This week, MEF Director of Programmes James Williams is in Washington for International Telecoms Week, networking with MEF Members and guests at the event and a MEF Meetup, here he shares his impressions so far…
International Telecoms Week might have been a fixture on the conference circuit for many years but last year was the first time I had ever attended – I should have done so earlier! It proved to be a great forum for meeting so many MEF Members, and all in one place!
In 2022 there was a great turnout and this year proved to be more of the same. Quite literally thousands of delegates from around the world working across telecoms and digital infrastructure coming together to get real business done as well as discuss all aspects of the industry.
MEF has had a long-term partnership with Capacity Media who produce the event and this year I put together the messaging related track of panel discussions with Capacity’s conference producer James Netherwood. All the major food groups were hit – CPaaS growth, conversational commerce, commercial models related issues, regulation, personal data and identity! You name it, the four panels covered the lot.
MEF really does provide a great neutral platform for interaction and events such as this are only made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of MEF members“
For MEF ITW proceedings actually got off the ground when I had the honour of managing and refereeing the LANCK Connect Cup on the morning of Sunday May 14th.
A great initiative from MEF member LANCK Telecom, this brought together so many from the messaging world in a series of fun football games and this will be repeated next year for sure so keep your eye out for that next year too. I am not exactly football’s No.1 fan globally but I had a terrific time and the camaraderie was wonderful.
Talking about excellent gatherings, MEF ran a Meet-Up on May 15th and 100 people came through the course of the evening. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and great drinks and food ensured all enjoyed the event.
You can imagine just how many networking events are made available for the delegates but the high turnout said it all: MEF really does provide a great neutral platform for interaction and events such as this are only made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of MEF members.
Our event this year at ITW was kindly sponsored by netnumber Global Data Services so thanks to Steve Legge, John Coleman, Buffy Harakidas and their whole team for getting fully behind this initiative!
Netnumber have really embraced all the opportunities MEF provides across working groups and all our other engagement platforms and I look forward to catching up with the netnumber team in person again very soon, this time at MEF CONNECTS Nordics on May 31st and June 1st.
If you, like netnumber, want to take advantage of everything MEF membership confers upon those active within the community, then feel free to contact me directly to find out how you can join MEF and be part of the growth of a truly healthy mobile ecosystem for all global – and all of course helping to grow your brand presence and recognition!
