My first CTIA in Las Vegas

Apparently the show this year was slower than the previous years, and the credit crunch gets blamed. I on my hand felt it was great to have the space to move around, and as long as the people I need to meet are there, I’m quite fine!

I finally reached LAS Vegas Sunday at midnight after a 27 hour flight! I was tired and jetlagged, but got a little energized from all the noise and excitement from the Aria Hotel's casino floor and managed to stay up for a few hours to strategize a bit with Nils. He had arrived a few hours earlier and said my delay cost him about $50 an hour on the blackjack table!

The next morning is kicked off with a few great conference calls, followed by business lunch with potential investors, meetings with some of the the largest tech companies and mobile operators in the world before we closed out the day with a high level networking dinner hosted by WDA. The next few days is spent the same way, but thankfully we also have some time to spend at the exhibits and it was great to walk around and fell the energy and excitement and look at a lot of cool and innovative products and companies.

It was also a little warmer than my January visits and we managed to get 20 minutes by the pool, a drink and Nils a quick swim before we got kicked out at 6pm! Well well, at least I got to lay down in the sun and close my eyes. I’ll post another blog with some photos of Vegas before we leave!

US operators have a lot of branded accessories to sell.

 Next year I hope BipperSIM is one of them!

Eye controlled earphones..... Not quite getting this. 

Except that technology is quite amazing!

Tons of people everywhere - 

but way less than at the CES or Mobile World Congress.

Live demo of Bipper

The MWC in Barcelona, allowed us to demonstrate Bipper individually and in groups in the booth and also in larger gatherings such as the SIMagine presentation where Bipper is one of the finalists! These live demonstrations where helpful for us as a company as it gave us an opportunity to receive feedback from people, many within the industry (and also parents so they can relate) and also observe how they responded to what we have created. 

Its a great feeling to receive so much positive comments and people were genuinely enthusiastic about what we have created and couldn't wait to be able to get Bipper for their kids :)  Many was also surprised and impressed by how seamless and easy it is for parents to create contact lists, set restrictions and how the handsets are instantly updated when changes are made. This was easily demonstrated by showing myBipper page on a big screen and having a handset available.

Milla’s orange Samsung Corby phone

 is working brilliantly with Bipper

Quite a good crowd gathered around to see the demonstration

Lunch with the US ambassador

While I was in the US suddenly an invitation to lunch with the US Ambassador in Norway, Mr. Barry White, arrived in my inbox. What an honor! And such good timing, making my visit to the US feel even more worth while!

The lunch was due to start at 12, and I showed up about 10 minutes early not knowing what to expect. First it was just me and one other woman, and one by one more people arrived. Many whom I had seen on tv and knew by reputation and name. Finally one familiar face showed up, Mr. Johan H. Andresen - one of Norway’s richest men whom I had charmed my way into a personal meeting with a year prior (business tip of the day: If you manage to get a good and personal dialogue with the secretaries/assistants, you are on your way...). The only problem though was that he didn’t remember me (how could he not?) and I had a lot of fun with teasing him. When it was my time to present myself it looked like he suddenly remembered: The mother of three, the idealist, the woman who knew nothing about technology but wanted to start a multinational telecommunication company. He did not want to invest....

The lunch was great, and we had some really interesting discussions on social entrepreneurship. I made a comment about the lacking support system for social entrepreneurship initiatives in Norway - and people applauded. Maybe I can convince Mr. Andresen himself to invest in The Hub - the best social entrepreneurship initiative I know? I’ll do my best!

And, by the way, an e-mail from Mr. Andresen himself just arrived in my inbox stating: “I still remember you. How much money do you need?”. I like this man :-)

Waiting outside the huge fences of 

Ambassador Barry Whites house.

Mr. White and Mr. Johan H. Andresen both seem quite happy

There were around 20 people invited to lunch

 this afternoon. The purpose of the lunch was to

 discuss social entrepreneurship, 

and I must admit that I had quite a bit to say....

CES 2010 - The Show

CES is a huge show. The Las Vegas Convention Center, with its 2.3 million square feet of space, was packed full of companies from all around the world showcasing their latest technology products. Representatives from as many as 140 countries attended! It was reported that over 120,000 people attended the show which resulted in crowded walkways and long lines at the cafeterias and various Starbucks, not to mention the taxi-lines. So we had plenty to look at when we finally got into the conference. 

The guys (Olav and Nils) were immediately drawn to many of the enormous stands, like Sony and Panasonic showcasing the newest in 3D technology on huge screens. They left with dreams of having one of these for the World Cup in Soccer this summer! Other interesting trends were Internet enabled TV, e-readers, tablet PC, but also devices designed for parents to track and monitor kids were showcased. This confirms our belief for what we are doing and that the timing is good for providing mobile safety solutions for parents. 

I’m glad I got to experience this event and you can say a lot of things about Vegas, but it’s definitely and interesting place. However, after 5 days I was ready to move on, but as opposed to most people I was not going home, but heading further west to San Francisco and another week of meetings. 

It’s all about the right accessories. 

I loved all the stylish headphones. My daughter would love these!

Thinner and thinner tv’s, but now available as picture frames.

 Quite a few exhibitors showed of such products

Nokia has teamed up with Sesame Street to produce a 

read-with- your-grandparents-over-the-phone type of book. 

Pretty cool!

Motorola showed of Blur. Pretty cool!

Tons of exhibitors. 3D was the huge thing on the show!

Enabling mobile telephony everywhere is a hot topic. 

And a growing market!

 loved the motorola stand. It worked perfectly

 well with my handbag. And - yes - it is real grass!

AT&T Development Summit

AT&T is one of the largest operators in the US, and they hosted a development summit the first day of the CES. It is obvious that the operators are more and more open to working with smaller development companies. An interesting day, ending with a great party!

I arrived in Las Vegas (one day late due to flight delaysL) for the first time to participate at AT&T’s developer conference and the CES show. Due to the delay Olav and I missed the first few hours of the AT&T conference including the keynote, but Nils who arrived the previous night was able to give us a quick recap. He had also managed to run into the only other Norwegian participant (more than 500) during breakfast and after a quick intro in English they soon realized they were both from Norway. Nils then introduced us and that’s how I met Kine from Os and we have quickly become friends. Kine works for the American company Thumbplay which is actually founded by a Norwegian guy called Are Traasdahl. I’m supposed to meet him for coffee while I’m in Vegas. I’m sure he has tons of advise on how to start up in the American market. 

I truly enjoyed all the interesting sessions and was impressed by the format and how we got the opportunity not only to establish important connections, but also participate in discussions and access to high level executives. We had also pre-booked a few meetings with AT&T executives and had some interesting and informative talks during the day as well. 

After a day of meetings and sessions, we move on to networking, drinks and dinner, all arranged and paid for by AT&T! They had even rented the playboy club for a few hours and arranged for casino night (no real money) but it allowed for everyone to “gamble” and have bunny dealers explain the secrets to becoming good blackjack players, something both Nils and Olav found to be very helpful J. After a few hours of gambling the event is moved to Moon nightclub where ATT are showcasing some new products and people network and talk over drinks and snacks. They also have a few giveaways and team Bipper manages to walk away with several handsets. We also established several new and important relationships so this was a truly amazing event that I applaud AT&T for putting together. This was a great start to a productive and interesting week in Vegas!

A few of the handsets we won at the AT&T development summit. 

Perfect gifts for a start-up company!

Not exactly sure why AT&T put a sheep on the roof of 

the Palms, but he/she looked great in pictures....

Olav and Nils enjoyed gambling at The Playboy club....

The bunny might be the reason why?

Red noses on the mobile galla

Gulltasten is the industry’s annual celebration of itself. It’s an occasion to meet and honor achievements. Bipper and Save the Children were there and handed out red noses to everybody. We are encouraging the rest of the industry to open up their wallets and donate.

In one day we managed to get the organizers onboard with the idea (thanks!), Save the Children involved, an exhibit booth rigged, and enough noses for everybody.

The Red Nose Day was an interesting segment at “Gulltasten”, and since Save the Children is very committed to safeguard children's digital world was this a great fit.

However, the donations that were made this evening were less than I had expected so all the executives can expect a letter from me encouraging more contributions!

If tiny Bipper is able to donate money for Save the Children the larger corporations definitely need to participate!

The account number is 8380 08 08033.

And mobile users are encouraged to call 820 44 144 and donate 200 kroner.

As a Bipper-friend Idar Vollvik (founder of Chess) 

was the first one to be offered a red nose from Bipper

Posing on the red carpet. 

Notice that my Bipper handbag is always there!

Maria from Save the Children charmed everyone with her red nose

Business and pleasure! Two pairs of twins 

showed off the new business phone from Toshiba

Nadir was the first Bipper, and a bit of updating was 

needed. Nadir is a successful Telecom entrepreneur, 

and the man who inspired me to “go for it”

And Olav got the winning ticket - and a brand new Toshiba mobile phone!

Red noses are great fun!

Mobile beer!

How did they get this car up the stairs to the 

second floor of the hotel???