My Love-Hate Relationship with Mobile World Congress

5 Feb 2014 • 1 minute read

My friends are jealous. I get an all-expense-paid trip to Barcelona, Spain to see the latest and greatest mobile technology at Mobile World Congress (MWC). They don't believe it when I tell them I love the yearly trips to Barcelona, but also hate it.

What I love about Barcelona and MWC:

Staying in the Gothic quarter, with all the good food and entertainment.
The nice busses we rent that take us directly to and from the convention center.
All the sights and sounds of Barcelona. Many years I have stayed after the show and enjoyed the city.
The people at MWC. They're smart. They want to engage in meaningful conversations. We get meetings with the brightest CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and top engineering management, who all want to learn about the latest technologies.
The trade show booths have running water, nice kitchens and often drinks late in the afternoon.

What I hate about Barcelona and MWC:

The pickpockets. Employees lost phones and wallets until we started bussing them directly to and from the convention center.
How tired I can get. This show starts at 9 and ends at 7. It's an incredibly long time, not counting transportation, dinners, etc.
How little time I can get out of our booth to see what's going on. We're so busy, with four meeting rooms full just about all day long. Plus we have demos of our audio, baseband and imaging products. There's so much activity.
I can't buy the cool stuff I see at the show. Yes, it's a business only show - no retail sales. And often people demonstrate new products just to check out market acceptance, then they make the ones that get the most attention.

Come by our booth or, better yet, schedule an appointment with mfoster@cadence.com. We're in Hall 6, Stand 6L36. And we're also at the MIPI booth in Hall 5, Stand 5E30. If you can't attend the show, or want to enhance your experience there, be sure to catch our live event coverage. My colleagues and I will be bringing you real-time photos and other insights; watch the feed from any connected device starting Feb. 24. See you at the show and online!

Paula Jones