Inside the MWC backrooms—an ode to the EAs, PR pros and people who get things done

Inside the MWC backrooms—an ode to the EAs, PR pros and people who get things done

Scenes from a Spanish trade show

I like to spend most of Mobile World Congress in halls 2 and 3 and then a few other places that aren’t really on the maps. I’m not really sure why anyone lets me into some of those places, but I sure hope they keep doing it. You’d be surprised just how big some of those stands really are and just how deep into the convention center some of those hallways go. That’s to say nothing of the things going on all over town all night long.?

MWC is a hard show. There’s some really important stuff that goes on that you see and hear and read about. And even more interesting stuff that you never see or hear or read about. And a lot of it, at least a lot of it that I pick up on, is facilitated by executive assistants, public relations professionals, and people who otherwise know how to get things done.?

I love to watch them work. I love the subtle eye movements as they try to look at 10 different people at once. I love their ability to intuit mood (and mood changes). I love to see them send an average of 45 WhatsApp message per minute to a team of a dozen others while also casually talking to me about nothing really. I see how your executives, when they leave their phones face up on the table, somehow have no unread emails and, in some very specific cases, seem to have uninstalled apps that I didn’t know you could remove from phones. These folks that support these executives are more flexible than any of the cutting-edge network tech on display in the front of house.?

I savor in the specificity of it all. I see you all out there. I see you eating stress for three meals a day with a smile on your face. And I want you to know that I know it’s somehow simultaneously miserable but tremendously gratifying. And I want you to know that I appreciate it immensely.?

I wrote this reflection as I was mentally dissecting a thing that happened to me as I was going from a meeting at one place to a different meeting at another place. I was barreling down a main concourse. A person dressed all in black held out their arms and said, “You can’t go this way.” I said something to the effect of, “The hell I can’t.” Then a much larger person, also dressed all in black, and who looked like they would take just about any reason I could provide to hog-tie me and drop me off in the void between Barcelona and Madrid, said, “You can’t go this way.”?

A master of the universe must be around, I thought to myself while very, very quickly switching to alternative routing to avoid ruinous physical calamity. That’s when I saw two other people in the crowd saying, “king, king, king,” to one another while photographing basically nothing. I then realized His Majesty King Felipe IV was on the move.?

It got me thinking about all the things I see that other people maybe don’t see and that I probably shouldn’t see. But I’ve got my head on a non-swivel swivel trying to see them. I think the best way to give you a taste is in a series of anonymized vignettes based very closely on some of the more amusing interactions I had with EAs, PR pros and other doers during my time at the congress.?

Scene 1

Me: Nice to see you but I was supposed to meet someone else.?

Person: They had something come up.

Me: What?

Person: Just a scheduling issue.

Me: Off the record—what scheduling issue?

Person: Off the record, they scheduled their departure from the company.?

Me: What, like last week?

Person: Yep.?

Me: It’s hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes isn’t it?

Person: It is, but the challenge is what keeps me tuned in.?

End scene

Scene 2

Me: That round table was kinda weird right?

Person: How so?

Me: Like who were those other people? Why didn’t they talk? Why were they even in there?

Person: I honestly have no idea but, yes, it was weird.?

Me: Do you wanna go have like seven drinks?

Person: When?

Me: I’m free now.

Person:?

checks watch, checks phone, checks watch, looks around

Yeah, let’s go

End scene

Scene 3

Me: What’s up? You look tense.?

Person: I’m looking for [person]. They're urgently needed in a meeting. ?

Me: Gotta talk to someone important about something important?

Person: That’s right.?

Me: I haven’t seen them.?

Person: No one has.?

Me: I once watched a documentary about lobotomies, and I think I saw an ice pick behind the bar in the service area. For you, I’m willing to try.?

Person: But if you miss I’ll still need to find [person], only I’ll also be bleeding out.?

Me: Remind me to send you a picture of this Lego skyscraper I built.

Person: You already did. It was cool. Lego is so relaxing.?

Me: Preaching to the choir. I gotta be in London in a few weeks. Wanna go to Scarfe’s and gossip??

Person: Of course. Call me.?

Fist bump, quickly walk in opposite directions

End scene

Fade to black.?


Zoe Shuttlewood

Executive Assistant to the VP, NDI Sales & Partners. Nokia Defense International.

8 个月

Thanks Sean, what a thoughtful, fun and refreshing read, I was engaged till the end. PS. I am following you now! :-)

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Brian Baumley

Telling tech & telecom's most exciting stories at BLB Communications

8 个月

Scenes from a Spanish Convention Center. Billy's writing again, maybe he'll see this and get inspired!

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My very first meeting with Sean at a mobile conference in San Francisco... Me: Hi. I've been told by _____ company that I'm not allowed to talk with journalists, just analysts. Sean: I consider myself both. Me: I agree Sean: How about we talk about books? Me: Great. I've read everything James Joyce wrote. Sean: Really? Have you read these writers.. (Sean went on to list a library of authors and books he liked). Me: No. I think we should start a book club. Sean: We should.

Kaisa Uusi-Heikkila

Customer focused event professional | Event strategy | Brand & customer experiences | Customer engagements

8 个月

What a great read! Loved it! And I can very much related to it - ' eating stress for three meals a day with a smile on my face'. Yet another successful show @mwc2024!

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Ashley Pries

Public Relations Leader @ Cisco | Social Media, Digital Strategy

8 个月

Great read, love this Sean. I also feel like I may be familiar with at least one of the unrevealed characters in your stories. Glad you had a good time in BCN

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