Next event - HTML vs. Apps–you decide: 6 June 2010

Yes, it's the perennial debate. Should you place your bets on apps or the web? Which is better? Where will you make more money? Which do customers prefer? Do they even care? In what direction are we headed? Do we have to all bow at the altar of Jobs in order to make a meagre mobile buck?

These and more questions will be tackled at our upcoming debate on Monday 6 June sponsored by the lovely folks at BlackBerry. Venue tbc but likely to be the CBI at Centrepoint.

We're just finalising the teams but if you're interested to put yourself forward to be on one of the teams, then please drop Helen a line and tell her why you think you'd be good on one of the teams. And if you don't make the team, don't worry, there will be plenty opportunity to make your comment from the floor and to be an active participant.

Oh, and if anyone has a gavel they could lend us, that would be marvellous!

Registration will close at 10am on Sunday 5 June or whenever we're full - whichever comes first. Registration is required at http://momolo.org . All registration data will be shared with our sponsor BlackBerry.

Agenda:

Doors open at 6pm for a 6.30pm start

Each speaker gets 5 minutes to speak and 5 minutes for questions and discussion. Each team leader will have a few minutes to wrap up with their argument for or against the motion and then we will have an audience vote.

Networking and drinks from around 8pm.

Session closes at 9.30pm

Sponsors:

Our lovely sponsors for 6 June 2011 are BlackBerry and you might like to check out their BlackBerry Developer Zone and you may also be interested to take a look at this year's BlackBerry Developer Challenge... lots of categories and lots of prizes on offer. And also, don’t forget about BlackBerry DevCon Europe. There’s a call for speakers out at the moment but you need to get your application in before 24 June http://www.blackberrydevcon.com/europe.

Mobile Monday London is partnering with Money in Mobile Forum on 14 June 2011

So what’s this all about then? Well, the BLN are running an event all about making money in mobile. Now that’s perked up your interest I can see! As part of that (and one of the key reasons why we decided to partner with them) is that they are looking for 10 companies to show how they are helping their customers make money from mobile. The entry deadline is 31st May.

The showcase is one element of the day http://moneyinmobile2011.thebln.com/ and the idea behind the conference is to help organisations understand why mobile is a good, profitable business. So even without the showcase opportunity, this looks like it’s worth attending plus we have a MoMoLo members discount available too of 35%. We’re all in this to make some money, right?

So, if you’re interested in presenting at the event and telling your mobile-money-making story and would benefit from being exposed to investors, clients and journalists, then you could do worse than get your entry in. There will be a worthy panel of investors, journalists and buyers who will decide who wins ‘best in show’ http://moneyinmobile2011.thebln.com/mim-award-judges/. Plus if you want some attention from the press and want to meet investors including Accel, Amadeus, Balderton, DFJ, Doughty Hanson, Fidelity, Highland Capital, Intel Capital, MMC, Octopus, Oxford Capital Partners, Pentech, PROfounders Fund, Vodafone Ventures and others, there probably isn’t an easier way to do it. Presenting companies also get a free place to attend the event and the winner will walk away with an iPad, and who knows what else with such an interesting audience. Maybe this will be the investment story of the year?!

Why enter?

• Being on the shortlist of companies will set you apart and get you in front of some amazing investors and journalists
• You will be recognised as a business that can help other companies make money in mobile – not a bad selling point when it comes to convincing new customers
• The 10 presenting companies will benefit from pitching in front of an audience of CEOs, mobile entrepreneurs, corporate users and buyers of mobile technology, as well as investors (angel and VC) looking to finance high-growth companies
• All pitches will be recorded and posted on The BLN giving the presenting companies additional exposure

How do I qualify?

• Be privately held


• Have paying customers


• err, that’s it.

OK, I’m in. What do I do next?

• Spend about 5 minutes applying before 31st May at http://moneyinmobileawardentry.eventbrite.com/ and in less than 100 words, tell them how you make money for other companies [OK, I recommend spending a bit more than 5 minutes thinking through what your 100 words are, but the point is, it’s not a complex form to complete – ed].


• Closing date is midday on 31 May 2011. It is FREE to enter.


• Companies will be shortlisted and notified by 7 June 2011 by The BLN


• The final 10 companies will present their product or service during the Money in Mobile Forum being held in London on 14 June, presenting to our audience and panel of judges, and explaining why they have the biggest potential to enable companies to make money in mobile


• The winner will be announced at the end of the forum and will receive the BLN Money in Mobile Award

Please do spread the word amongst your colleagues so that we have a chance to see the best of the bunch in June. And of course, if you’d like to attend the event, then please take advantage of our special Mobile Monday London members 35% discount using the code MoMoLo.

Good luck and see some of you on 14 June.

Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2011 are Go! Open for entries until midnight CET 12 June 2011

Yes, it’s that time of year it seems. For the third year, Mobile Monday London is proud to be working with Vodafone on the Vodafone Mobile Clicks start-up competition. With success stories like Roulette Cricket and Woobius from the UK under its belt, this competition can really give a leg-up to a mobile start-up. And it’s free to enter, so you really have nothing to lose by entering. ‘You’ve got to be in it to win it’ as someone once said. Vodafone lays no claim on your IP and the prize is a no-strings cash prize. Now, that’s refreshing!

What is it?

Vodafone Mobile Clicks is an international contest to identify and develop the best, most innovative mobile internet start-ups. Already known as the biggest start-up competition of its kind, this year’s Vodafone Mobile Clicks is open to seven markets. Any start-up in Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Spain, Turkey or the United Kingdom that has a mobile site, service or application can compete for the €225,000 prize fund.

Judging will take place over three rounds. Firstly, each competing market will draw up a shortlist of their five best submissions, then a local winner will be selected. Lastly, all seven local winners will be invited to represent their country in a live final at the PICNIC festival in the Netherlands on 15^th – 16^th September 2011, where the overall winner will be chosen.

This year’s high-profile judges include Peter Barry, Head of VC and Start-up at Vodafone Ventures; Paul Jozefak, Managing Partner at Mobile VC; Reshma Sohoni, Partner at Seedcamp; Rudy de Waele, founder of Mobile 2.0 Europe and dotopen; and Lee Epting, Director of Content Services at Vodafone Group.

Judging criteria

Each judge will score entries based on five criteria:

1. Originality, creativity and innovativeness
2. Technical and operational feasibility
3. Economic and financial viability
4. Value to end-users
5. The quality of the management team (e.g. their experience, knowledge, skills, relationships)

This is a fantastic opportunity to gain expert feedback for your entry, both qualitatively and quantitatively from all of the jury members. And if your entry reaches the finals, then you’ll also benefit from PR and coverage at both national and European level. So it’s not just about the prize money (although that’s important too).

Entry criteria:

• Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2011 is open to all mobile-related start-up companies, businesses, institutions and all other organisations in the joining countries of this years' competition – UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Turkey.
• Participants must be or must have the intention to become a start-up enterprise/business in the field of mobile internet products or services.
• Each participant may submit only one entry. Previous entries from Vodafone Mobile Clicks are allowed to participate again.
• The enterprise/business cannot be older than 3 years since its inception. An enterprise or business older than 3 years may enter the competition provided that the concept entry will become a new entity (a holding may enter only ONE entity).
• The enterprise/business must have an annual turnover of less than €500k per annum.
• Concepts are not allowed (a demonstrable solution will be required).
• It is free to enter
• You will need to register a Vodafone developer account (if you don’t already have one) in order to enter the competition
• All entries must be received by midnight CET 12 June 2011.

Definition of “mobile”
What kind of entries are eligible for Vodafone Mobile Clicks 2011? Entries may be linked to the concept of mobile and mobile infrastructure in the most broad sense of the word and are not restricted to only mobile phones. Every device or infrastructure that is related to “mobility” may be considered to enter the competition. Think about mobile content, iPad apps, widgets, design, sites or services leveraging or integrating mobile technology.

Important:
At Vodafone we recognise that confidentiality plays a huge part in any organisation, especially in the start-up world. This is why Vodafone will ensure your entry is kept confidential and will not seek to own any IP (intellectual property) from your entry.

• All entries are confidential and will not be distributed outside of this competition.
• Vodafone does not seek to own any intellectual property in relation to entries for the Vodafone Mobile Clicks competition.
• Any applications submitted as part of the competition can be used by Vodafone for distribution, advertising and promotion in relation to the Vodafone Mobile Clicks competition.
• Please read the Terms and Conditions before you register. It consists of two parts:
  1. The competition (Please read this very carefully)
  2. Terms & Conditions specifically for Mobile Widgets (Only relevant in case you want to enter a widget for the competition)

If you still have some concerns about Vodafone Mobile Clicks, please contact: vmc2011@vodafone.com

If you have the inspiration and desire to be the best, then enter today! You can also follow progress of the competition on twitter.

Best of luck and get those entries in!

Open Mobile Summit–special deal for MoMoLo members

Good news! We have secured 10 tickets for Mobile Monday London members to attend the Open Mobile Summit London, June 8-9, at £850 (retail is £1395). First come, first served – offer ends Friday May 20. So you have just 5 days to get yourself organised. You can register with VIP code MOMOLO at: https://www.openmobilesummit.com/lon/register/

Not only that, if you are CEO of a small mobile app publisher, you can email the conference organiser, Robin Batt robin@openmobilemedia.com to apply for a further subsidized ‘developer’ pass. So why not give it a go if that sounds like you? No harm in asking, I’d say, if you fit the bill.

The Open Mobile Summit aims to connect the most influential and the most innovative in mobile, internet and media in an intimate networking environment. It’s not often you get the opportunity to rub shoulders with folks like Stephen Elop CEO Nokia, David Ko SVP Zynga, Peter Vesterbacka Rovio – and hear from Amazon, Groupon, Tesco.com, Conde Nast, Playfish, YouTube, Endemol, Fremantle, Boku, Zong and other industry giants. See the full agenda online here http://www.openmobilesummit.com/agenda.aspx

This is a really influential crowd – so if you’re looking for heavyweight partners to make your next idea fly, get to the Open Mobile Summit. The UKTI are also hosting a UK apps showcase at the party on June 8^th.  You may well see some familiar MoMoLo faces there.

“The Open Mobile Summit, more than any other mobile conference, connects the people really driving innovation in our industry. The London ’11 line-up is exceptional”

Mark Curtis, CEO, Flirtomatic

This event is nearly sold out so expect these special priced passes to go fast.

The Internet of Things and other M2M Stories

MobileMonday London brings you M2M, The Internet of Things and more, on the evening of 16th May.

You may or may not know much about this area, but with the kinds of numbers that are being spoken about - like 50 billion connected devices by 2020 - this looks like it really is "The Next Big Thing". We'll take a look at the vision of what's coming, discuss the practicalities of how this is going to be implemented, what this means for consumers and what the opportunities are for developers and entrepreneurs, including new business models. It's a big topic but we have a great panel to help us understand it, so it will have interest for those who are expert in this area and also to those for whom it's new.

Camille Mendler of Informa specialises in this area, as well as Cloud Computing and other Next Big Things, and she's kindly agreed to moderate the panel.

David Wood is Embedded Device Technology Lead at Accenture. David's an old friend of MoMo from when he was at Symbian. He's particularly interested in using smartphone technology beyond smartphones.

Dan Warren is Director of Technology at GSMA. You should check out their recent Smart Cities report.

Tor Björn Minde tweets as @EricssonLabs, and you may very well be one of his numerous followers. When he's not Tweeting, Tor Björn is R&D Manager there, and promises to bring some interesting demos with him. I'm wondering if he will bring a Facebook Connected Vacuum Cleaner.

William Webb is CTO at Neul. Neul has been in the headlines recently for proposing a non GSM based approach to M2M using TV "white space spectrum". They call the idea "The Internet of Everything". Which I suppose would be the Biggest Possible Thing ...

As usual, the event will be held at the CBI Conference Centre at Centre Point, right above Tottenham Court Road Tube station. Doors open at 6.00 for a 6.30 start, followed by drinks and networking from 8.00 to 9.30. Remember that the Northern Line is not stopping at Tottenham Court Road Station - use Leicester Square or Goodge St if you are coming that way. Service as normal(*) on the Central Line.

Many thanks to our sponsor for the evening, ICTKTN

Registration is required, at http://momolo.org/event.jsp?eventid=111 - look forward to seeing you there.

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(*) A tube strike has been announced for that evening, we hoping that will be averted and are planning to "Keep Calm and Carry On". We'll post updates on Twitter, Facebook and email if things change.