Digital Mission to Los Angeles & San Francisco, Oct '09 - FAQ's
Digital Mission to LA & San Francsico is organised by Chinwag and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) to help support UK digital companies to expand internationally, understand foreign markets, attract investment, find partners and develop business relationships.
This page should help answer any frequently asked questions but if not, please mission
chinwag [dot] com (drop us a line).
1. When is the Digital Mission to LA & San Francisco?
The Digital Mission runs from Sunday, 11th October to Friday, 16th October, 2009.
2. What do I need to do to confirm my slot on the mission?
To confirm your slot on the Digital Mission, you'll need to:
- Complete payment of £600 plus VAT (£690 @ 15%) contribution towards costs - you can pay using any major credit or debit card except AMEX, please contact us for details
- Send across your company asset form so we can make sure your details are listed on the Digital Mission website ASAP
If you're not able to come along, we'd be grateful if you could let us know as soon as you can, so that we can contact the companies on the waiting list. Naturally, they’ll be keen to find out ASAP so your speedy response will be most welcomed.
The cut-off time to confirm your slot on the Digital Mission is Wednesday, 16th Septmber at 10am after which time, we'll offer the slot to one of the companies on the waiting list.
3. What does the contribution towards costs cover?
The contribution towards costs is £600 plus VAT, which includes:
- Marketing and PR pre and post mission
- High profile meetings with key US industry players and companies which include Sony, IDEO & Lionsgate
- Networking events
- Opening evening reception in LA to welcome attendees
- Closing reception in San Francisco to reflect on the mission before flying back to the UK
- All travel around LA & San Francisco for meetings, events etc
- More activities and meetings yet to be confirmed
The activity page will be updated as events and timings are confirmed. Once the Digital Misison companies are confirmed, the programme will be further tailored by UKTI to reflect their aims.
4. How many people from my company can I take on the Digital Mission?
There is space for one person per company only on the Digital Mission and this person gets access to all of the above.
5. How much will my flight and accommodation come to?
A wide variety of accommodation is available in both Los Angeles and San Francisco to suit all budgets.
Our travel partner Expose Travel have put together a cracking deal for the trip, with all flights, airport transfers and hotels coming in at under £1650. To take advantage of this deal, you'll need to contact Paul Vasdev ASAP - the price may go up if you leave it too late plus by booking as a group, Paul is able to get very good rates.
If you would like to sort out your own travel and accommodation, that it absolutely fine, please be aware that transport around to meetings and networking events will go to and from the main hotel.
Travel bookings don’t have to be made through Expose Travel, but their insider knowledge and contacts may prove useful.
6. Why should I come as part of the Digital Mission?
The Digital Mission is an excellent opportunity for those actively looking to break into the US market, meet resellers, raise PR stateside or open an office, plus much more.
To answer the question, you could absolutely arrange a similar trip on your own but this would take time and would undoubtedly cost a lot more cash. By working as a group and using the UKTI's excellent contacts, we're able to give access to some really big names for meetings that might otherwise take months to organise.
The two British consulate receptions in Los Angeles and San Francisco alone are with their weight in gold. You'll be the focus of a networking event filled to rafters with digital stars and heavyweights from the LA, SF and Silicon Valley digital scene.
Please give us a call if you'd like to go through thing in more detail.
7. Who else is going on the Digital Mission?
We’re in the process of confirming all the companies and the full list will be up on the website ASAP. We'll also spread the work through a press release, various blog posts, social networks etc.
For an idea of how it'll look please see a similar page for the companies that attended the Digital Mission to SXSWi in March '90:
The promotional band wagon runs on a diet of company logo's, bios, Twitter feeds and confirmation towards costs - without these, it can't start it's magical work ;-)
8. Who is behind the Digital Mission to LA & San Francisco?
This Digital Mission is organised by Chinwag and the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)
9. I have other questions, who should I speak to?
If you have any other questions please contact Chinwag's Event Assistant, Juliet Nwekenta or Head of Production, Emily Fisher on 020 7183 2923 or email us on missionchinwag [dot] com
10. Do you have any Digital Mission bling for my blog?
Indeed there is, check out the Digital Mission press and blog page for links to pictures, and the Union Jack logo:
This page will be updated with new press releases and there's also a handy one paragraph blurb about the Digital Mission suitable for copying/pasting.
If there's anything else you'd like to see, do missionchinwag [dot] com (get in touch).
11. How can I help?
Getting the most out of a Digital Mission is in the hands of the people who come along. If you have contacts at companies in the US that you'd like to meet or if you know US press or industry bloggers who would be interested in coming along to the consulate receptions, we'd love to know. If you can make an introduction, even better.
The digital communities in LA & San Francisco are vibrant and fast moving and many eyes are better than one pair, so if you spot things we should know about, please let us know about them.
