Back in Barcelona Baby!
DJFerrari
2,411 Posts
I figure people like reading my extensive travel blog posts so here's another one...Yet another Mobile World Congress in Barcelona... you know what that means? A week of work, music, exploration and fun with NO sleep! I was there to represent and promote my group within the company, the ACCESS Developer Network, showing all the technologies and support we provide to 3rd party developers. My impressions of the conference were similar to most everyone else's if you've been following... attendance was noticably down and there was a lack of major announcements. There were a significant amount of new services launched at the show, which was nice to see because it means that the industry is strengthening the back end instead of simply rolling out new device after new device. For ACCESS, we received a lot of positive attention for our participation and contribution to the LiMo Foundation, and the relatively new NetFront Widgets platform. Enough about that... on to the pictures already!(As I've said before, I'm not a big "camera guy", but luckily my co-worker Bill is, so all these pictures are from him. Give credit where credit is due!)ACCESS once again went all out in building its own structure in the Courtyard. The location is impeccable because we get all the traffice before people head into the conference halls and we don't get lost in the shuffle of the crowded halls. Again the theme is openness, with a hint of green.
Kei, the master booth blaster and Alexandra, the hostess with the mostess. I spit hot fire.
This was my domain in the booth.
Some booth shots.
As always, we gave away a Vespa... I didn't see who won.
Now we all know that my presence at the MWC extends beyond booth duty... I am also the DJ for the now legendary ACCESS party! Who would have thought that my most loyal audience would be conference attendees? I received numerous emails prior to the event asking if I was DJing again and even more people stopped by the booth asking as well. The anticipation was building! Even though it was known and expected for most, it was still fun to see the look of surprise and confusion on some people's faces when they saw me, the guy they talked to in the booth or had a meeting with, behind the turntables. Wait, what?! Hehehe :-)I rocked out the usual rare, old soul and funk to the appreciative crowd for 3 solid hours. People were way into it and I think I gave away more DJ Ferrari business cards that Ivan Dwyer business cards (just kidding ACCESS). I went straight from booth duty to DJ duty so I just kept the suit going. I think I found my permanent DJ look. It wasn't out of place here, but it sure would be in the Mission!
There was a huge monitor behind me with video... this pic was good timing
Bill always trys to get the action shots... lightning fast hands!
In the crowd.
I always have to explain Microwave. Okay, it's just like DJing with records, but the actual music comes from the laptop. Still confused? I'd have to show you.
This guy cracks me up! So my boss and I have become rather legendary as the "party guys" at some of these conferences. So much so that some people take it upon themselves to outlast us. For example, at the last Orange Partner Camp in Florida, this guy's mission was to take down the best. I told him it couldn't be done... we can't be outlasted. Well, we stayed up all night, hunting for beers at 8 in the morning and I gotta say... he won. I had to bow out around 10 AM. Like a blackjack dealer in Vegas, I clapped and showed my hands and said "I'm out". Well played sir, well played!
As always, ACCESS spares no expense to provide a unique, local experience with superb food and dining... and as always, I got none of it!
Check out that crowd having an awesome time to the soulful sounds of DJ Ferrari!
It wouldn't be an ACCESS party without painted ladies now would it? Wait, doesn't she look familiar? You may recognize her from my Portugal trip, but that time she was painted in red. She's a Barcelona native and this time she brought a friend. Good times, good times :-)
Of course, everyone had to get a picture. Check out our good friends from Orange :-)
Of course the DJ gets some love too!
Hey, don't forget the
cameraman!
What's my favorite thing about Barcelona? I gotta say it's the food. Oh man... so good! Tapas, paella, seafood for days! We hit up La Barca in Port Olimpico one night, which warrants some pictures.Bringing out the fresh seafood.
Jimmy having some fun with the lobsters. Too bad Cheryl wasn't here this year... last year the waiter tossed a live lobster in her lap and she screamed something fierce!
Barnacles... yeah, barnacles! They were pretty fun to eat actually... squirting all over (no ayo)
They just kept bringing more platters like this.
Me getting ready for the goodness. I take it seriously!
The lobster paella was the last dish to show up so I had to conjur up some room.
Bill and I took an extra day after the conference to hang around the city. I was naturally pretty beat from the 4 day conference and all the extra curricular activities that come along with it, but we managed to get a lot in one day. We had already seen most the touristy stuff the past 2 years... Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, etc. so we didn't need to do any of that. We started walking down Passeig de Gracia which is basically the Michigan Avenue (Chicago) of Barcelona and made our way to the marina and back.Starting point at Diagonal and Passeig de Gracia... our hotel 2 years ago was nearby this spot so it was familiar.
Walking down Passeig de Gracia.
We heard a bunch of whistles and megaphones to find out that folks were protesting Burberry. Why? No idea, but Berkeley heads need to step their game up with the whistles.
We made our way to Plaza Catalunya and then headed down Las Ramblas, which is WAY different at night. Wink, wink :-)
There was a pretty sweet market off Las Ramblas with tons of amazing fruit, fish, candy and more. I could have gone to town here, but I was too stuffed.
I have no idea what this fruit is, but I had a smoothie and it was friggin' sweet!
We made it to the end of Las Ramblas and did some clothes shopping before heading over to the marina. I had to get a picture by the boats cuz I like boats!
From here, we made our way back up, but through old town... the Born district. This area is super cool... old streets with little shops all over. We hit it during the siesta which means shops were mostly closed, but the graffitti on the shutters is cooler anyway.
Loads of little shops, cafes, tapas joints, etc. This place had some awesome looking candy and had a pretty cool contemporary design. Picture!
Naturally, I had to get a picture in front of the Brazilian joint!
A sampling of the streets.
One tourist attraction we've missed over the years is the Picasso Mueseum so we checked that out. It was pretty sweet, but my legs were like jello at this point from the mass amounts of standing and walking throughout the week. Yeah, whatever. No pics in the museum obviously, but it's cool because it's right in the middle of the old town... actually tough to find... I think we asked 10 people for directions!Bill likes to take pictures of buildings and statues so here's some we saw along the way.
To give an idea of how tired I was, here's me barely alive at a tapas joint at the end of the day!
After that, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going out. We've become masters of the metro by now and have never had an incident even though it is ridiculously common to get pickpocketed or mugged... especially this week when 50,000 professionals are in town. I always just lock it down... hands in pocket with my best tough guy look. So we're on the metro and a few different people get uncomfortably close. I'm watching myself like a hawk at this point, but I'm not watching Bill. We get to a stop and one of the guys who had a map in front of Bill's face gets off in a rush. I tell Bill to check his pockets and sure enough they got his iPhone! They're experts at this and I guess there's even classes available. Nice! Well, it was bound to happen... but not to me... check out my unmesswithable look at the Metro?
Well, it's our last night and we've already been around to all the hotspots... the clubs in Port Olimpico, Chupitos shot bar, La Fira, etc., so we decide to just head back to old town to find something with a local experience. It's the first night of Carnaval
so we're hoping people will be out in costume ready to party. We don't find much in the old town so our hostess with the mostess Alexandra meets up with us and we hit up some of her favorite places. Everywhere we went was super crowded so she suggests we go to Shoku in Port Olimpico. We were against it at first because we had already been there a couple nights earlier, but then she shows us a picture of her 5 smoking hot friends that were there... ummm, taxi!! We get there and make our way to the VIP section. We get to the table and her 5 friends have absolutely NO interest in meeting us. Uhh, don't they know I'm kind of a big deal? I hang out with 6 foot tall European models like all the time! Alexandra tells us that the local girls are not interested in tourists (which I had been experiencing all week btw!). We shrug it off and just hang out by the table for a bit. Then the guy who's VIP table it was who had been ice grilling us since we got there told us to leave. Okay, whatever douchebag with cape on (actually, I wish I had a cape). So we cruise down to where the "regular" people were, but no biggie... because it was Carnaval, they had 4 Brazilian samba dancers do a show to some seriously intense drum circle action. The only pic from our evenings out!
So that wraps it up... good times and lots of work. Rumor was spreading that it was the last year in Barcelona, but that proved to be false so I'll see ya back there next year!
Kei, the master booth blaster and Alexandra, the hostess with the mostess. I spit hot fire.This was my domain in the booth.Some booth shots.As always, we gave away a Vespa... I didn't see who won.Now we all know that my presence at the MWC extends beyond booth duty... I am also the DJ for the now legendary ACCESS party! Who would have thought that my most loyal audience would be conference attendees? I received numerous emails prior to the event asking if I was DJing again and even more people stopped by the booth asking as well. The anticipation was building! Even though it was known and expected for most, it was still fun to see the look of surprise and confusion on some people's faces when they saw me, the guy they talked to in the booth or had a meeting with, behind the turntables. Wait, what?! Hehehe :-)I rocked out the usual rare, old soul and funk to the appreciative crowd for 3 solid hours. People were way into it and I think I gave away more DJ Ferrari business cards that Ivan Dwyer business cards (just kidding ACCESS). I went straight from booth duty to DJ duty so I just kept the suit going. I think I found my permanent DJ look. It wasn't out of place here, but it sure would be in the Mission!There was a huge monitor behind me with video... this pic was good timingBill always trys to get the action shots... lightning fast hands!In the crowd.I always have to explain Microwave. Okay, it's just like DJing with records, but the actual music comes from the laptop. Still confused? I'd have to show you.This guy cracks me up! So my boss and I have become rather legendary as the "party guys" at some of these conferences. So much so that some people take it upon themselves to outlast us. For example, at the last Orange Partner Camp in Florida, this guy's mission was to take down the best. I told him it couldn't be done... we can't be outlasted. Well, we stayed up all night, hunting for beers at 8 in the morning and I gotta say... he won. I had to bow out around 10 AM. Like a blackjack dealer in Vegas, I clapped and showed my hands and said "I'm out". Well played sir, well played!As always, ACCESS spares no expense to provide a unique, local experience with superb food and dining... and as always, I got none of it!Check out that crowd having an awesome time to the soulful sounds of DJ Ferrari!It wouldn't be an ACCESS party without painted ladies now would it? Wait, doesn't she look familiar? You may recognize her from my Portugal trip, but that time she was painted in red. She's a Barcelona native and this time she brought a friend. Good times, good times :-)Of course, everyone had to get a picture. Check out our good friends from Orange :-)Of course the DJ gets some love too!Hey, don't forget thecameraman!
What's my favorite thing about Barcelona? I gotta say it's the food. Oh man... so good! Tapas, paella, seafood for days! We hit up La Barca in Port Olimpico one night, which warrants some pictures.Bringing out the fresh seafood.Jimmy having some fun with the lobsters. Too bad Cheryl wasn't here this year... last year the waiter tossed a live lobster in her lap and she screamed something fierce!Barnacles... yeah, barnacles! They were pretty fun to eat actually... squirting all over (no ayo)They just kept bringing more platters like this.Me getting ready for the goodness. I take it seriously!The lobster paella was the last dish to show up so I had to conjur up some room.Bill and I took an extra day after the conference to hang around the city. I was naturally pretty beat from the 4 day conference and all the extra curricular activities that come along with it, but we managed to get a lot in one day. We had already seen most the touristy stuff the past 2 years... Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, etc. so we didn't need to do any of that. We started walking down Passeig de Gracia which is basically the Michigan Avenue (Chicago) of Barcelona and made our way to the marina and back.Starting point at Diagonal and Passeig de Gracia... our hotel 2 years ago was nearby this spot so it was familiar.Walking down Passeig de Gracia.We heard a bunch of whistles and megaphones to find out that folks were protesting Burberry. Why? No idea, but Berkeley heads need to step their game up with the whistles.We made our way to Plaza Catalunya and then headed down Las Ramblas, which is WAY different at night. Wink, wink :-)There was a pretty sweet market off Las Ramblas with tons of amazing fruit, fish, candy and more. I could have gone to town here, but I was too stuffed.I have no idea what this fruit is, but I had a smoothie and it was friggin' sweet!We made it to the end of Las Ramblas and did some clothes shopping before heading over to the marina. I had to get a picture by the boats cuz I like boats!From here, we made our way back up, but through old town... the Born district. This area is super cool... old streets with little shops all over. We hit it during the siesta which means shops were mostly closed, but the graffitti on the shutters is cooler anyway.Loads of little shops, cafes, tapas joints, etc. This place had some awesome looking candy and had a pretty cool contemporary design. Picture!Naturally, I had to get a picture in front of the Brazilian joint!A sampling of the streets.One tourist attraction we've missed over the years is the Picasso Mueseum so we checked that out. It was pretty sweet, but my legs were like jello at this point from the mass amounts of standing and walking throughout the week. Yeah, whatever. No pics in the museum obviously, but it's cool because it's right in the middle of the old town... actually tough to find... I think we asked 10 people for directions!Bill likes to take pictures of buildings and statues so here's some we saw along the way.To give an idea of how tired I was, here's me barely alive at a tapas joint at the end of the day!After that, we headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going out. We've become masters of the metro by now and have never had an incident even though it is ridiculously common to get pickpocketed or mugged... especially this week when 50,000 professionals are in town. I always just lock it down... hands in pocket with my best tough guy look. So we're on the metro and a few different people get uncomfortably close. I'm watching myself like a hawk at this point, but I'm not watching Bill. We get to a stop and one of the guys who had a map in front of Bill's face gets off in a rush. I tell Bill to check his pockets and sure enough they got his iPhone! They're experts at this and I guess there's even classes available. Nice! Well, it was bound to happen... but not to me... check out my unmesswithable look at the Metro?Well, it's our last night and we've already been around to all the hotspots... the clubs in Port Olimpico, Chupitos shot bar, La Fira, etc., so we decide to just head back to old town to find something with a local experience. It's the first night of Carnavalso we're hoping people will be out in costume ready to party. We don't find much in the old town so our hostess with the mostess Alexandra meets up with us and we hit up some of her favorite places. Everywhere we went was super crowded so she suggests we go to Shoku in Port Olimpico. We were against it at first because we had already been there a couple nights earlier, but then she shows us a picture of her 5 smoking hot friends that were there... ummm, taxi!! We get there and make our way to the VIP section. We get to the table and her 5 friends have absolutely NO interest in meeting us. Uhh, don't they know I'm kind of a big deal? I hang out with 6 foot tall European models like all the time! Alexandra tells us that the local girls are not interested in tourists (which I had been experiencing all week btw!). We shrug it off and just hang out by the table for a bit. Then the guy who's VIP table it was who had been ice grilling us since we got there told us to leave. Okay, whatever douchebag with cape on (actually, I wish I had a cape). So we cruise down to where the "regular" people were, but no biggie... because it was Carnaval, they had 4 Brazilian samba dancers do a show to some seriously intense drum circle action. The only pic from our evenings out!
So that wraps it up... good times and lots of work. Rumor was spreading that it was the last year in Barcelona, but that proved to be false so I'll see ya back there next year!