Open Mobile Solutions is offering a free Platinum Pass to CTIA at Las Vegas in March.  They’re also organizing several Developer Pitch Sesions including:

• Raising Money – a panel featuring Venture Capitalists specializing in mobile.
• Gaining Distribution – a  panel featuring various mobile distribution channels.
• Monetization – a panel of key decision makers in the mobile advertising space – agencies, brands and networks

The Open Mobile Solutions Marketplace is currently in stealth mode, but you can learn more here.  In the meantime, why not take advantage of the great panel sessions they’re organizing at CTIA and the opportunity for a free pass?

As day 2 of Mobile World Congress rounds to a close, and day 3 begins (ahem – it’s nearly 3am), I thought I’d point out a few highlights from Mobile World Congress so far:

Pre-MWC: I started the pre-MWC whirlwind with The NAVTEQ awards party, in which the EMEA winners of the Global LBS Challenge were announced.  It was a good event.  A handful of promising companies showcased their LBS-enhanced mobile products.  From there, I went to MobileSunday, which was, as usual packed with a great crowd of mobile enthusiasts bracing for the week ahead.  After that, I hit the town with the team from Skyhook Wireless (whose wi-fi location-based technology is embedded in the iPhone and millions of others worldwide) and a few of their 3rd party developer partners – all of whom are working on things that would set any mobile enthusiast’s heart racing… I’d tell you more, but that’d be like ruining a good surprise, and that’s no fun.

Day 1: I kicked off Monday by moderating a couple of panels in the “Mobile Applications – Innovation Vs Fragmentation” stream.  The first was “Attracting investment to the apps market – Identifying the key success factors,” and the panelists were fantastic: (more…)

I’m looking forward to attending Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona this February.  It’s going to be a great show… This year, apps take center stage, and GSMA has taken a huge step forward, investing a lot of time and effort in showcasing them in App Planet, and making sure the conference agenda appeals to the people that are shaping the mobile ecosystem.

I’ll be moderating two panels on Monday, February 15, 2009 in the “Mobile Applications – Innovation Vs Fragmentation” stream.  A few of the details are still being confirmed, but here’s what’s been announced so far… (more…)

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area and are interested in learning more of the “how to” behind social media and networking with marketers who have successfully leveraged social media channels, check out “Social Media Matters.” It is a new, monthly event that shows marketers, brand managers, and advertisers how to use social media successfully.  It’s being organized by Covered Co. (one of my former clients).

The first event will cover “Building Brands on Facebook,” and it’s being held at 6:30pm on December 3rd at Fenwick & West’s office in downtown San Francisco.  (more…)

There’s an interesting debate afoot… Could News Corporation (Newscorp) trump Google by preventing them from indexing their various sites including Wall Street Journal, or would this bring down Newscorp by making its content less discoverable?  What would happen if the world’s biggest publishers joined forces together against Google and sold the ability to index their content to the highest bidder?  What would this mean for the Internet and profitability of the web’s biggest publishers? (more…)

After listening to the podcast I did on Wednesday with Motodev on how to incorporate social media into mobile applications, Matthäus Krzykowski,  (a fellow mobile consultant, freelance writer for VentureBeat, and fascinating guy) tweeted: “@motodev @lisawhelan is great, enjoyed the podcast. However, as @danshapiro http://bit.ly/3eRvaK says viral broken is in mobile. Thoughts ?” It’s a good question.  The short answer is “he’s right,” but while the mobile ecosystem sorts itself out, there are things developers can do to make their apps more viral… (more…)

In business development, nothing beats meeting a client, partner or colleague in person. While electronic communication and phone calls are a great way to keep in touch, making time for face-to-face communication is an important part of solidifying a deep connection and/or closing a deal.  Attending industry events and trade shows is a great way to simultaneously catch up with existing contacts and meet new people.  I used to attend trade shows/ conferences to learn about what was going in web and wireless, but that’s less and less the case. The conventional conference format is growing stale, and is less relevant in our ‘real-time information’ driven culture.  The only reason I go to shows these days is to focus on relationships, and it seems I’m not alone. (more…)

Today is the last day of DEMOfall 09, and I’ll be live blogging about what I see.  Please refresh your page regularly.

It’s 9:30am, and we’re close to kick off…

First up Nubli - a 90 second alpha pitch…

• Nubli figures out which emails and contacts are the most important to you and presents them in a prioritized view
• Cuts the clutter in your inbox. (more…)

I’m blogging live from DEMOfall 09 in San Diego California… I’ll also be live tweeting.  The show is about to start shortly.  Please refresh your browser regularly.

The show is starting now… First up an introduction video.

Now the intro to the conference – Chris Shipley and Matt Marshall are thanking partners and talking about the format for DEMOfall 09.  VentureBeat has launched DEMOBeat.  VentureBeat also talking about VentureBeat Profiles, which is the integration of their Profiles acquisition.

Chris Shipley says now is the best time to be starting a company and innovating.  Hewlett-Packard Co is first up to bat… They’re a DEMO veteran. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook acquired Friendfeed today for for nearly $50 Million US.  Friendfeed is a useful real-time social media aggregation and commenting service, and it’s easy to see why it caught Facebook’s attention.  Over the past several hours there’s been plenty of speculation by tech bloggers about why the acquisition took place and what this means for Friendfeed and Facebook users… (more…)