As I've been putting together the next Chinwag Live event (Music - who pays the piper? next week on 15th July, if you're around), it's becoming clear that the music industry provides one of the most dynamic and challenging environments for marketers, but despite the popularity of radio's online cousin, business models are still in a state of flux.

Online music consumption is growing rapidly through an almost endless number of channels, some legal, some paid-for, some ad-funded whilst illegal file sharing still represents the lion's share of listening and sharing.

An interesting invite popped through Chinwag's virtual letterbox this morning: an opportunity for a spot of networking with some of the top brass from China's mobile and ICT sectors.

The visit sees representatives from government agencies Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China Academy of Telecom Research (CATR) and Hong Kong-based mobile value-added service provider, Mtel Ltd visiting London, Cambridge and Edinburgh on a trip organised by UK Trade & Investment as part of the Enabling Innovation Intiative to build stronger links between industry in the UK and China.

The three events are scheduled for:

• London (Science Museum), 7th July 2009
• Cambridge, 8th July 2009
• Edinburgh, 9th & 10th July 2009

PRESS RELEASE: London, UK, Wednesday 24th June 2009.

Following last year’s successful series of Digital Missions to New York and South by South West interactive (SXSWi), a series of workshops are planned across the UK to help digital companies understand the opportunities for export and expansion.

The free workshops organised by Chinwag and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are designed to help companies prepare for three exciting Digital Missions are planned to the United States for Autumn 2009 and Spring 2010.

The dates of the workshops are:

• Bristol - Mon, 29th June 2009
• Birmingham - Tue, 30th June 2009
• Manchester - Wed, 1st July 2009
• Newcastle - Thu, 2nd July 2009
• London - Thu, 16th July 2009

This series of posts about Ecommerce is brought to you in conjunction with Vodafone, who are currently recruiting a Head of Ecommerce, see Chinwag Jobs for more information.

Working in e-commerce is both challenging and stimulating. From a career that was an almost unheard of niche a decade ago, it has evolved into an expanding universe of work possibilities. There are almost as many different types of role as there are jobs around, each has its own challenges and skills requirements. Today's seasoned e-commerce professional is part geek, part business person, part designer and more besides.

With the move from mortar to clicks and the emergence of mobile e-commerce (Nokia has also just invested $70M in Obopay), it is clear that there are increasing job opportunities in the space, despite the challenges in the economy faces. The skills required to stay ahead in the e-commerce space are broad, and still rapidly evolving. Hoping the skills that got you this far are going to enable you move on, or even stay where you are, is a risky strategy. Continual personal development is the name of the game.

A handy list of 8 online conference tools compiled from a discussion on the ever-lively uk-netmarketing email discussion list:

1. GoToMeeting - http://www.gotomeeting.com
2. Webex - http://www.webex.com
3. Yuuguu - http://www.yuuguu.com
4. DimDim - http://www.dimdim.com
5. Yugma - https://www.yugma.com
6. Powwownow - http://www.powwownow.co.uk
7. Adobe Acrobat Connect - http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnect
8. SIghtspeed - http://www.sightspeed.com

Thanks to Gareth Beck, Peter Cunningham, Paul Lock, Sarah Platt, George Hopkin, Christopher Jenkins-Powell, Mike Parry and Marc Duke for the suggestions.

This series of posts about Ecommerce is brought to you in conjunction with Vodafone, who are currently recruiting a Head of Ecommerce, see Chinwag Jobs for more information.

Mobile e-commerce has been talked about for more than a decade. Back in 2000 publications like vnunet were asking "Mobile commerce - big or REALLY big?". It has been a long journey since the days of WAP sites and slow data services. Today's mobile phones give users web browsing and video playback just as happily as dealing with phone calls.

It's over. Well, the Digital Mission to South by South West Interactive is at least. The companies rounded out the week with the Great British Breakfast, at the exquisite Old Pecan Street Cafe in Austin. The venue was filled to capacity with British companies and US businesses invited during the week, all looking to connect.

It has been a busy couple of days for the Digital Mission companies here at South by South West. These are just a few highlights from the last 48 hours, much of which has centred around Stand 413 on the Exhibition floor, where the the companies have been meeting with the press and SXSW visitors.

Saturday had the Brits flying the flag, wearing T-shirts with the Digital Mission logo and their Twitter IDs. It turned out to be a great way to connect with Twitter followers from both sides of the pond.