Digital Mission

We're very excited to announce our latest event in the USA, working with our friends at the amazing SXSW Interactive festival, we're announcing a one-day masterclass, "Doing Business in the USA", designed for international digital firms expanding into the US taking place on Fri 8th March 2013 in Austin, Texas.

Backed by SXSW and building on Chinwag's experience within the Digital Mission series, helping UK firms expand internationally this official SXSW event provides the essential guide for Founders, CEOs and C-level executives planning to enter or expand their business in North America.

We recently announced the exciting news that the Digital Mission will be returning with its fourth expedition to New York next Spring, from 18th - 22nd February 2013. The trip is coinciding with Social Media Week New York in order to allow companies to explore the 150+ events, covering extensive topics along the vein of social media throughout the week.

We are very thrilled to announce that the first set of companies have been chosen for the mission and are all set to venture out to NYC in Feb. See below for information on the companies as well as their contact details in case you want to get in touch prior to the trip.

We have some rather good news for digital firms based in London who need a helping-hand to take part in the upcoming Digital Mission to New York, taking place from the 18th-22nd February 2013 to coincide with Social Media Week NYC. 

The marvellous people at UK Trade & Investment London have secured 15 grants of up to £500 available for digital companies based inside the M25. This contribution can be used towards the mission costs as well as the travel and accommodation expenses of taking part.

It’s no surprise that tech startups are fast approaching a level of popularity previously ascribed to Katy Perry. The Social Network - a look at the meteoric rise of the now-ubiquitous Facebook - has helped fuel this growth and encourage university students to consider a path through the startup world.

Eschewing banks and briefcases for mockups and moleskins, many university students are keen on the idea of joining a startup, but are largely unaware of just how to go about doing such a thing (though some, like the university-aged founders of GoSquared - a real-time web analytics service - are a few steps ahead).

This Friday, Enterprising Music will bring together experienced entrepreneurs, recent startups and individuals eager to join the music business.

Social and digital technologies have been at the heart of a dramatic shift in the music industry and while the old order has been challenged, high-speed connectivity, frictionless sharing, the rise of peer-to-peer and social networks have turned crisis into innovation.

The full programme has just been announced, get ready for a busy & insightful day!

Last week Chinwag were lucky enough to be joined by Korea's top tech talent, the winners of the Google's Global K-Startup competition. The five lucky startups were treated to a week's tour of London's digital industry, including market briefings, pitch training, agency meetings, incubator tours and roundtables with industry experts. 

On Monday the group took a tour of the ever-expanding Tech City, organised by TCIO and Friday saw the group spend the day with some of the startups based at Campus London at TechHub, Seedcamp and Springboard. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were left in the capable hands of Chinwag's team.

So take a look at what they got up to...

The history of New York City is interwoven with the growth and development of Lower Manhattan. Here, merchants landed from abroad bringing with them wares to spur a new economy. Here, traders gathered beneath a cherry tree to swap goods – actions that would lead to the establishment of a stock market.

More recently, $30 billion in infrastructure investment has attracted a new type of merchant – one that harnesses intellectual capital and creative ingenuity – and has brought thousands of new residents and businesses to Lower Manhattan.

To encourage growth, Take the HELM is looking to award four $250,000 cash grants to the following types of companies:

In just over a week, we'll be joined by some of Korea's top tech talent, the winners of the Google Global K-Startup competition, in London from 5 - 9th November.

We know you'll be just as keen to chat with them as we are - so there's two opportunies where you can meet them: South Korea's Global K-Startups Pitch London (6th Nov) and Seoul2Seoul - An Evening of Networking for UK and Korean Startups (8th Nov).

You can sign up for both below, but first, let's meet the companies...

Digital Mission will be returning with its fourth expedition to New York next Spring, from 18th - 22nd February 2013 to take full advantage of the 150+ events taking place during Social Media Week New York.

Following on from 2010's successful Digital Mission to NYC trip, this Mission to New York will co-incide with Social Media Week New York. We'll be putting together a Mission Programme (see more below) but we'd also like to make Digital Mission as open and collaborative as possible, so we'll also be holding a Meetup on Thursday 22nd November where you'll be able to suggest anything you'd like to see included in the trip.

South Korea: the most connected country on the planet. 100Mbps broadband is the norm (N.B. UK government, that is super-fast). The economy is growing at 6.1% and local industry giant Samsung has a combined turnover is larger than Apple, Google & Microsoft combined.

That infrastructure would make any startup’s mouth water. Just imagine the possibilities? Luckily, we don’t have to, Chinwag is delighted to welcome the winners of Google for Entrepreneur’s Global K-Startup program to London. The group are coming to London 5-9th Nov and we’re chuffed to be working with Google to show them the best of the city.

And there's two opportunities to meet, greet, network and find out more about the companies and the digital market in South Korea.

IC tomorrow, part of the Technology Strategy Board, have launched a Digital Innovation Contest for Music.

There's £150k up for grabs in this contest to encourage digital innovation in the music sector. The contest has six challenges under three themes: rights and monetisation; digital and live music; and linking digital to physical.

This is a guest blog by Joyce Sullivan / Social Media Week.

I hear the weather was dreadful in London on Monday morning but the talks and conversations sparkled at Using Social To Go Global Supported by Open to Export.

The session kicked off with Sam Michel of Chinwag aka @toodlepip welcoming all with a ‘meet your neighbour’ greet.

Philip Montague @PhilSMEin of hibu kicked off the morning talks by first sharing a boyhood memory how he confidently jumped off the back of his grandfather’s sailboat to swim to secure the dinghy line that came undone. Though confident he could make the journey on his own, he realised he needed help to get back to the boat. Lesson learned: as confident as you may be, you may need some help with your journey. Philip’s intro framed the mission for Open to Export how they help UK businesses navigate their product export potential.

Social Media Week September is almost upon us, next week, and for one year only, London’s playing host to its second week-long festival of all things social.

There’s stack of events, virtually of them free, to choose from, but with just a couple of days to go, spaces are getting snapped up fast. Fortunately a whole heap of events have been added in the last few days.

In a bid to find to navigate the schedule and provide a few pointers, I’ve rummaged through the list of events and picked out a few choice nuggets in a range of topics. Enjoy perusing them, and make sure you snap up a ticket quick smart!

On to the events...

Want to take your business global? An free half-day event next Monday during Social Media Week London, might be just what you're after. Find out how to use social media, online communities and collaborative tools can help build your company’s international business.

Opening with a spot of networking over coffee, we’ll discover Open to Export, the exciting new service from UK Trade & Investment and Yell, which help small fast-growing firms find the answers they need to develop their global potential.

Hear from We Are Social, Naked Wines, Nokia on how they used social technology to ‘go global’. Find out what hurdles they had to overcome, what worked, what didn’t and quiz them on their plans for the future at this free event.