Posts Tagged ‘Barcelona’

Barcelona Europe’s next entrepreneurship capital?

February 7, 2010

Barcelona has a clear vision: Becoming the entrepreneurship capital of Europe. That is quite an interesting vision and marketing strategy for a city. Being able to say that you are the start-up capital is quite a titel however will not be easily achieved.

Considering that Barcelona is one of the most liveable and attractive cities and hosts two of the top-ten business schools in Europe, this could however be strategy that might actually work. ESADE’s strong focus on entrepreneurship and ESADE’s business incubator “Creapolis” definitely goes well along those lines.

In fact there is a number of developments, events and institutions, like Barcelona’s Activa, that push for this development, that I would like to highlight. The previously mentioned serial entrepreneur Christopher Pommerening for example has recently been asked by the “City of Barcelona and the “Plan Estratégico Metropolitano de Barcelona” to promote and create a special Advisory Committee for Entrepreneurship, in order to improve the services and infrastructures for Entrepreneurs”, as stated by the website “Barcelona Entrepreneurship City”.

The February 2010 edition of the  “Entrepreneurial Event Aggregator” (here) provides you again with a good overview of all the Entrepreneurial Events happening in Barcelona…

Host: ENB
Topic: TBC
Date: 4th of February, 19:15h
Location: Hotel Casanova, C/Gran Via de les Corts, 559
Confirmation: info@networkbarcelona.com or here

Host: ESADECREAPOLIS
Topic: XIII Foro de Inversión del CEI
Date: 9th of February, 17:00h – 19:00h
Location: ESADEFORUM. Av. Pedralbes 60-62. Barcelona
Confirmation: here

Host: ESADE
Topic: Business Angels Network
¿Qué es un Business Angel? Características y datos claves, con Luisa Alemany, Manuel Martos, Carlos Hernández
Date: 9th of February, 19:30h
Location: ESADEFORUM. Av. Pedralbes 60-62. Barcelona
Confirmation: ESADE Alumni

Host: Camera de Comercio de Barcelona
Topic: The day of Silicon Valley: Business opportunities and new trends
Date: 11th of February, 8:30h – 11:00h
Location: Viver de Glòries de Barcelona Activa, c/ Llacuna, 162
Confirmation: gperarnau@cambrabcn.org or here

Host: Gild International
Topic: Networking Lunch
Date: 11th of February, 13:30h – 16:00h
Location: Gild International, Passatge Permanyer 5, 08009 Barcelona
Confirmation: gildinternational@gildinternational.com or at here

Host: ACC1Ó
Topic: Emprenedors que inverteixen. Sector Internet
Date: 16th of February, 8:30h – 10:00h
Location: Hotel Gallery, C. Rosselló, 249
Confirmation: here

Host: Barcelona Activa
Topic: Growth Academy, Fourth Edition
Performing a process of strategic and growth planning using as a tool the application on-line PEC
Date: 17th of February, 9:00h – 19:00h
Location: Viver – Incubadora d’Empreses. Llacuna, 162 Barcelona Tel: 934019666
Confirmation: here

Host: Gild International
Topic: Webcast: Strategy with Jeff Jarvis
Date: 18th of February, 18:00h
Location: Gild International, Passatge Permanyer 5, 08009 Barcelona, España
Confirmation: gildinternational@gildinternational.com or here

If you want to find out more about Barcelona’s Entrepreneurship City click here. Good luck with starting your own business.

BarcelonaSinLadrones.org – Initiative against Barcelona’s pickpockets

December 7, 2009

Hello everybody,

after starting the Facebook Group and talking to many people it seems there is a strong interest among the community to assist in the fight against Barcelona’s pickpockets and thiefs. Since we have launched this website even more people have been robbed, and in incident the thieves have also been arrested, so the trend continues.

In order to extend the reach of this initiative I have set up a website called http://www.barcelonasinladrones.org to gain more public access. Please sign the petition here to show your support and once we have more critical mass we can publicity from TV Channels and newspapers to some of which I have already spoken. However to get their support we need more subscribers. The ESADE MBA has already become the official sponsor of this initiative.Please contact me if you want to become an official sponsor as well.

Let’s show unity, spread the word and let’s fight the cause!!!

Looking forward to seeing your support!
Best regards
Tobias
http://www.barcelonasinladrones.org

Start-up Weekend in BCN: iWeekend (20.-22.11.09)

November 9, 2009

The worldwide phenomena of start-up weekends has reached Barcelona. iWeekend is taking place in Barcelona on the weekend of the 20th until the 22nd of November 2009. This event was mentioned in the entrepreneurship aggregator I posted a few days ago but I would like to emphasize this particular event a little further:

Start-up weekends are events for entrepreneurs, who meet over an entire weekend, with the goal to have developed a business concept by the end of the weekend. This is similar to an un-conference or user generated conference that leverages the drive, motivation and creativity of the users. On Sunday night hopefully the result is a start-up with like-minded people.

This is definitely worthwhile experiencing and you should check it out here! Happy creations!

Source: iWeekend.org

Red Bull Air Race – Barcelona (Live Stream)

October 4, 2009

If everything worked there should be a live stream of the race now, which is taking place on Bogatell Beach today. Enjoy on this blog and if doesn’t work rush to the beach and watch it there. You can access the livestream directly (or here) and the live ticker here. If nothing works check out the YouTube Prelude for today’s race :)

Red Bull Air Race World Championship Finale in Barcelona (03.10.-04.10.2009)

September 28, 2009

The world famous Red Bull Air Race World Championship is coming to Barcelona this weekend (03.10.-04.10.2009) for the “Grande Finale”

This year there will be 15 of the world’s best pilots battling each other in the skies of Barcelona by flying with breath-taking speeds through the race track. If you are wondering how there can be a race track for planes have a look at this video:

For those of you planning to attend please find the schedule hereto below and on the official website:

Schedule

Qualifying (Saturday, October 3rd)
• 12:00 Doors Open, Hospitality Areas
• 13:00 Pre-show, Side Acts
• 15:30 RACE STARTS!
• 15:30 1st Qualifying session
• 16:45 2nd Qualifying session
• 18:45 Results, Summary, Interviews, Highlights of the Day
• 18:00 Hospitality Pit Lane Walk (High Flyer’s Lounge and Business Class Race Club only)
• 18:00 All hospitality areas close

Race Day (Sunday, October 4th)
• 12:00 Doors Open, Hospitality Areas
• 13:00 Pre-show, Side Acts
• 14:30 RACE STARTS!
• 14:30 Wild Card session
• 15:30 Top 12
• 16:00 Super 8
• 16:45 Final 4
• 17:15 Award Ceremony
• 17:45 Results, Summary, Interviews, Highlights of the Day
• 19:30 Doors Close

Source: Red Bull Air Race

I will also try to setup a live-stream on this blog during the race.

La Mercè Festival

September 24, 2009

[Update on 26.09.2009: check out the program in English here]

Today is the festival for the Virgin of la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona, is a truelly great experience. (View the history of la Merce here ).Entire Barcelona is celebrating its culture and there is a lot of it everywhere. There are numerous parades in overlarge sizes, fireworks, concerts, the famous human towers (that I have been mentioning several times) and much more. The festival started last night and will continue until Sunday. Head to the city and just let yourself flow with the people and enjoy all those cultural activities.

Every year the festival is dedicated to a partner city and this year the guest and partner of honor is the city Istanbul. Taking advantage of this great occasion some friends and me went to the concert of Baba Zula last night. Have a look at this video to get in the mood:

Reminder: “Festes de Gracia”

August 15, 2009

As mentioned previously, today is the first day of the week-long (August 15thAugust 21) neighborhood party “Festes de Gràcia” in Barcelona. The Gràcia residents decorate the streets and organize music & events in their famous squares, which is a must see.

Japanese food for our Japanese friends

July 11, 2009

One of the most important and often most difficult aspects of living abroad is the food and cuisine. There is good news for the Japanese students and those that love Japanese cuisine: TOKYO-YA.

Tokyo-ya is a Japanese food specialist where you can get all the important ingredients you need. Check it out for yourself:

TOKYO – YA, S.A.
Carrer Girona 199
08009 Barcelona
http://www.tokyo-ya.es/tienda/catalog

Barcelona – MoleskineCity

July 8, 2009

For the Moleskine fans among you there is a MoleskineCity for Barcelona. I have one of these city notebooks and I am writing my own city guide with my own recommendations, addresses, sites, etc. The Moleskine also has city center maps and a Metro map, which is very useful. Check it out here.

Barcelona – Lost & Found

June 15, 2009

In case you ever get robbed, lose your ID or other documents, which happens quite frequently in Barcelona, either you go to any police station or you can do it online. Go to Mossos.net and look for “Denuncies per Internet“, select your language and register your enquiry online.

You can also visit them directly

Mossos d’Esquadra
Travessera de les Corts, 319-321
08014 – Barcelona
Tel: 088 (free call), 934959700, or 934 959 701

I cannot guarantee the correctness of those numbers and they might be subject to change.

Additional note (15.06.09): When you file a loss or theft online you have to actually go to one of the mossos d’esquadra offices in order to validate your report. This can only be signed and verified by the affected person (I found this out the hard way).

Barcelona voted the 15th most liveable city! (FT)

June 14, 2009

The Financial Times published one of the liste of the most liveable cities in the world today. Barcelona was not only a newcomer on the list but jumped right up to the 15th place. Isn’t it great living in the 15th most liveable cities in the world?

The ranking was done by Monocle and it is not quite clear to me what were all the parameters taken into consideration but that doesn’t matter. It is great in any case! Viva Barcelona!!! :)

Actually I must say that I am very fortunate to have lived in four of this year’s 25 most liveable cities in the world, two of which I currently live in :)

Barcelona on a scooter

May 17, 2009

Spring is providing us with a first glimpse of what summer will be like in Barcelona and all of a sudden everybody thinks “scooter”. Now that the first colleagues have gotten their own scooters and motorbikes, incl. the first punctures, I thought it would be a good time to show you a special offer that Cooltra Scooters made to ESADE students.

Cooltra is providing exclusive offers to ESADE where the scooters only cost €170 for three months rental and 150€ for 6 months rental with free insurance (VAT excl.) The also sell old-school scooters under www.cooltra-vintage.com (@cooltra please correct me if i am wrong).

Give them a call (+34-902050679). Feel free to tell us about other deals that you have seen in Barcelona.

For those of you that want a “real” motorbike check out the local Royal Enfiled store ;)

Ronda General Mitre 245 (junto a Plaza Lesseps),08023 Barcelona

Relocation to Barcelona

May 7, 2009

Let’s talk about living and moving to Barcelona.

I have received numerouus enquiries about how and where to find apartments and therefore I would like to highlight a few things.

The people from the current 18month program are not actually leaving in September but in April 2010 same as the students from the 12month program. Therefore the class starting in August 2009 cannot just take over the apartments from them unfortunately. However there are good chances that a few students of the 18months-program are going away for internships or exchange programs so there will potentially be some vacant rooms. I will try to assist in the communication between the incoming and outgoing students as good as I can.

With regards to the locations there are many opinions about where to go and I can only give you my perception. I enjoy living close to the school so that I can walk! If you are not that fortunate and need to commute you should be aware of the following. The metro “Maria Cristina” is further away than you think and most people rely on the bus network, which is excellent!!! Check out locations for your apartments that are along the bus lines 22, 78, 63, 75 and 68 instead of only Metro Line 3! For more information about the public transport check out TMB.

Concerning the relocation company “Olympic“, that has been working with ESADE until now, there will be changes. There is a rumor that the contract will expire and ESADE will not continue to work with them in the future. However some of the current students have found some excellent apartments through Olympic.

There is however a new relocation service provided by an ESADE alumni (as mentioned earlier) that I would like to remind you of. Please find the email that was sent to us hereto below:

Please contact Michael Corcoran, a recent ESADE MBA 2009 graduate, for access to ideal apartments for incoming ESADE students. He is offering customised leases in association with BornLiving, a reputable real estate agent in Barcelona. The relocation package is designed to directly suit the needs of an ESADE MBA. He will be personally managing the process from end to end for the incoming Masters students.

For more details see their site at: http://www.bornliving.com/services/graduate/

Contact him at: graduate@bornliving.com or call me on +34 695 153 968

All the best for you relocation to Barcelona!

Accomodation – ESADE Entrepreneurship

April 20, 2009

A former ESADE student turned entrepreneur and offers a special relocation service for incoming students. Check it out and make use of this great opportunity to benefit from ESADE entrepreneurship.

Hola OneYear MBA Class of 2010! Bienvenidos a ESADE!

I have just graduated with the ESADE MBA Class of 2009. Recently, I designed a customised relocation package for incoming Masters students, in partnership with BornLiving, a reputable Real Estate agency here in Barcelona. We will be offering apartments in ideal locations with customised/flexible leases for MBAs, and great discounts including a large discount on scooters if you decide to relocate with us. The agency fee is 1 months rent, which is the lowest rate on the market here.

I will be managing this process from end to end, so I promise you a high level of service, good guidance and advice, and a property that will make your lifestyle more enjoyable in Barcelona.

More info at: http://www.bornliving.com/services/graduate/
Or contact me at: graduate@bornliving.com
Facebook: BornLiving Barcelona

I hope to hear from you in the future or perhaps we will cross paths in ESADE soon :)))

Saludos,
Mick

Social Life of ESADE students

March 27, 2009

The first six months of the MBA course are said to be particularly hard and time consuming. However in order for the students not to suffocate of work, the students receive a weekly email proposing social activities, events and secret tips. That means that there is a great equilibrium between the work, student and social life. You just need to take advantage of. I am looking forward to trying it out!!!


Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.