The GSM Association (GSMA), which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, hosts the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona each February, and more than 49,000 mobile communications professionals come to hobnob and learn from each other. This year, GSMA incorporated a new mobile and Web-based event networking solution,MyMWC, to respond to attendee and exhibitor requests for increased connections. The tool, powered by Zerista, Inc., incorporates event-specific functionality, facilitates connections and schedules meetings with others on-site, and integrates Web-based and mobile content, aggregating social media tools such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

“Networking is a large part of the value of the Mobile World Congress to its attendees, so it made sense to extend the networking options to social networking for our attendees and exhibitors at the event,” says Steve Russ, Vice President of Marketing for GSMA. “We also wanted to test an exciting opportunity for exhibitors to extend their presence at MWC beyond their booths, and using the premium listings as a microsite with more messaging, video and pictures.”

GSMA’s goals were to have between 20 percent and 30 percent of attendees opt into the MyMWC system, have more than 20 exhibitors use the premium exhibitor listings and to use the system to power exhibitor listings, online agenda and floor plans on the MWC Web site. To meet those goals, event staff marketed MyMWC through a variety of channels, including e-mail campaigns that highlighted the value of social networking as part of the MWC experience, Russ says. “We had coverage on our Web site, and we also used nonelectronic methods, such as our brochure and event guide, as well as signage on-site during the event,” he says.

A checkbox was included on the registration form so that conference registrants could enroll in the social networking portal, which was free for attendees and included a basic listing package for exhibitors and sponsors (which they could choose to upgrade). Russ says that a “staggering number” of almost 18,000 attendees opted in to the network. Among those, more than 5,000 connections were made, 1,500 meetings were generated and countless communication streams on topics of interest to attendees were launched. The tool enables forums, and anyone can create a new forum; by the end of the event, there were more than 500 different forum conversations going on.

“For attendees, the site was a great addition,” Russ says. “Mobile World Congress is a place where people come to get business done, and MyMWC underpinned this by connecting attendees with each other and enabling them to further their goals during the event.”

For instance, attendees were able to create profiles to be shared with others at the event, so that those with similar interests could find each other. “When you’re looking for others, you can search based on companies, interests or a number of characteristics,” says John Kanarowski, President of Zerista.

In addition to discussing topics of interest in MyMWC forums, attendees could search for people who were talking about topics they were interested in and try to schedule meetings with those like-minded folks. The tool also offers two communication options. “You can share only within the event community, or you can check a box that allows you to also share your comments externally via Twitter,” Kanarowski says.

Based on the rate of adoption as well as through third-party market research, GSMA was pleased with the results of MyMWC. “Our research showed that more than 40 percent of respondents were highly satisfied with the service, which was a fantastic result for a new service at a highly mature event,” Russ says. “We also had great success with more than 30 exhibitors upgrading their Exhibitor Listings to a premium listing. We accomplished this with minimal marketing efforts in year one to create a soft-launch approach and to measure how beneficial it was to our attendees.”

GSMA’s Strategy

GOAL: To incorporate social networking into the Mobile World Congress and to allow exhibitors to extend their presence at the event beyond their booths.

STRATEGY: Incorporate a technology tool, MyMWC, which connects attendees with exhibitors and each other and enables them to further their goals during the event.

RESULTS: Nearly 18,000 attendees opted into the network and, of those, more than 5,000 connections were made, 1,500 meetings were generated and countless communication streams were launched. More than 30 exhibitors also upgraded to premium listings.