Editor's Blog: Covering 3GSM, virtually

For several years I have been covering the big 3GSM mobile show, spanning the years when it got its silly new name. But for personal reasons this year I'm back in London, rather than Barcelona.

We knew there would be lots of news on many fronts coming out of the show but the plan was for one of the silicon.com team, senior reporter Jo Best, to head there while I offered support from silicon.com's offices. (Think 24's CTU if you like, minus the Cisco phone endorsements.)

In recent times it hasn't escaped the attention of many an attending journalist - or any other keen observer - that those on the show floor are often last to hear certain pieces of news.

It could be you're in one press conference when something gets launched elsewhere or a big keynote speaker opens his mouth.

It could be - and I hate this - that as soon as a press conference starts, a major company announces what they want to tell the world concurrently over the wires (which means the internet, these days), meaning that in theory all those who bothered to go along lose 30 to 60 minutes over those who are only virtually checking in.

But in my experience, trying to do an event from afar sucks. Trust me, there is little glamour in trudging around a conference centre whether it is in Birmingham or the Bahamas. But at least you get things first hand.

This year my colleague has taken over our daily diary pieces. These aren't just about saying what's happened or teeing up what's next. They should try to get across the sights, sounds and smells over anything going on.

Those who'd be interested would probably have benefited more from being there but getting an update online is the next best thing, we hope.

So I'm no fan of rushing around but being here is no substitute for attending 3GSM. At the office I'm distracted at every turn and a small storage room down the corridor - assuming our office wi-fi penetrates the walls - looks appealing.

Yesterday I tried to do a conference call with one big mobile email company. OK, it was RIM, of BlackBerry fame. Things got a bit messed up and I was left waiting by a phone for a call that never came.

It wasn't the end of the world. Just one of those things. But if I'd been at the event, while there are cock-ups by the minute in terms of scheduling, rescheduling, no-shows and so on, I could have probably just grabbed the right person.

And the product. So far I've heard that RIM's BlackBerry 8800 is a "sleek new smart phone", one that employs the trackball used in the more consumer-focused Pearl. (News just in over 'the wires' - Orange have launched it into the UK. This does kind of work!)

What I wanted to do was go up to someone on a RIM stand (assuming they have one - see, I don't even know that) and ask whether they're just copying Nokia names. Something tells me the Nokia 8800 is a sleek, must-have phone too.

I'm left concluding that this is an advertisement for why these regular get-togethers are necessary. While I don't exactly wish I was there, I do feel bad about not being there, and missing the action.

Just as well we have a good reporter on the ground. And there is always a next event.