MWC » mobilegroove

Just tying up loose ends and pinning down last interviews before I'm off to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress (MWC). If you haven't booked a video interview with me or Michelle Sklar, then best to start planning for CTIA in March because all the slots (over 200!) for coverage are full.

However, there are some limited sponsorship opportunities available allowing companies placement through in-video overlay, logos and other promotion formats. It's an excellent way to reach an audience of over 1 million viewers. (All MWC interviews will be aired on bnetTV’s website, as well as over 150 other web and social media sites (including MSG), that are part of bnetTV's larger partner network.

Regular readers will recall that one of my oldest and closest partners is bnetTV, the source for mobile industry interviews. I've conducted dozens of interviews on behalf of bnetTV (featured in the video player and playlist in the right-hand sidebar) at leading mobile industry events worldwide and will be joining with Michelle Sklar and the rest of the bnetTV team to film interviews during Mobile World congress (MWC). Companies lining up to take advantage of this editorial opportunity include: Nuance, Novarra, Out There Media, JumpTap GetJar (during the must-attend Showstoppers mini-event), Neomedia and InMobi, to name a few.

Companies and execs are still confirming filming times – so it's going to be a busy and exciting show indeed! We still have some slots available, so please contact Michelle ASAP (michelle@bnettv.com) to schedule an interview.

This week the Carnival of the Mobilists (COM) brings the best of mobile blogging to Volker Hirsch over at Volker on Mobile. Regular Mobilists - including Russell Buckley from MobHappy, Mark Jaffe from Mobile Mandala, Andy Favell from mobiThinking and WIP Jam -- submitted a thought-provoking selection of posts.

How can/should brands monetize our passion? What happens when cloud computing shifts app development to the Web? Will Amazon have to offer us an in-store experience? And how do the mobile ad networks really stack up? Read on and find out!

An important update on the Mobile Premier Awards (MPA), the number one global mobile innovation competition organized by Rudy de Waele and the team at dotopen. After sifting through a record 600 submissions from four continents, the list is now down to 48 startups. These startups represent the best in grassroots innovation as chosen by their peers in partnership with MobileMonday, the global community of mobile professionals. The nominees were chosen by participating MobileMonday chapters from over 250 participating startups.

As a media partner and a member of the international jury I look forward to joining the other judges on the panel this week to select 20 finalists from the list. Only these 20 finalists will pitch their idea, application or project at the Mobile Premier Awards event that takes place in the Petit Palau of Palau de la Musica on February 15, 2010 in front of investors, operators, media companies, peer entrepreneurs, and press and influential bloggers.

I kick off this year with more opportunities than ever to deliver good ideas to a great audience. I'm pleased that MSG has a central place in the exchange, and I invite you to reach out to me directly or arrange a briefing with my PA Andrea Henninge - andrea@msearchgroove.com . MSG has also partnered with bnetTV to conduct in-depth interviews with CEOs from a who's who of companies in the mobile space. If you're planning to be at Mobile World Congress and would like to do a video interview with me, then contact me or Andrea soonest. Slots are going fast - but I am always open to good ideas and getting to know cool companies.