Digital Mission

Calling All Start-ups: Ogilvy's SMW Social Spin @ London Eye, Apply Now!

London Eye

On Wednesday 15th February, Ogilvy & Mather are hosting the Ogilvy Social Spin @ London Eye, a VIP party on the London Eye as part of their premier sponsorship of Social Media Week London.

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Dell Announces pre-SXSW Unconference: Social Media and Technology Trends in Small Business

#DellSTU11 - Dell's Social Media & Community Unconference by Dell Inc.

Heading out to Austin for this year's SXSW extravaganza? Or you'll be in the neighbourhood? Interested in meeting startups from around the globe and spending time at Dell's HQ, then take a gander at this event our friends at Dell are putting together the day before SXSW kicks off.

Centered on their HQ campus at Round Rock a few miles from Austin, Dell are  hosting a full day Unconference March 8th, 2012 (the day before SXSW), on social and technology trends in small businesses- a fast-paced, intense and fun event environment that allows participants to control the agenda.

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Great British Breakfast at SXSW 2012

The Great British Breakfast is the premier international networking event at South By Southwest Interactive organized by UK Trade & Investment and Chinwag. Over 250 digital practitioners, press and investors working in the interactive space will descend on 4th Street for a traditional British fry-up.

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Date: 13 March 2012
Location: Cedar Street Courtyard, US

Dell Unconference on Social Media and Technology Trends in Small Business, March 8th in Texas

Dell is hosting a full day Unconference March 8th, 2012, on social and technology trends in small businesses- a fast-paced, intense and fun event environment that allows participants to control the agenda...Supported by Chinwag

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Date: 8 March 2012
Location: Dell Inc, US

Digital Startups Get Chance to PICNIC in Amsterdam - Apply Now

PICNIC Amsterdam by Mark Florquin

After a successful trip to Berlin last year, CIKTN have teamed up with PICNIC, one of the must-attend digital conferences in Europe, and the UK Science & Innovation Network for a special event on 21/22nd Feb in Amsterdam.

Kicking off what's billed as a series of events between UK firms and Amsterdam, which has a strong reputation for digital businesses, this looks like a promising intiative for digital firms looking to start or develop a foothold in Europe.

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UKTI Mission to SXSW 2012: The Companies Announced

SXSW 2011

Congratulations to the 40 leading UK digital companies selected for this year's UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Mission to South by South West 2012.

The exciting mission will see the companies travel out to Austin, Texas for an action-packed 5 days at SXSW Interactive, one of the largest and most well known conferences focused on digital media and technology.

Each of the companies joining the mission are listed below, don't hesitate to drop them a line directly to arrange a time to meet up in Austin, or follow their progress via their Twitter accounts. You can follow the UKTI team's coverage of the mission on Twitter @uktiatsxswi.

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Come Along for Some Christmas Cheers - Thursday 15th December

It's that time of the year again, mince pies are coming out of your ears, that log fire smell is in the air, silly xmas decorations are up in the office, all in all there is alot of Christmas cheer about the place and to make it even better, we have another 'xmas drinks' to add to your list. 

Chinwag have teamed up with Kathryn McMann Consultancy and Put It Out and have organised a very informal xmas get together next Thursday,15th December in central London for some drinks, networking and chatter. We also have a magician for all your entertainment needs.

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Christmas Cheers

Kathryn McMann Consultancy, Put It Out and Chinwag have teamed up to organise an informal evening of networking and general Christmas Cheer with Free drinks and a magician for as long as they last, so get there early. It's seriously going to be a lot of fun.

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Date: 15 December 2011
Location: The Porterhouse Covent Garden, UK

HSBC Business Growth Grant: You Could be Awarded £50,000

Coins

The HSBC Business Growth Grant competition is offering funding to help grow up to four deserving businesses. 

They'll be offering up to two £50,000 Growing Business Grants to businesses using innovative ideas to grow within the UK. Two more £50,000 Overseas Trade Grants will go to businesses that have the aspiration and motivation to develop new opportunities overseas. 

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Entrepreneurs Festival Comes to Tech City, London - 14-19th Nov 2011

East London Tech City by Daniel Lövquist

Update: Application form now available, see below.

Tech City is certainly making headlines at the moment, with groups of the area's entrepreneurs visiting Buckingham Palace (our invite must've got lost in the post) and a reciprocal visit by HRH Duke of York to open shiny new co-working space The Trampery.

The area will play host to The Entrepreneur's Festival (14-19 Nov 2011) a week-long series of events to help local and overseas entrepreneurs boost their businesses. The event is being organised by Tech City Investment Organisation, part of UK Trade & Investment's initiative to promote the area's digital companies and inward investment.

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UKTI Announce Trade Mission to South by South West Interactive (SXSW) 2012 - Applications Open!

It's that time of the year again...when all the geeks around the globe start to get twitchy, flights start getting booked up and Austin, Texas starts to brace itself for the thousands of digital folk that will be embarking on the massive annual gathering that is South By South West Interactive 2012 (SXSW). 

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Digital Mission: Singapore & Hong Kong Meetup: Discussions & Next Steps

Singapore by Manvendra Bhangui

For the least three years, over 150 companies have taken part in Digital Missions to the tech centres of the US. The week before last, we met with a group of companies interested in heading East, to South East Asia and China.

Gathering at the offices of our hosts, Pinsent Masons, we talked through the outline plans that have been brewing at Chinwag Towers and had an in-depth discussion about the priorities for a potential Digital Mission™ to Singapore and Hong Kong including the primary objectives, timings and possible companies to meet on the trip.

Here's a quick summary of the discussion and an outline of the plans for what happens next and how to get involved:

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Let’s Talk East: Digital Mission to Singapore and Hong Kong

far east image

Are you interested in expanding your digital business to the Far East? The massive growth in mobile, social networks, gamers and online businesses all across China and South East Asia represent a huge opportunity, but what’s the best way to find out more and harness this potential? 

Good question, glad you asked. It’s something we’ve been thinking about, too. Following the success of our Digital Missions to the US, we’re putting together plans for a trip to two of the key hubs for the region, Singapore and Hong Kong, during the last week of November 2011.

We’d love for you to tell us exactly what you want. Come along to our “Digital Mission Discussion: Asia” on Thursday 29th September from 6pm at the offices of our friends, Pinsent Masons. It’s a chance to find out more about the region and discuss the plans for the trip. 

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Digital Mission Companies Make the Smarta 100 And Need Your Vote

Danny makes a dash for the finish line by Anne

It's award season and time for nominees to gather public votes. Having got your eye in with some thumbs-up, thumbs-down action on the SXSW panel picker, it's time for voting in the Smarta 100 awards and the Vodafone Mobile Clicks competition.

And we're chuffed that our friends and Digital Mission alumni ParcelGenie, Teamly and Zkatter have made it through to the Smarta 100, vote for them, or, if you must the other nominees ;-) - here:

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UKTI's Autumn 2011 Trade Missions to USA and China: Deadlines to Apply Imminent

UKTI's Cyprus representative helping customers at Explore Export by UKTI

UK Trade & Investment, the government agency responsible for helping firms develop their export potential and encourage foreign investment has announced a number of trade missions taking place this Autumn.

The six trips include five to the USA focused on cloud computing, app developers, 4G, mobile communications and digital media. An additional trip to China is planned to coincide with the UK/China Internet Forum with the delegation led by DCMS Minister Ed Vaizey.

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