Richard: Over the years you've been running Partner Camp each event seems to be an evolution on the last, how are things changing at Cape Canaveral?

Steve: Partner Camp is about reaching out to application and content providers, to help bring them on board with Orange. The goal is to help them think about what content and applications they can develop for us, to meet the needs of Orange customers in 18 to 24 months time.

The content of this year's Partner Camp reflects the opening of the Orange Application Shop. We launched this at the camp in Cadiz, in October 2006, and we are now focused on finding applications to populate the shop.

When camp started it was very technically orientated, which is why we called it Code Camp. At the first camp, in Poitiers, around seventy percent of the sessions and events were focused on technology, with the remaining thirty percent focused on business. As a result of the changes that took place in Orange during 2006, the Cadiz camp was the reverse: thirty percent technology, seventy percent business.

Because we are focusing on populating Application Shop, the Cape Canaveral event sees a move back to a more technical focus. Technical and business content is shared - fifty, fifty - with a strong emphasis on helping partners and their applications achieve Orange Compatible status.

Richard: While Partner Camp provides existing partners with the opportunity to meet Orange and network with their peers, given the focus on bringing in new partners, are you still seeing strong interest in Partner Camp?

Steve: We are. In fact this is the first Camp to sell out within weeks of opening registration. As you know Camp is quite large, but our goal is to keep the sessions quite intimate, twenty five to thirty people. To achieve this we are introducing some very late night sessions. For example, Access, the events platinum sponsor, is holding a midnight to 3 a.m. technical training session, after the Tuesday night party. The Developer Centre will operate round the clock, allowing developers to design and test applications or check out new devices. This is returning to some of the original Code Camp ethos, where we basically ran 24 hours a day. We are doing this again because we've got a lot to do in just three days, particularly as this is the only open Partner Camp we are holding in 2007.

Richard: Given that places at Camp are in such demand, why are you only holding one this year?

Steve: We now have a lot of contracted partners; companies that supply us content and applications on a regular basis. Our second event this year is focusing on these partners, folks like Sony, Disney, and Warner, along with large application providers.

Richard: Is this an indication of a growing maturity in the mobile content and applications market?

Steve: I would say it is as much a case of maturity within the Orange Partner program. When we started three and a half years ago we wanted a program that would reach out to partners twice a year, once in the Americas and once in Europe. This has been a success, with many attendees at the earlier camps now working with us. These folks don't have to come back to camp every time; they need a different type of event. So while reaching out to new partners is still very important - and is the focus of this Partner Camp - at the same time we need to focus on our contracted partners, hence the decision to provide a new event specifically for them.

Richard: How is this year's event focusing on populating the application shop?

Steve: As with any carrier, when we sell product through WAP it typically allows us to have five to ten products on the top-deck. Under those circumstances it's quite important to have content that is specific and accessible to our broad customer base.

We are now seeing a lot of applications and content emerging from our partner community and we want to make it available to our customers. However, instead of using a third-party aggregator; someone like a Handango or Motricity, we created Application Shop as an extension to Orange World. Our customers still see content, such as music or applications, on the top-deck, but now they can go to the Application Shop and search for specific items of interest to them.

Having launched Application Shop we need to continuously update it with new content and applications. One way to achieve this is to bring new partners into Orange Partner and that's the focus of this Partner Camp. It's about letting new partners know what we are looking for, helping them learn how to submit applications, and gain Orange Compatible, so their applications can be added to Application Shop.

Richard: How successful is Partner Camp at helping you find new partners and applications?

Steve: We have applications submitted to us all year round; however Partner Camp usually helps us find between seventy and ninety new applications. These applications are then submitted for Orange Compatible testing, before being added to our catalogue and the Application Shop.

Our internal catalogue is used by country managers who make decisions about the applications seen on Orange World. To help them do this, we rate and rank applications on the catalogue. For example, a product manager can see the top-10 selling applications and in which countries they're selling. This allows them to relate the application to their own customer base, as we operate in twenty three countries and customer profiles vary. A manager may see from the catalog that a certain application is selling well in Belgium, so they can assess whether this means the application will sell well in their territory.

We can only put so many applications on the top-deck in Orange World, but we have hundreds and hundreds of Orange Compatible applications available. The Application Shop provides an outlet for every application that has gained Orange Compatible, allowing them to get into the Orange marketplace, unless a country has specifically decided to exclude that application.

Richard: With hundreds of applications available, what can developers do to gain extra exposure in Application Shop?

Steve: Application Shop is like a retail shop. We want to advertise what we have available, but "in-store" advertising really only works for recognized brands. Our large partners will be promoting their technology generally anyway. Smaller developers are able to use Orange Compatible in their advertising, but we don't allow other brands to advertise in Orange World.

Richard: While some mobile developers, such as QuickOffice, have recognized brands, many mobile developers are small companies without the ability to advertise widely. Given this, are their applications going to be visible in Application Shop?

Steve: We are seeing an increasing number of our customers starting to rely on Orange Compatible. These folks are coming into Application Shop to look for applications that fulfill specific requirements. They rely on the information describing the application within the shop. However, many of these users are also being guided by consumer magazines and websites that describe and evaluate these products.

For developers of enterprise applications we provide a Web based service that can showcase their application to our enterprise customers. Here our customers can find out about a product, download a free evaluation copy, and visit the developer's Web site. As our business users are looking for specific types of applications, we give those developers the chance to promote directly to those customers, for a small charge. QuickOffice is a good example of the folks who have taken advantage of this service.

Richard: Several aggregators have reported increased interest from customers in Symbian applications, particularly since the launch of Nokia Eseries. Have you seen similar trends in Application Shop?

Steve: Sales of Symbian applications are great, but we don't disclose specific information. Symbian is a strategic partner of ours and we want to be very clear about that. We continually stress to the developer community that we are always looking for Symbian applications. As a result there are a lot of very, very good Symbian applications available to us. In addition, we work hand-in-hand with Symbian and their developer program, sharing information on applications and activities. This is reflected in the fact that Symbian has been a gold sponsor at every Camp, individually or through S60 and UIQ. So we're very actively involved with Symbian and will continue to be.

Richard: It rained through a good part of the Cadiz and Sarasota camps; will you be able to do anything about the weather in Cape Canaveral?

Steve: (laughs) I do this every year: get in a very specific order for rain to help keep everyone in the sessions! It's absolutely wonderful! But seriously, this time we are pretty much guaranteed good weather. I've been watching the long-term weather forecasts and it looks like Camp will be sunny and around 82F (28C). It will be simply brilliant.

Accommodation for the Cape Canaveral Partner Camp has already sold out, but Orange is still squeezing in delegates who can made their own accommodation arrangements. To find out more visit the Cape Canaveral Partner Camp registration page.