Unlimited Drinks! August 23rd! Number3 Bar, Mayfair! London!

SMS Text News is going Moroccan!

My credit card is smoking!

The venue is booked and paid for. Copious amounts of platters (featuring REAL food that yours truly can safely eat) are booked and paid for. LOADS of beer and wine is paid for.

Critical Info
The date: August 23rd (Thursday)
The venue: Number3 Bar, New Burlington Street, just off Regent Street, London (Google Map)
The time: 6pm onwards

The background
Unlimited Drinks is an event primarily to thank you for reading. Your attention is extremely important to us, particularly in today’s hectic world of information overload. Secondly, I’d like to extend the opportunity for you to meet a load of other likeminded individuals who also read. I think it should be valuable for us all — in terms of meeting smart folk and I reckon it will be entertaining. It’s an exciting prospect to be able to put names to faces.

Who’s funding it
Me. I’m paying for it as I think it’s incumbent upon me to do so. There are some mobile-related organisations who’d like to contribute toward the cost though I’ve yet to confirm. I hope that you’ll give these organisations a bit of your time and attention here on the blog when I announce them (and during the evening) as I am most grateful for their assistance.

What’s going to be happening on the night
I’ve booked the whole venue. It’s ours for the evening. There will be no awkward ‘er, is this the right place’ moments. Walk in and you’ll be met by me, Alex, Ben Smith — and maybe, if you’re really lucky, Ben Harvey (although I think he’s going to be stuck in Hampshire). Krystal, alas, will be on the wrong continent. You’ll be able to identify me easily as, weather permitting, I’ll be in one of my pinstripe suits.

I’m still wavering on name stickers. Part of me thinks ‘no way’, part of me thinks ‘yes, useful.’ So prepare for that.

Otherwise, it’s simply a night of networking, drinking and eating. No presentations, no announcements, no speeches, no hassle. There are plenty of sofas, chairs, seats and places to lean on. Business cards.

The Venue
Think funky Moroccan and you’re there. Check out the Number3Bar site. Although it’s officially located in Mayfair, it’s still West End — the nearest tube is, I reckon, Piccadilly Circus.

Some photos:

The Drinks
I named the evening ‘Unlimited Drinks’ because, genuinely, I’d like to offer unlimited drinks to everyone. It’s posssssssible that could overload my capacity to fund it. All things being equal though, you will not pay for beer, wine or soft drinks. Spirits, however, will be chargeable at the bar. Therefore, like many of our big mobile networks with their data plans, there is a fair use policy at Unlimited Drinks.

The Food
I’ve ordered a ton of platters. Each platter, apparently, serves 4-5 people. I wonder if that means ‘one hungry person’. I’m not entirely sure. So I’ve ordered a load. If you won’t be eating before arriving — if you’re coming straight from work, worry not. There will be loads of this:

- Grilled Pitta Bread with homemade humous
- Garlic Olives with Feta Cheese
- Tomato & Basil Bruschetta
- Spring Rolls (meat / vegetable / seafood)
- Breaded Mushrooms
- Yellow Sole Goujons
- Fries
- Samosas (meat / vegetable)
- Filo Prawn Wraps
- Breaded Prawns
- Mini Pizzas
- Yakitori Chicken
- Satay Chicken
- Vegetable Tempura

The other attendees
Expect to meet people with opinions! Expect to meet mobile entrepreneurs, industry executives, analysts, public relations supremeos and those who work in and around the mobile, wireless and web 2.0 industries.

Other elements
Expect no loud music. I can’t stand that when I’m trying to discuss something with somebody. We might have a bit of background stuff. I was discussing with one mobile operator to see if they’d bring along some wicked devices for us to have a play with, or, even better, a Nokia N95 raffle or similar. It’s still a work in progress.

Come on along!
By default, you’re invited. But please email me so I can control the numbers! To get on the guest list please email me, ewan@smstextnews.com with the subject ‘UNLIMITED DRINKS = YES’ (helps me manage the inbox).

After the event
You must be sure to give me your business card on the evening as I am planning on doing a one liner and a web link for every attendee and publishing it here. That’s the theory, anyway.

Standby for updates across the next few days.

Update: We’re at 70% capacity so far, if you’re planning on coming, please do shoot me a mail.