June 2011

OpenAir Summer Announced, Rooftop Networking Session To Close Digital Mission to DC

OpenAir Summer, a night of networking, engaging conversations, cocktails and a rooftop sunset, what more could you want from an evening?

The event, taking place at 6pm on Thursday14th July, fits nicely with the end of the Digital Mission to Washington and is being organised by Tech and Innovation advisor Justin Herman and Director of FutureGov Dominic Campbell. 

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29 June 2011 by Francesca Heath

.YourBrandHere As Domain Name System Embraces Brands

Domain Names Bench, Bristol

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has announced plans to dramatically increase the amount of domain suffixes allowed for websites in one of the biggest ever changes to the Internet's Domain Name System.

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28 June 2011 by Lauren Cotton

Digital Mission to Washington, DC 2011 - The Companies Announced

Congratulations to the 10 leading UK digital companies that have been selected for the Digital Mission to Washington, DC 2011.

This trip will see the companies travel out to Washington, DC for a packed five day trip. To find out more about what the companies will be getting up to while over in DC, check out the Digital Mission Activities page.

Each of the companies is listed below, don't hesitate to drop them a line directly to arrange a time to meet up in Washington, or follow their progress via their Twitter accounts below. You can follow the coverage of the mission on Twitter @digitalmission and we've put together a Twitter list (@digitalmission/dc11) for all the companies and speakers taking part.

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24 June 2011 by Francesca Heath

UK Social Media Census 2011: 61% Getting Their 'Social' On [Infographic]

UK Social Media Census 2011 by Lansons

Here at Chinwag, we like a tasty infographic and this one is a doozy. Built from data collected around the time of the national census, our friend Simon Sanders from Lansons recently published it on their blog.

That's equivalent to the UK's entire working population (~29.3m in 2009 - is this rising/falling - discuss) using social media with a few more people to spare.

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23 June 2011 by Sam Michel

SXSW PanelPicker Opens for 2012

sxsw panel

The PanelPicker entry process for the 2012 SXSW Festivals and Conferences has officially opened, proposals will be accepted until the end of the day on Friday 15th July (11:59pm CST // 5:55am UK time).

The SXSW PanelPicker was developed to offer the community a chance to get involved in SXSW - not only by submitting panel, workshop and presentation ideas but also by reviewing, commenting and voting for the ideas they'd like to see become part of the SXSW festival.

Entering a solo presentation, workshop or panel to the PanelPicker is the best way to share your ideas, make sure your expertise are included and help shape SXSW 2012.

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22 June 2011 by Lauren Cotton

Cookiepocalypse: Implementing New Law Drops Use by 90%

ICO website traffic impact of cookie opt in by Vicky Brock

Update: Cookiepocalypse is over (possibly). The ICO have updated their advice, suggesting implied consent is sufficient for users. Read more

This one is going to run and run. I'm predicting that anyone in digital is going to be an expert in cookies by the end of the Summer. And not the nice baked versions either, sadly.

Imagine a 90% drop in website visitors that are willing to accept a cookie from your website. be tracked through your analytics tool? Or your advertising targeting? Or your third party shopping basket? Ouch.

That's what happened with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) implemented the new law with existing technology, over 90% of site visitors declined to accept a Google Analytics cookie, thereby disappearing from their analytics.

Whilst the powers-that-be have allowed a year for industry to figure out a way to implement the new 'daft by European standards' cookie law, its impact is dramatic, as illustrated by the graphs obtained by leading web analytics expert, Vicky Brock (@brockyvick), under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

UPDATE: Vicky has kindly shared the raw data from the FOI request if anyone fancies a spot of number-crunching.

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22 June 2011 by Sam Michel

Ideas and Notes from 'The Ecology of Engagement' by the Tate Britain and Total Media

Tate Britain

The Ecology of Engagement, hosted by the Tate Britain and Total Media, took place during Social Media Week London on Tuesday 8th February 2011 at the Tate Britain.

The event looked at the basic components that constitute the eco-system of engagement and discussed how Social Media can be put to use in the Museums, Arts and Culture Sector, to successfully initiate continually engaged communities.

Below are some of the ideas generated from the workshop part of the seminar and a presentation from the seminar.

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17 June 2011 by Lauren Cotton

The Digital Mission to DC Meet The White House - Exclusive New Events

We have some very exciting new events to add to the already packed full Digital Mission to Washington. 

Not only will mission companies be visiting The US State Department on Thursday morning, we have also arranged an afternoon of very exclusive government briefings with World Bank (tbc), U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Federal Communications Commission, White House Deputy CTO Chris Vein and General Services Administration’s Sheila Campbell. 

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15 June 2011 by Francesca Heath

"Branded Content" by Frank Rose

Times Square

This is a Guest Blog by Frank Rose, Contributing Editor of Wired US, who's recently written and released "The Art of Immersion".

Everywhere I go this year, I seem to run into a branded content discussion.

From DIY Days in New York, to the “Brisk: Machete” panel I did with Robert Rodriguez and Dann Trejo at SXSW interactive, to the Branded Content Salon I spoke at at LBi London, to Morgan Spurlock’s POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold at Hot Docs and Sheffield, the idea that brands can commission entertainment instead of merely advertising in it keeps popping up.

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13 June 2011 by Chinwag Team

Deadline Extended for Digital Mission to Washington DC

We've had a few requests for more time to apply for the Digital Mission to Washington DC (11 - 15th July) and although time is now tight, we thought we'd be generous and allow another 5 days.  The application deadline is now Friday 17th June.

// Apply now

There's a lot of fantastic events and activities planned for the mission, as well as some brilliant partners.  There's been so many exciting announcements regarding the mission the past couple of weeks, we've attempted to re-cap everything below.

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10 June 2011 by Lauren Cotton