How to do Business in Barcelona – Zuckerberg Style

Barcelona is considered an attractive tourist destination and an important business center, hosting worldwide shows as EIBTM 2014 and Mobile World Congress 2015.

EIBTM 2014

Development of infrastructure and strengthening of the business sector has lead Barcelona to become an international hosts of business events, gathering experts from different fields, such as economy, tourism, technology, etc. Therefore, numerous corporate events are organized in Barcelona every year, providing to the business professionals a huge opportunity for networking and establishing successful collaborations. One of the largest business events organized this year is EIBTM event, taking place now in Barcelona (18-20 November 2014).

The purpose of such event is to bring together the professionals from different industries, especially from travel industry in an event that will combine conferences, presentations, as well as business meetings and networking opportunities. This kind of event is a perfect opportunity for a companies to showcase its work to the other business professionals, and influential people in the sector.

Mobile World Capital Barcelona will host the Mobile World Congress from the 2nd until the 5th of March, 2015

This congress is one of the most important events focused on the latest innovations of mobile communication and technology. However, you will agree that attending such a huge congress might be a bit overwhelming and time consuming – not to mention poor sleeping hours.

If this is your first time attending EIBTM or Mobile World Congress, here you have some tips that will save you time and energy (to be used later on your “networking events”):

  • Download the complete agenda of the event, as well as the directions on how to get to the venue (available online at EIBTM and MWC2015).
  • Once you have defined the location of the event,  you should make your own agenda. Which events are you interested? Are you having meetings? Would you like to attend networking events? Will you like to enjoy Barcelona each day after the congress? Or you prefer to stay some additional days to do so?
  • Having an agenda will let you search the perfect accommodation for your stay. Do it in advance, as you do not want to be at risk of not being able to find suitable accommodation, or staying away from the city center. Business apartments are available near the city center, as well as in the other parts of Barcelona. You can find apartments that are located near the venue where the MWC2015 is taking place. This way, you will significantly reduce the time necessary to reach the venue every morning and to get back to the apartment every evening.
  • Keep in mind that these events are organized in the middle of the week, so you could extend your stay in Barcelona over the weekend, which would be a great idea if you want to combine the business trip with a couple of days of vacation. In this way, you would be able to both attend the event, and spend some time sightseeing or enjoying at the beach. All you need to do is to find where to stay and you are ready to spend great time in Barcelona.

Networking Events

Networking is an important part of EIBTM, MWC and any other business show, as it represents a great opportunity for the participants to meet leading experts, colleagues and other people from from different fields. Besides the chance to acquire some new contacts, this kind of event can also help you establish or improve the existing relationship with other participants, regardless if those are the companies that might be up for a certain collaborative project, or individuals whom you may hire as experts, consults on certain topics, etc.

The atmosphere on networking events is much more relaxed than during different corporate activities on the actual event. Networking events are organized every day in the evening and they are open to all.  The final day of the EIBTM event is reserved for a club night. It is a popular tradition in these events to organize an evening in the local club. This year’s club night will be held in Opium Mar, Passeo Maritim de la Barceloneta, from 10 until 2 in the morning.

The next edition of Mobile World Congress will host a number of conferences with renowned keynotes and panel discussions, exhibitions, as well as networking and business opportunities. Some of the keynotes speakers in the event that is going to be held in Barcelona in March, 2015 include: Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman and Rotating CEO at Huawei, Mitchell Baker, Executive Chairwoman at Mozilla Foundation, Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, Charles Scharf, CEO at Visa, and many other people who run world-famous companies.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder & CEO, at MWC 2014

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder & CEO, attended the MWC2014, as a keynote speaker. This made sense given that mobile is key to Facebook’s strategy. This event gave him the opportunity to engage with key mobile operators and publicly announce  Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp.

If you are not from Barcelona, but you would like to attend the next edition of the MWC, you should try to find business apartments, as they are perfect for professionals who are in need of fully furnished apartments while participating in corporate events or attending seminars, conferences, etc., so corporate housing is pretty common in this city.

Finding the Perfect Accommodation for Mobile Congress

We have said before your sleeping hours will be reduced so, you should take the best of that time to have a restful sleep.  Finding business apartments is much better solution for you than staying in a hotel. Not only is it more comfortable, but it is a much more flexible solution, especially if you need accommodation for a longer period of time.

The major benefit when staying in a furnished apartment is that you will have all the perks you get from a real home. Besides more spacious environment, you will also be able to prepare food on your own, which is great if you prefer eating at home than going to the restaurants. In addition, if you are going to attend this event with couple of colleagues, staying in a business apartment will help you reduce the accommodation costs, as you can find apartments with several bedrooms. Finding opportunities for corporate housing in a city such as Barcelona is important, as you will probably have a lot of situations to attend various events that are organized in this city, and establishing a relationship with a company that provides corporate housing opportunities would be a great benefit for your company.

There is no doubt that you will enjoy attending the business events but if you get the chance to explore Barcelona, the visit will be even more complete, as Barcelona is one of those places in the world you simply must visit at least once. It is a place that has much to show off, including magnificent architecture and design, numerous art works and historic locations around the city, delicious traditional cuisine, exciting night life, a lot of shops and shopping areas, as well as a beach that resembles the beaches from the most beautiful resorts. All of this is combined into a city that lies on Mediterranean coast and is well connected with other parts of Spain, Europe and other major capitals of the world.

If you will be attending EIBTM or MWC2015 or if you will be relocated for business in Barcelona, don’t worry! You will find a lot of corporate housing and business-class apartments that will make your stay a memorable one.

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