Mobile World Congress: How to Survive

Aude Lagorce, Senior European Correspondent for MarketWatch, a veteran of five Mobile World Congresses, passes on her top 5 tips of how to survive the four-day trade show endurance in Barcelona

Tip no.1: Try not to fly in on Sunday evening or you may be forced to wait several hours for a cab at the airport. If your flight is scheduled to land past 6 p.m. and the line stretches a couple hundred meters, cross the footbridge to the rail station and hop on a train. The journey to the city centre takes less than 30 minutes and you can get off at various locations including Passeig de Gracia, where most hotels are clustered. There’s also an express bus that leaves from outside terminal one or two every 10 minutes or so. If you’re set on taking a cab, think about heading to a different, domestic, terminal, where cabs won’t be so scarce. Make sure you have cash as few taxis take credit cards, meaning you’ll have to wait much longer if you want to use plastic.

Tip no. 2: If you arrive Saturday or early Sunday, eat into your weekend and stop by La Fira to pick up your pass. You won’t regret it when you whizz past throngs of grumpy competitors at 8.30 a.m. on Monday morning.

Tip no. 3: Take off your pass as soon as you exit the conference center (known as the Fira to taxi drivers). Outside geek world, MWC actually has a reputation at Europe’s annual summit for thieves. We’re talking professionals here, not the standard subway pickpocket. Wearing the pass, carrying a tell-tale laptop case and babbling on your earpiece will make you a super easy target. Watch for your belongings even inside the Fira and particularly on the last day when lots of hands are brought in to dismantle stands. Every year some petty criminals manage to infiltrate the event. I once had lunch with a colleague at a terrace within the Fira. His wallet, phone and BlackBerry were taken from his suit jacket as we ate and he never noticed until the bill came.

Tip no. 4: If you need to jump into a taxi to attend an event outside La Fira—and there are more and more of them as the price of stands and meeting rooms has increased over the years—don’t get spooked by the lengthy queue just by the main exit. Head a couple of blocks down Avenida Paralel or cross Plazza Espanya towards Calle Tarragona and you will find one more easily.

Rule no. 5: Live a little. Don’t stick to bland hotel restaurants and try more atmospheric tapas bars instead. Locals don’t tuck into dinner until 10 p.m. so you might even be able to nab a stool at the counter of one of the city’s most famous eateries. And this way you can just point at dishes that catch your eye and eagerly nod rather than try to decipher the Catalan menu. Don’t miss the fried artichokes or the blood pudding. Washed down with a glass of Rioja, they might even make you forget what LTE stands for.