Want cash to exhibit at overseas tradeshows?

Thought that might get your attention.

Please leave a comment with any overseas tradeshows your company would like to exhibit at., or that you think should be included on the list. This assistance only applies to exhibiting in the Expo part of tradeshows or conferences, it doesn't include conference passes.

So, how does this work? Good question. Prepare for jargon and acronyms.

Chinwag has become an ATO (Accredited Trade Organisation), which means we can put in bids to the TAP (Tradeshow Access Programme) for selected overseas tradeshows. The TAP initiative is funded by UK Trade & Investment, the same agency that put a huge chunk of support into the Digital Mission to Web 2.0 Expo and the upcoming Digital Mission to SXSWi.

Sadly, the budget is limited so we have to apply to TAP with a list of tradeshows that companies would like assistance in exhibiting at. There's between £1,000 and £1,800 in contributions to costs available per company per show. As you'd expect, the T&Cs for this are fairly extensive, but the scheme should be open to pretty much all digital companies head-quartered in the UK.

As with the Digital Missions, the aim is to help UK companies expand their overseas business. Handy huh?

What we need now is to know - and very quickly - is which tradeshows should go on the list we're submitting to TAP. The deadline for entries is today! The overall fund is limited, so a case needs to be made for each show and why it's worth doing.

Yes, that is ridiculously soon, confirmation of Chinwag as an ATO has only just been finalised, but it'd be a shame to let this opportunity pass by. Please leave a comment asap with any overseas tradeshows you'd like to exhibit at, below.

[Pic courtesy of spcbrass and Benjamin Ellis]