect developers and startups with experts and entrepreneurs in the sector. The 2 day event had attendees exposed to topics such as creating effective user interfaces, utilizing exciting design and optimizing iOS Project Management. Experts and Speakers from past editions include Stephen Kochan, Chris Clark and Michael Simmons.
Mobilism: Mobilism was the first conference that focused exclusively on web design and development for mobile devices. The event held in May 2011 at Amsterdam had experts and attendees exploring the mobile world from a web-centric point of view. Speakers who partcipated at the 2 day event include Steve Souder, Jared Pool and Eli Fidler.
Global Mobile Internet Conference: Organized by The Great Wall Club, the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) is Asia’s largest mobile internet conference. The Annual event takes place in April each year at Beijing. Apart from Speaker sessions and workshops, the event also boasts of a startup competition, that showcases and awards the best startups in the mobile internet space. Speakers from past editions of the conference include Wang Jian of Alibaba, Yang Yuanqing of Lenovo and Jay Sullivan of Mozilla.
Design for Mobile: The Design for mobile conference has carved out a niche for itself in the mobile events space with a clear focus on design in the mobile environment. Aimed at improving mobile user experience, the event brings together leading thinkers, researchers, designers and strategists from the mobile design field. Organized by Little Springs Design, Inc, the event will celebrate its fourth edition in 2011. Speakers from past editions include Christina Brodbeck of Youtube, Rafiq Ahmed of Motorola and Joe Grigsby of VML.
The Big M: Aimed at connecting attendees with the best minds in the mobile industry, the Big M is a new and independent event that was held in March 2011 at Bath, UK. The event drew a great response from attendees and experts alike. Topics that were discussed during the 2 day event include Mobile Usability, iPhone Design Principles and App Distribution and Monetisation. Experts from the sector who attended the conference include Raam Thakrar, Bruce Lawson and Dan Applequist.
What’s your take on this list? Is there an event you think we missed out? Let loose in the comments section.
