Battle Scars of Mobile World Congress

I wasn’t about to take the metro. That would be just too much. So I had the hotel call me a taxi, and I rested all the way there. After about 20 minutes in the car, I paid the driver, grabbed my computer bag and my French crutches, and began the first of many long walks that week into the Fira Palace and straight to our stand. It was a long week, to say the VERY least.

Anyone who has visited Barcelona to attend Mobile World Congress, the largest global mobile event that draws tens of thousands of visitors, has tales to tell. Stories of walking among the grit on La Rambla after an always-late dinner. Shoving yourself and everyone else around you on the metro to get back to your hotel every night. Desperately searching for a place to rest your swollen, sore feet between the hours of 9am and 7pm. Bestowing kindness on someone by letting them rest in your stand a few minutes longer before shooing them away. Struggling to find ice in a hotel so you can care for your not-yet-healed broken ankle that has been held together since 7am in a removable cast.

Ah, yes. I’ve seen a lot of long days in Barcelona for this event. I’ve had more than my fair share of trials and tribulations. Yes, more than attending with a fractured bone in my ankle.

I’ve experienced horrid food poisoning while in the very early stages of pregnancy and had my entire handbag stolen. I’ve had my feet overtaken with blisters (first year only; I learned that lesson fast). And yet, for better or worse, in about two weeks, I am heading back for more….optimistically.

Barcelona is a beautiful, cosmopolitan, metropolitan, international hub. It’s fashionable and chic; boasts renowned, historical architecture and jaw-dropping buildings. The wine is divine, and the language is unique. When I visited as a backpacking tourist years ago, I loved my adventures and the many glasses of sangria.

It’s different to me now, this fair city. Now it’s work. And some less-than-stellar memories. But I’ll put all that behind me during show hours for those 4 days of “Mobile is Everything” at Mobile World Congress 2016 where I’ll reconnect with old colleagues and friends, build relationships with new ones, learn about the latest and greatest in the mobile space, maybe experience some virtual reality, and enjoy nice dinners for a couple of hours each night after the show closes.

I’ll do my best not to sustain any injuries between now and my departure date. I’ll dig out my comfortable trade-show shoes. I’ll make copies of all my important documents, back up my devices and bring a small handbag that will never leave my body.

Here’s to a great #MWC16!

Want to share your escapades from MWC of past? I know you have some, and I’d love to hear them.