Last week I went to an information session in Melbourne about the 2009 MEGA programme. If you have a mobile idea, or just really want to get a foot in the door in the mobile industry, this could be the opportunity you’ve been looking for.

When I first started Mobilist and this blog I wasn’t sure the idea would take off, but (nearly) 2 years later I am happy to report that – well – it has! It’s now time to up the stakes and create a new, more professional home on the web. So welcome to the brand new Mobilista, full of all sorts of mobile industry goodness for Australia!

I’m thrilled to be able to announce the Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) is running a Mobile Marketing Course in Sydney on June 11th and Melbourne on June 18th. Apart from the fact that I’ve been asked to present the Melbourne course, I am quite genuinely pleased to see an industry organisation of ADMA’s strength paying attention to mobile as a marketing tool.

I enjoyed ad:tech and was delighted to be invited to speak on a panel with Oliver (Ideal Interfaces), Anton (FrontFoot) and Justin (Google). We had a good chat and got some debate going about the mobile marketing eco-system in Australia and what’s holding it back.

Here are my Mobile predictions for Australia in 2009. They are naturally leaning towards Mobile Web and Mobile Advertising, as that’s really my thing. If you’re interested in more general, global trends, check out the links at the bottom of this article.

Well it’s been far too long between posts. I have to apologise and it’s absolutely time to catch up! The good news is that 48 people have signed up to the Facebook group for Mobile Advertising in Australia.

I’m hoping to use this blog as a starting point to create a community around the Mobile Advertising industry in Australia. I plan to leave the ‘industry association’ stuff to the experts but I think we can all benefit from an ongoing conversation in a more informal way.

MEGA (Mobile Enterprise Growth Alliance) started in Adelaide last year and is now rolling out in Victoria & NSW. It’s an industry led programme in which leading mobile industry experts guide participants through the development of new business ideas over a 2 month period.