Digital Mission Blog

Digital Mission is organised by Chinwag for UK Trade & Investment, enabling digital companies to expand into overseas markets and attract investment outside the UK.

Do Your Bit, Vote for the Brits in the SXSW 2011 Panelpicker


SXSW 2010 Interactive Programme by Sam Michel

There's just a couple of days left to add your support to the Brits who have submitted panels for the massive digital shindig and Digital Mission destination that is South by South West Interactive 2011.

The Panelpicker lists all of the 2,410 submissions to the conference section of the event with audience votes comprising 30% of the decision-making progress, so those votes are crucial.

Thanks to everyone who submitted their panels, we've compiled the list below, there's some real corkers. So get stuck in, vote early, vote often!

SXSWi 2011 IconPersonalized Interfaces and the Arrival of Smart TV
by David Maher Roberts, The Filter

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Simple & Usable? The Mom Test
by Giles Colborne, cxpartners

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Beauty & The Geek: A journey to Collaborative Nirvana?
by e3

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Baby, You Can Drive My Development: Customer-driven Development
by Henry Erskine Crum, Spoonfed Media

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B2C vs B2B Go-To-Market Strategy Smackdown
by Alexander Will, Spoonfed Media

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Love, Music & APIs
by Dave Haynes, SoundCloud

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Ditch the Book: Running a Business YOUR Way
by Ian Sanders, Ian Sanders Company

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Brands Beware: The Dark Side of User-Generated Content
by Candace Kuss // Hill & Knowlton

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How to Successfully Market Technology Ideas
by David Sloly, Mason Zimbler

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Perfect Your Website Navigation: Where Am I?
by Oliver Lindberg, .net magazine

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There Is No Spoon: Subverting Digital Marketing Truths
by Mike Teasdale, Harvest Digital

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Brands Online: The People Behind Their Social Media
by Heather Taylor

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Developer Communities: Scaling Twitter-Like Ecosystems
by Jonathan Markwell, Inuda

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Tuttle2Texas: a (rail)road trip using social capital
by Lloyd Davis

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Digital Instinctives: The Real Digital Generation
by Camilla Grey, Moving Brands

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Producing the Future: Mixing Brand, Culture and Research
by Clare Reddington, iShed and The Pervasive Media Studio

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Gaming the City or Peak Digital Psychogeography
by Toby Barnes, Chromaroma & Mudlark

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Gaming: Beyond The Final Frontier
by Dan Pinchbeck, thechineseroom

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Can We Educate Creative Technologists? Front Line Stories.
by Dan Dixon

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ChatterMining: Identifying the Business Opportunities within Status Updates
by Bill Fischer, TwitJobSearch.com

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Twitter Killed Christmas & Other Social Media Myths Dispelled
by Vikki Chowney, Reputation Online

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Crowdsourcing The Power Ballad: A Hair-Raising Experiment
by Jon Burkhart, Iris Worldwide

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Urgent Genius: Creating Topical Social Ideas At Speed
by Grant Hunter, Iris Singapore

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Ideas Die in the Dark
by Chas Bayfield, Idea a Day

SXSWi 2011 IconChanges in Music Video - Commissioning, Creativity, Curation
by Caroline Bottomley, RadarMusicVideos 

SXSWi 2011 IconUniversal Messaging: Contacting the Connected Customer
by Chris Pointon, One To One Interactive

SXSWi 2011 IconConsumer Engagement with Augmented Reality E-Commerce
by Philip Rhodes, One To One Interactive

SXSWi 2011 IconTransmedia: Transmonetisation -- Getting Rights and Making Money
by Alex Chapman, Sheridans

SXSWi 2011 IconCan The Games Industry Learn From Web UX
by Andy Beaumont, Outside Line

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Secret Lives of Content Sites
by Joe Stepniewski, Skimlinks

SXSWi 2011 IconPet Personal Projects for Fun and Profit
by Nik Fletcher, nikf.org

SXSWi 2011 IconLibrary of the Future: Crowdsourcing and Metadata
by Rebecca Cadwallader, In Cahoots

SXSWi 2011 IconOnline Communities, Get Them Growing, and Money Making
by Neil Houston, Rasga

SXSWi 2011 Icon"A Terrifying Business" Taking Online Communities Behind Paywalls
by Joanna Geary, The Times

SXSWi 2011 IconProgressively Enhance Your Clients
by Dan Oliver, .net magazine

SXSWi 2011 IconGood News: Apps, Paywalls, Publishers and Content
by William Owen, Made by Many

SXSWi 2011 Icon“Daddy, You Should Tweet That”: Parenting Goes Digital
 by Charlotte Hillenbrand, Made by Many

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Last of the Launch-and-Leave 'Ems
by Anjali Ramachandran, Made by Many

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Global Online Community: Improving Cross-Cultural Relations
by Andrew Kneale, British Council

SXSWi 2011 IconTransmedia: Transmonetisation
by Stephen Kempner, Sheridans

SXSWi 2011 IconTechnology and Culture: 7 Global Case Studies
by Catherine Fieschi, Counterpoint, the think tank of the British Council

SXSWi 2011 IconCommunication and Innovation: Does Culture Still Matter?
by Max Niederhofer, White Bear Yard

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Privacy Pirate
by Colette Ballou, Ballou PR

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Rise of the Digital Native
by LJ Rich, Perfect Pitch Productions

SXSWi 2011 IconHas Journalism Hit the Paywall?
by Mike Butcher, TechCrunch Europe 

SXSWi 2011 IconThe Fall of the Mall
by Iain Wilson, shopping.com 

SXSWi 2011 IconInnovation: The United Kingdom's Best Kept Secret
by Stefan Glaenzer, White Bear Yard

SXSWi 2011 IconSecond Screen: TV Meets The Web Backchannel
by Utku Can, Mint Digital 

If you forgot to let us know about your panel, leave a comment below with the details and we'll do our best to get in included in the main list.

Good luck everyone!

Photo (cc) Sam Michel.

Summer BBQ - 26th August - Discount Tickets Still Available

Burgers on the Grill by Don LaVange

We didn't take much persuading by the folks who'd been on the Digital Missions that a gathering might be in order to mark the end of the Summer. 

We've hooked up with the Digital Mission alumni and Bootlaw regulars to gather, mingle, chat and sup a cold beverage. Let's face it, we don't need much of an excuse and it's a great opportunity to meet interesting people doing interesting things.

Tickets cost £15 (+VAT and booking fee), but there's still a few tickets available at the discounted rate (use code: 'dm' to get a 3rd off), but they're being snapped up quickly. At the time of writing there's already 100 people on the list, so make sure you grab your ticket soon.

We're taking over the top two floors of The Driver, in Kings Cross, a chic boozer with the all-important roof terrace and BBQ, just round the corner from King's Cross station (the nice bit).

The Driver - 3rd FloorThe event will run the event across two floors of the venue, the third floor and roof terrace. The BBQ will be sizzling away on the roof terrace, an area towering over the London skyline with comfortable seating and cosy nooks for networking chats.

One floor below the drinks will be flowing in the contemporary loft-style setting where you can relax in this funky lounge bar with original 70’s carnival waltzer chairs and vibrant comfy sofa with drink in hand.

The Driver - 4th FloorOn the menu there will be burgers and sausages a-plenty (and of course, vegetarian alternatives will be provided) with potato and mixed leaf salads for the more healthier of you.  Also included with your ticket will be 2 drinks (your choice of a bottle of beer or wine, or for the non-drinkers, soft drinks).

// Book tickets now

The BBQ is generously supported by the lovely folks at...

Winston & Strawn   Bootlaw 

Photo (cc) Don LaVange.

Help Build Megalist of British Panels Submitted to SXSW

SXSW 2010 Interactive Programme by Sam Michel

Can it really be that time of year already? The PanelPicker for South by South West Interactive (SXSW), the annual mass-gathering of digital types in Austin, Texas is open for votes and we're building a list of all the panels submitted from the UK.

The lengthy journey to Austin hasn't deterred an increasing numbers of Brits from making the trek, with initiatives like the Digital Mission to SXSW organised by Chinwag, which involved nearly 100 companies this year mixing with over 14,000 delegates from the US and beyond.

There's hot competition to speak at SXSW with thousands of panels submitted to the infamous semi-democratic PanelPicker process which allows the public to vote and comment on submissions. Whilst votes don't guarantee a panel will be selected, it does contribute towards the decision, with the advisory board and the SXSW team making the final call.

Still, with 450 panel sessions over the four day event provides plenty of opportunity, so for those lucky enough to get through, it's time to garner the public vote and start pimping those panels.

Last year over 60 panels were submitted from the UK, which we gathered together into one big easy referenced list. And we're planning to do the same again. To make sure no-one gets missed out, we've put together a simple form to fill out. 

If you're from the UK and one of your panels has made it through, let us know and we'll publish it in a few days:

// Submit a Brit Panel on the SXSW Interactive PanelPicker

N.B. This is for Interactive panels only.

To keep up-to-date with news about the Digital Mission to SXSW and other overseas trade opportunities, sign-up to the Digital Mission newsletter, or follow the shenanigans via Twitter.

Photo (cc) Sam Michel.

UKTI Tokyo Games Mission Application Deadline Extended to Friday

Tokyo Game Show 2007 Day 1 by VideogameVisionary.com

After lots of requests, we've managed to get The deadline for the UKTI mission to the Tokyo Games Show extended until this Friday, the 6th August.

The trip which includes industry briefings and round table sessions with experts from the Japanese games industry including leading games magazine publisher, Enterbrain also features a reception at the British Embassy.

The invite list reads like a who's who of the games world including: Bandai Namco, Konami, Sony Computer Entertainment, Capcom, Koei, Sharp, Softbank, Toei Animation, Genius Sonority, G-mode, International Games Developers Association (IGDA), Kodansha amongst many others.

The application form is pretty painless, providing the chance to think about what your company wants from the mission to Japan, and to get feedback from the UKTI team in Tokyo.

Apply NowAlthough the deadline has been moved back, this is also the deadline for inclusion in the Tokyo Games Show printed material, so if you're planning to go, it's best to submit your application as soon as possible to ensure this coverage.

Click on the subtle 'Apply Button' to complete the form. To get an idea of what the form looks like there's also a PDF version to peruse.

The deadline is Friday, 6th August 2010.

Photo (cc) VideogameVisionary.com.

Win Stand Space at Mobile World Congress 2011

Japanese DoCoMo phones by James Nash (aka Cirrus)

It's like a never-ending stream of free stuff round here at the moment. First the Hubbub competition, next up Shell LiveWIRE for young entrepreneurs and now the chance for a mobile SME to score some high-profile stand space at Mobile World Congress.

The Digital Communications Knowledge Transfer Network (DCKTN) and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are running a competition for lucky UK-based SMEs with an innovative new mobile or wireless solution or product to showcase their wares.

The UKTI stand will be located on the Avenida at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 14 - 17 Feb 2011 and offers amazing chance to target more than 60,000 key industry decision makers that are expected to attend.

Entering the competition is very simple, just summarise in no more than 500 words:

  • the nature of your new solution or product
  • its value proposition and benefit to the customer
  • and why you believe your company should be awarded a place to showcase it at next year’s Mobile World Congress.

Summaries should be sent to infoatdcktn [dot] org [dot] uk and arrive no later than 5:00pm on Friday, 3 Sep 2010.

Photo (cc) James Nash.