29 March 2012

The Guardian Activate New York - MEF members save 30%

MEF is pleased to be supporting the Guardian's second annual Activate Summit, New York, a one-day summit for business leaders, developers and digital practitioners to discuss and debate the potential of the web to drive a more connected, creative and cohesive planet.

The event is on Thursday 3rd May at the Paley Center for Media, New York - MEF members can save 30% on admittance by contacting us for your exclusive discount code.

Activate will ask how business, government, education and society can use openness and digital to their advantage, bringing together experts, innovators and thought leaders to start answering these questions. They'll be examining the influence of web technologies on areas as diverse as global media and finance, the environment, citizenship and access, democracy, government and accountability, education, the developing world, society, health and humanity.

Speakers already confirmed include:
  • Yochai Benkler, professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies, Harvard and faculty co-director of Berkahm Center for Internet and Society
  • Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post
  • Jeff Jarvis, associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
  • Wadah Khanfar, co-founder, The Sharq Forum and former director general, Al Jazeera Network
  • Nancy Lublin CEO, Do Something
  • Om Malik, founder, GigaOM Network
  • Justin Osofsky, Director, Platform Partnerships, Facebook
  • Eli Pariser, President, MoveOn.org, and author, The Filter Bubble
  • Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO of BuzzFeed
  • Alan Rusbridger, Editor-in-chief, Guardian News & Media
  • Adam Sharp, Senior manager, government, news and social innovation, Twitter
  • Clay Shirky, professor, Interactive Telecommunications Program, NYU
  • Alfred Spector, Vice president of research and special initiatives, Google
See the Guardian website to register and for a full programme of events. Be sure to contact us to secure your 30% discount on your delegate places.

You can check out highlights from last year's event on the Guardian website.

28 March 2012

The Mobile Show Dubai - You're Invited

The Mobile Show Dubai, to be held in Madinat Arena on 17-18 April 2012, is the region's biggest showcase of the latest mobile technologies, and is the place where you can find solutions to improve and develop your mobile portfolio. Exhibitors will be showing off their latest products and you will be rubbing shoulders with ad networks, new developers, device manufacturers, network vendors, Telcos and many more.

Best of all, you can do all this with a 15% discount with MEF membership - contact Middle East General Manager George Daaboul for details on how to get your discount code and register on the show's website.

At the show you can expect to find; 
  • Over 50 free to attend seminars showing you how to develop mobile solutions on time and on budget
  • 50+ exhibitors presenting their leading mobile solutions
  • Developer master-classes from BlackBerry, Nokia and Samsung
  • The Mobies Awards Ceremony - Celebrate excellence with the leading innovators
  • 1000's of visitors to meet and do business with
Register now, and don't forget to secure your discount, courtesy of MEF.

16 March 2012

MEFTV at MWC 2012

Three more exclusive MEF member videos for you recorded at MWC 2012 in Barcelona. This week we speak to Gianluca D'Agostino, CEO and founder of Neombile Group, Stanislas Chesnais of Mobibase and Paul McNea, Director Of European Biz Dev at Buck on their respective companies, MWC and their thoughts on the mobile content and commerce industry.



Continue reading for the other videos!

Privacy in Mobile Apps Roundtable - MEF Podcast

A key event for MEF at MWC 2012 was the Privacy in Mobile Apps Roundtable where over 35 members and invited guests joined a lively debate on the critical issues surrounding privacy in mobile applications.

Speakers included Todd Daubert and Nick Graham of SNR Denton, Ilja Laurs, CEO Get Jar, Andreas Constanidou, MD Vision Mobile, Gary Schwartz CEO of Impact Mobile, MEF Global Chair Andrew Bud, Michelle Sklar VP Industry relations Poynt, Carl Uminski, COO of Somo and Mike Butcher, TechCrunch Europe Editor.

The roundtable was supported by SNR Denton in association with the Mobile Fringe and Media Partner, TechCrunch.

The recording of the entire session is now available in full - listen below, or you can download to listen offline.



Continue reading for a MEFTV interview with session moderator Todd Daubert and panelist Nick Graham of SNR Denton.

09 March 2012

MEF TV at MWC 2012 - Member Interviews

MEF TV offered its members the chance to share their MWC activities and announcements live in Barcelona with on-site Video Vox Pops. In the first of the series, we speak to Arturo Galvan, CEO of Naranya, Michelle Sklar, VP of Industry relations from Poynt and David Gosen, European MD of Digital, Online & Mobile at Nielsen about their experiences at MWC and their thoughts on the biggest developments in mobile in the last 10 years.




Hit the jump for two more videos from MEF Members Poynt and Nielsen on their experiences and activities at MWC 2012

MEF Roundtable: Privacy in Mobile Apps at MWC 2012


In response to industry shortcomings around privacy recently highlighted in the media, MEF hosted a roundtable on Privacy in Mobile Applications. Supported by SNR Denton and in association with the Mobile Fringe and media partners TechCrunch, the packed roundtable session brought together over 35 members and invited guests for a lively debate on the critical issues surrounding privacy in mobile applications. The panel and audience represented the diverse mobile ecosystem including App Stores, Developers, Digital Agencies, Media Owners, Legal, Security and Payment service providers from the US and EMEA, as well as a selection of media outlets including Wireless Week who provided an excellent overview of the session.

Speakers included Todd Daubert and Nick Graham of SNR Denton, Ilja Laurs, CEO Get Jar, Andreas Constanidou, MD Vision Mobile, Gary Schwartz CEO of Impact Mobile, MEF Global Chair Andrew Bud, Michelle Sklar VP Industry relations Poynt, Carl Uminski, COO of Somo and Mike Butcher, TechCrunch Europe Editor.

The roundtable demonstrated MEF’s ability to rapidly respond to hot media topics and provide a platform for debate and action. The session was a precursor to MEF’s forthcoming initiative on Privacy which will address the issue of mobile privacy and trust in apps. The initiative will have the goal to create best practices for responsible collection and use of mobile data for the industry, while building consumer confidence in mobile applications.

If you missed it, don’t worry: stay tuned to MEF Blog for the full podcast available soon.

Newly elected MEF EMEA Board represents mobile ecosystem diversity and growth markets

MEF, the global community for mobile content and commerce, has announced the results of its 2012 EMEA board elections with Colin Yeh, Head of Group Product Development QTel Group (Qatar) elected as EMEA Chairman. Ben Carter, Head of Mobile Services Atos (UK) and Emma Kaye, Director, Mira Networks (South Africa) were also voted in by the membership as co-Vice Chairs.

The Elections took place at MWC 2012 directly after the EMEA AGM, where members received an update on all of MEF’s regional and global activities. The audience heard from outgoing chair Lee Epting, Vodafone and Vice Chair Colin Yeh of QTel Group who gave an overview of the significant achievements of the EMEA chapter over the last two years. Andrew Bud, MEF Global Board Chair outlined MEF’s vision and goals for 2012 while Rimma Perelmuter and Vildan Hasanbegovic, MEF Executive Director and Deputy Director, discussed the latest member benefits and provided an update on MEF’s Initiatives and Analytics programmes.

For the full details, hit the link below

MEF Connects MWC 2012 – Celebrating 10 Years

600 mobile leaders from 50 countries attended our 10th annual MEF Connects MWC, held in association with TimWe at the beautiful Museu Picasso. As many of our members have expressed, the 10th Annual celebration set the bar ever higher as the quality networking event of the Congress, attended by a broad variety of our global members and invited guests from across the mobile value chain including representatives from American Express, Apple, AT&T, Facebook, HSBC, Nokia, Orange, QTel Group, RIM, Samsung, Telefonica, Coca-Cola, Turner Broadcasting and Yahoo and many more.

Check out a selection of the photos from the party below.



Sponsor TIMWE said of the party: “For TIMWE, as a multinational mobile solutions company with 26 offices around the world and operating in more than 75 markets, “MEF Connects MWC 2012” represented a unique opportunity to offer an exclusive experience to our key clients and partners, with great networking and many surprises throughout the night.”

Party-goer Paul Mcnea, Director of Biz Dev for BUCK said “One of the events I was looking forward to most was the MEF networking party at the Picasso Museum and I wasn't disappointed. The MEF networking event reflected the building and was a stylish and engaging evening, a great mix of catching up with some old contacts while making some new ones all in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere. I'll definitely be back in 2013.”

Were you at MEF Connects MWC 2012? Share your impressions of the night in the comments.

07 March 2012

Global Strategies for Mobile VAS Compliance - MEF in Jakarta

Last month MEF co-hosted a one day programme in Jakarta to address the key issues facing the VAS industry in the region. Co-hosted with Indosat, Global Strategies for Mobile VAS Compliance saw more than 120 people in attendance, including 19 affected MEF members spanning the region, consisting of content providers, record labels, Indonesian industry associations and network operators among others.

While it was clear the industry is suffering badly and businesses have been destroyed due to the actions of a few rogue companies, the mood of the one day programme was positive. MEF’s objective is to provide support to it's members and the industry as a whole and assist the regulator to develop best practise for the industry. MEF’s global expertise in the area of regulation and its position as the global trade body for the mobile content and commerce industry, representing the entire value chain, enables it to effectively support collaboration and discussion between BRTI and the industry to actively address and resolve the problems and create a viable framework for the delivery of compliant services and industry best practice.

For more information on the background and causes of the situation in Jakarta, click here. To read more about the one day event, hit the link below.