Digital Mission Blog

Following the recent announcement of the UKTI Trade Mission to South by South West (SXSW) Interactive 2011 (10th-15th March), there's some rather good news for digital firms based in London who need a helping-hand to take part in the mission.

The marvellous people at UK Trade & Investment London have announced that they have secured 10 grants of up to £500 (tbc)  available for digital companies based inside the M25. This contribution towards the costs of going can be used towards travel and accommodation expenses of taking part in the UKTI SXSW mission.

This grant funding is discretionary and companies will need to secure a place on the UKTI Mission to SXSW and pass an assessment from UKTI London. Successful firms will receive a grant, with the money being paid in arrears.

If you are interested in getting your hands on one of these UKTI London grants, in the first instance please get in touch by dropping us an email to missionchinwag [dot] com or call Fran on +44 (0)20 7183 2923.

If you are yet to apply for the UKTI Mission to SXSW you can do so by filling out this simple application form, but don't hang around as the deadline is 1st Feb:

// More info on UKTI Mission to SXSW Interactive 2011
// Apply for UKTI Mission to SXSW Interactive 2011 (deadline 1st Feb) 

Photo (cc) Colin Mutchler.

Save the date: 7th-11th Feb 2011. In less than four weeks London joins New York, San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Istanbul for Social Media Week 2011.

Over 500 tickets have been have booked already, but there's still time to grab yours. Keep an eye on the schedule as events are being added every day, we're expecting over 70, double last year's total.

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and event partners the majority of the events throughout the week are free-to-attend. Space is limited and will book up quickly, so it's best to keep a beady eye on the Social Media Week London schedule, follow @smwldn, Like us on Facebook or if you're feeling a little more old school, there's also the Social Media Week London email newsletter.

The first batch of tickets are now available through the website, peruse the schedule and sign-up now. Many of the event organisers are releasing tickets in batches, so if you miss out this time, keep your eyes peeled for more tickets. And of course, there's more events being added all the time.

The SMW London schedule is your ultimate guide. All of the event organisers, will be adding their events here. For those liking their calendars as feeds, there's also an iCal feed and a Google Calendar.

What's On?

In short, heaps of different events: Breakfast Briefings; Seminars: Networking events; Workshops, Huddles Unconferences; Agency Open Houses; an Ideas Pop-up Shop and of course, an exciting closing 'do'.

Here's a few tasty morsels to whet your appetite:

Breakfast briefings:

Start the day with some of London’s leading social media practitioners for a spot of breakfast and some tasty insight:

• Learn from We Are Social ‘What Social Media means for Charities’, ‘How to drive engagement and results on Facebook’ and examine ‘Social Media Monitoring’
• Join NM Incite for breakfast at The Hub

Seminars:

• Fancy moving over to social media? Digital recruitment company Propel London are busting myths around working in social media including tips on how you can future proof your career.
• Learn about government data and the role of open data in our society with a ‘Case study of data.gov.uk’ hosted by the Central Office of Information (COI)
• Explore the World’s Best Mobile Apps’ and find out ‘How Social Media Stole my Mojo’ with the Creative Content Agency
• Become part of ‘Building the Future of Communities’ hosted by GiffGaff

Networking events:

The core of Social Media Week’s mission is to bring people together, and it wouldn’t be complete without a plethora of networking opportunities, including:

• Free drink anyone? Join the Thin Martians at Free Think : Free Drink - DMA & NMA Panel & Party for Social Marketing
• As a taster for their conference for self-funding artists, MusicConnex in association with First Monday - FM, will be hosting a networking event
• Professional social network Viadeo will be co-hosting a series of seminars and networking events throughout the week centred around focal points of social media including the public sector, social advertising, social recruiting and the tech sector. These events will be co-hosted by key players in each field

Workshops, huddles and unconferences:

The learning never stops with dozens of panel sessions, get-togethers, presentations, clinics and more:

• Dell are hosting with Viadeo, a Public Sector Social Media Huddle followed by a Public Sector Networking event.
• New to Social Media? Join Channel 4, to orientate yourself around the growing landscape.
• Celebrate with Tuttle on their 3rd birthday at the Centre for Creative Collaboration (C4CC).
• TechMAP, will explain how we can use the understanding of human behaviour online, along with monitoring tools, to measure Social Media.
• Be2Camp, a group that looks at how the latest web applications design techniques could help build a better, more sustainable built environment will host the Be2Awards and ConstrucTALKs

Open Houses and pop-up shops:

Organisations across the capital are throwing open their doors, or event setting up temporary shop to share advice, get feedback and join the global conversation, including:

• Volunteers from Ogilvy Group UK are offering free advertising and marketing advice and ideas to small businesses, charities, arts and community groups and entrepreneurs at a secret pop-up shop (location to be revealed soon) in Central London.
• London’s leading agencies including 1000heads, Precedent and We Are Social, are opening up their offices for you to learn more about Social Media and how they might be able to help you.

Don't forget to keep an eye on @smwldn on Twitter or the Social Media Week London Facebook page for regular updates.

Photo (cc) Brendan Riley.