Unlimited Drinks London: 10th June – Get on the guestlist!

SMS Text News returns to it’s spiritual home — the city of London, UK, this June 10th. If you’re in the city that day, you’re most welcome to come along for an evening of drinks, food and networking with likeminded SMS Text News readers.

Critical Info
The date: June 10th (Tuesday)
The venue: Number3 Bar, New Burlington Street, just off Regent Street, London (Google Map)
The time: 6pm onwards
Get on the guestlist: Email me with the subject UNLIMITED DRINKS = YES as soon as you can.

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 supporting it?
A huge thank you to the team at NinetyTen, makers of (amongst other things) BuddyPing. They are graciously supporting Unlimited Drinks London. I recently caught up with Justin, the company’s founder, to find out what was new. He had so much going on that I did an inpromptu podcast. More on that shortly. Please do take a bit of time to check out the NinetyTen site and download a copy of BuddyPing to your S60 or Java handset. The service is going from strength to strength and they’ve got some big, big news due to hit the streets in July.

What’s happening on the night?
The Number3Bar is ours entirely for the evening. After negotiating the rather large, official bouncers at the door to the venue, you’ll be met at the door by me — Ewan — and members of the UK-based SMS Text News team. I’ll demand a card from you and point you toward the place to hang up your coats (although, the venue does charge a whopping one-quid for this service) and then point you toward the bar and introduce you to other readers.

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. Remember your 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 spectacularly located in the West End. Walk down Regent Street, about half way from Oxford Circus (peer into the Apple store when you do) and shortly you’ll reach New Burlington Street and see the bar. Alternatively, walk up Regent Street from Picadilly Circus.

Some venue 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. 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 N82 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. I’ve already got a huge list of people confirmed so please email me right-away with your name (and other guest names and job titles). Mail me, ewan@smstextnews.com with the subject ‘UNLIMITED DRINKS = YES’ and I’ll reply to confirm.

After the event
You must be sure to give me your business card on the evening as, next day, I write up a one-liner on every attendee and link to their respective websites. This is one of the highest trafficked elements of the site so do remember this.

I hope to meet you on the night!