MWC is judged on the meeting diary
Almost everyone who matters at MWC arrives with a full diary booked weeks in advance. Brands that treat the stand as a footfall exercise report thousands of scans and a handful of opportunities. Brands that treat it as a venue for a pre-built meeting programme report the opposite, with a smaller stand and a lower budget.
- Build the meeting programme before the stand design is signed off.
- Size meeting capacity to the diary, not the diary to the stand.
- Staff for conversation quality rather than scan volume.
- Separate private meeting space from the open demo area.
Stand build and Fira realities
The Fira operates to fixed build and breakdown schedules with contractor accreditation, hall regulations, rigging rules and height restrictions that govern what is possible. We design the stand against the hall specification from the start, so the build that gets approved is the build that was presented internally.
- Design to hall regulations, height limits and rigging permissions.
- Contractor accreditation, build and breakdown scheduling.
- Power, connectivity, AV and demo infrastructure.
- Storage, freight and on-site logistics through the Fira's windows.
- Reusable modular build where you exhibit at multiple shows a year.
Off-stand is where the senior conversations happen
The most valuable MWC conversations rarely happen on the stand. They happen at a dinner, a suite, a breakfast or a hosted evening. We run the off-site programme alongside the stand so the two share one guest list and one follow-up, instead of competing for the same executives' evenings.
Capture and follow-up
We instrument the week so the post-show pack is usable in the first week back: meetings held by account and seniority, demo engagement, leads captured with context rather than a badge scan, and a handover the sales team can act on before the momentum decays.
Sponsorship, side events and executive dinners
Many MWC exhibitors get more from a sponsored moment or a private dinner than from extra stand space. Organiser sponsorship packages are bought from the organiser and come with their own branding rules; side events in city venues need their own venue contract, caterer and guest list. We produce the hospitality and dinners, and keep both on the same guest list as the stand so senior guests are not invited three times. For prospect outreach ahead of MWC, explore pre-show conference appointment setting with Pearl Lemon Leads, scoped separately from our event production without guaranteed meetings.
- Organiser sponsorship: bought direct from the organiser; we deliver the activation inside its rules.
- Side events: venue, catering and timing checked against the busiest evenings of the week.
- Executive dinners: 10–24 guests, run on the same method as our CXO dinners.
- Guest acquisition for new contacts is outbound appointment setting, scoped separately.
Supplier approvals and lead times
Stand builders must be accredited for the hall, and catering inside the Fira normally runs through approved suppliers. We confirm who is allowed to do what before a design is signed off. Barcelona hotels and evening venues book up early for MWC week, so if you are starting late we will say which options are still realistic. We do not promise organiser access, badges or space allocation.
What we have delivered in Barcelona, and what is analogous
Our published Barcelona work is exhibitor and sponsor hospitality at ISE and ICE at Fira Gran Via, and a two-zone sponsor coffee bar at Reuters Events Pharma at CCIB. Those projects ran inside organiser build schedules and venue rules. They were not stand builds and not MWC: they show how we work in Barcelona venues, not proof of an MWC delivery.
Questions to settle before you commit to MWC
Answer these first and the stand, suite and hospitality decisions mostly make themselves.
- How many meetings are already booked, and with which accounts?
- Do new buyers need to find you, or is the pipeline pre-booked? That decides stand versus suite.
- Who builds the stand: an accredited Fira contractor appointed for your hall, named in the proposal.
- What counts as a qualified lead, and who follows up within a week of the show?
- Is the build reusable at other shows in your calendar this year?
Indicative budget bands
Ranges, not quotes. Every brief is scoped and itemised before you commit.
- £40k – £100k
- Modest built stand with meeting space, staffing and lead capture.
- £100k – £300k
- Larger stand with demo environment, private suites and an off-site programme.
- £300k+
- Flagship hall presence with full hospitality programme and content production.