MobileActive.org

April Events: Join a Mobile Discussion!

Ready for April events? This month has plenty of conferences and panels to keep anyone with an interest in mobiles entertained. Check out the upcoming events to see what's happening this month.

2-3 April, Africa Mobile Money Research (Nairobi, Kenya) The goals of this two-day event are to examine opportunities, trends, and growth strategies in mobile money initiatives, and to highlight African mobile money innovation.

Mobile Mondays: Each month independent branches of Mobile Monday gather together to discuss different aspects of mobile technology. Some of this month's events are:

• 2 April, Mobile Monday (Montreal, Canada) The organization will be discussing mobile advertising.
• 4 April, Mobile Monday (Bangalore, India) This meet-up is centered around the Ubuntu Cloud Day presentations.
• 5 April, Mobile Monday (Tokyo, Japan) This is an open event focused on socializing with other fans of mobile technology.

17-18 April, The Mobile Show (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) The Mobile Show is a multi-track event focusing on a variety of mobile themes: App Development, Mobile Advertising, M-Entertainment, M-Commerce, and M-Health.  The conference has panels and exhibits focusing on different aspects of mobile phone use.

September Event Roundup

A brand new month means brand new events, and September has no shortage of mobile conferences, hackathons, and seminars to keep you busy! Read on to find out what's happening in the mobile world this month:

• 6-7 September, Mobile Money CALA (Miami, USA) This event is all about mobile banking and payment systems in the Central American and Latin American regions. Discussion topics include how mobile banking case studies from around the world can be adapted to the CALA region, building partnerships between mobile networks and banks, and mobile banking for the unbanked.

• 8-9 September, The Mobile Payment Conference (New York City, USA) For another look at mobile money, the Mobile Payment Conference gives attendees a chance to discuss how mobile payments can be used in both the business and non-profit industries.

• 10-11 September, TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon (San Francisco, USA) In preparation for the TechCrunch Disrupt event, the company is hosting a 24-hour hackathon for developers to get together and code new projects. After the hackathon, participants demo their creations to the audience to kick off the Disrupt event.

• 12-14 September, TechCrunch Disrupt (San Francisco, USA) Following the Hackathon, Disrupt brings together entrepreneurs, developers, and start-up founders. The event features the "Start-Up Battlefield," where participants compete to launch their start-up at the conference, with a $50,000 prize for the winner.

• 16 September, Future of Mobile Conference (London, U.K.) This one-day event has panels on everything from coding in HTML5, CSS, and Javascript, to choosing the right app store in which to launch your app, to crash courses on developing for different operating systems. If you want to develop apps for smartphones, this is the event for you.

June 2011 Mobile Events Round-Up

It's a brand new month, and June is bursting with tons of mobile-themed events around the world! From hackathons for developers and coders to in-depth discussions about mobiles for social change and development, this month's events cover a wide range of topics and sectors. Check them out below:

1-2 June AppsWorld Africa 2011  (Cape Town, South Africa) How can mobile apps be used for development in Africa? This two-day conference uses workshops and exhibitions to explore the potential of apps in sectors ranging from health and agriculture to business and banking.

4-5 June Random Hacks of Kindness (global) This Random Hacks of Kindness hackathon will focus on both disaster risk and climate change. Experts in disaster risk and climate change submit challenges they've faced in their work, and developers and coders gather together to build solutions.

6-9 June Mobile Health Summit (Cape Town, South Africa) Co-hosted by the GSMA and the mHealth Alliance, this three-day event is the go-to place for leaders in the mobile and health fields to learn how mobile technology can improve on global health practices. 

8 June Mobile Applications for Development Workshop (Washington, D.C., USA) Hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank, this workshop focuses on the role of mobile and Internet technologies in fostering social development.

8-9 June Open Mobile Summit (London, UK) For businesses looking to create a mobile presence, the Open Mobile Summit covers all the bases. From workshops on monetizing apps to targeting audiences through social media, panel leaders discuss how to mobilize your business.

8-9 June AITEC Banking and Mobile Money: West Africa (Accra, Ghana) The theme of this two-day event is how mobile banking can drive trade and investment in West Africa. The event looks at how traditional banks can use mobile banking, and the benefits of providing mobile banking options for people at the bottom of the pyramid.

14-15 June PIVOT25 (Nairobi, Kenya) PIVOT25 is an mLAB dedicated to supporting the growth of mobile entrepreneurs in Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Somalia and Southern Sudan. Discussion topics at the event include the role of women in ICTs and the use of mobile applications in government, health, banking, and games.

December Events Roundup

There are plenty of events happening this December to keep you up to date on all your mobile needs. Developer looking for a project? Researcher wanting to meet others in your field? No problem, there are plenty of mobile events for everyone!

MobileActive.org Event:

9 December, Tech Salon: Mobiles + Art + Activism (New York City, U.S.A.) For our last tech salon of the year, we'll be hosting an event that brings together art, mobiles and activism. Featuring artists and activists who use mobile phones in innovative and creative ways, our December tech salon will have installations and discussions with the artists (and, as always, food, wine, and great conversations). Sign up here!

July Mobile Events Round-Up

This month, many of the events are more corporate, with a focus on informational conferences for larger organizations. But, as always, we keep you up to date with what's happening in the mobile world! If you have an event that you'd like to share, leave a message in the comments or send us an email at info at mobileactive dot org 

MobileActive.org's July Events:

8 July, New York City, USA: Tech Salon, Participatory Mobile Sensing: MobileActive.org is hosting a tech salon focused on using phones for urban sensing. Join us for a fun, laid-back event that brings together practitioners, developers, and other curious people to learn how mobiles are used to gather and share information about the world around us. Register here.

April Event Round-Up

Spring has us ready to get out and share new ideas, so it’s time for our monthly event roundup. Below are some of the mobile events happening around the world that we think might be of interest to the MobileActive.org community. If you know of any great M4D events happening near you, let us know over email (info at mobileactive dot org) or in the comments or on our Facebook page.

FAILfaire, April 14 New York, NY: Of course, we have to start off with promoting our own FAILfaire, which is taking place on April 14th, 5:00-7:00 p.m., in New York City. At FAILfaire, we want to learn from each others’ failures in ICT and mobiles for development – speaking openly about what didn’t work is the best way to improve for the future. Gather round with some wine and a sense of humor, and get ready to talk about FAIL! Sign up here. 

Presenting the First-Ever FAILfaire: Join Us!

Calling all failures!  On April 14 we're hosting the first FAILfaire featuring a close look at ICT and mobile development projects that have crashed, burned, and simply FAILED.  

While we often focus on highlighting successes and gains in this field, it's no secret that many projects just don't work - some aren't scalable, some aren't sustainable, some can't get around bureaucratic hoops, and many fail due to completely unanticipated barriers. FAILfaire is a platform to openly and honestly discuss failures so that we can learn from what hasn't worked in the past in order to make our future projects stronger and better.   

This is where YOU come in. Have you been a part of a project that flopped? Maybe the project used the wrong technology for its region. Maybe it didn't engage the intended community.  Did not take culture, people, or both into consieration. Or maybe the rollout was too rushed. Whatever the reason, we want to hear from you. 

January Events Round-Up

The new year is kicking off with an assortment of events on the development and techie sides. Here are some of the events that we found to be noteworthy:

Mobile Tech Salon,  20 January, New York: Hosted by MobileActive.org, it's a regular gathering of people passionate about mobile technology for social change. Motto:  We bring the beer (and wine)!  Bring your projects, passions, tools, and conversation. This month's theme:  Mobile Campaigning and Tools on a Shoestring: What is Possible?  Advisable?

International CES 7-10 January, Las Vegas, USA: CES is the world's largest technology trade show, attracting more than 2,500 exhibitors and showcasing over 20,000 new products.