digitalmission

Congratulations to the 31 leading UK digital companies that have been selected for this year's UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) Mission to SXSW Interactive 2011.

This trip will see the companies travel out to Austin, Texas for a five day trip in and around South by South West Interactive, one of the largest conferences focused on digital media and technology.

Each of the companies is 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 below. You can follow the UKTI team's coverage of the mission on Twitter @uktiatsxswi.

UKTI SXSW 2011 Mission Companies

• Acunu Ltd
• Brandwatch
• Casual Films
• Completely Novel
• Cyber-Duck
• DAD Solutions
• Digital Outlook Communications
• East London Productions
• Engage Sciences
• Fortune Cookie
• Fly Post
• Get-ctrl Limited
• Glass Eye Productions
• Lingo24
• Minute Box
• MOFILMS
• MoodShare
• Namaste Entertainment
• Parcel Genie
• Planzai
• Psonar
• Rummble Labs
• Screenreach Interactive
• Shout’em
• Somethin’else
• Teamly
• The Play Mob
• w00t!media
• We are Social
• WhoSampled.com
• Zkatter

In amongst the 100+ events of Social Media Week London, plans are progressing rapidly for this year's trip to the incomparable South by South West Interactive 2011.

If you've not been before, be warned, it's not like any other conference you've been to before. In an attempt to ready yourself, mentally, if nothing else, we're planning to put together some tips for Brits heading out to Austin.

In the meantime, here's a brilliant slideshow from Dave Delaney that has some crucial tips on how to get the best out of South-by (if you want to sound like a local):

In the US and Europe, iPhone and Android handsets might be grabbing all the headlines, but in the notoriously tricky Chinese market, Nokia is king of the app stores.

In a recent post on Mobile Entertainment blog, they reported:

Local study gives Nokia a 65.2 per cent share. According to the IResearch, Ovi is trouncing the competition, and leading the mighty China Mobile app store, which is currently accessed by 57.7 per cent of China's mobile subscribers.

Following the recent announcement of the UKTI Trade Mission to South by South West (SXSW) Interactive 2011 (10th-15th March), there's some rather good news for digital firms based in London who need a helping-hand to take part in the mission.

The marvellous people at UK Trade & Investment London have announced that they have secured 10 grants of up to £500 (tbc)  available for digital companies based inside the M25. This contribution towards the costs of going can be used towards travel and accommodation expenses of taking part in the UKTI SXSW mission.

It's January, the days are short. The rain is lashing down. Yes, it's that time of year when digital folks minds drift towards Austin, Texas and the massive annual gathering that is South by South West Interactive.

Last year over saw over 14,000+ delegates from 54 countries attend 450 conference sessions and this year promises to be bigger than ever. Alongside the interactive conference, there's also SXSW Film and the legendary SXSW Music festival.

SXSW (or South-by to those in the know) has some form as a trend-setter, it's credited with helping Twitter really take-off. Ditto with FourSquare. What'll it be this year?

It's a unique experience, an a great opportunity for UK digital firms to meet the broadest possible audience from the US digital industry, and from across the globe. 300 Brits made the trip last year and there'll certainly be a large number heading West this time around.

Supporting these UK digital firms, UK Trade & Investment are organising a trade mission to SXSW, including:

Save the date: 7th-11th Feb 2011. In less than four weeks London joins New York, San Francisco, Rome, Paris, Toronto, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Istanbul for Social Media Week 2011.

Over 500 tickets have been have booked already, but there's still time to grab yours. Keep an eye on the schedule as events are being added every day, we're expecting over 70, double last year's total.

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2011 is the world’s largest professionals-only game industry event. GDC 2011, taking place between 28th February and 2nd March, commemorates its 25th edition and serves as a testament of how far the industry has come and as a celebration of its bright future.

UK Trade & Investment are supporting UK firms attending GDC with two sessions providing an opportunity to connect with leading US publishers, understand the trends in the US market and showcase their wares to an international audience.

Expanding a business into a new country can be daunting. As we've discovered across the Digital Mission events understanding the market is critical, even when there's a (mostly) shared language like the US.

At first sight, the Indian market looks daunting, the numbers are mind-boggling, as is the pace of change. That's before figuring out how to tackle the business culture.

Step in UK Trade & Investment's London team, they've just announced a Marketing Strategy Scholarship with S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai. It looks like a fantastic opportunity to tap the brains of India's leading marketers in a five-day intensive course at their campus in Mumbai followed by executive placements at Indian companies.

Digital Mission went to New York from 1st - 5th November, along with 19 fantastic, UK-based digital companies.

As part of the 'Inside Digital Mission NYC' series, each company was asked if they would like to go into a bit more detail and share their individual stories.

This mini-interview is with Matthew Scherba from Plancentric, based in London.

As the year draws to a chilly close, we were wondering what your most significant thing of 2010 would be?  Just one!

Your thing could be an event, a moment, a launch or a technical development in the Digital sector that occurred during 2010.

Digital Mission went to New York from 1st - 5th November, along with 19 leading, UK-based digital companies.

As part of the 'Inside Digital Mission NYC' series, each company was asked if they would like to go into a bit more detail and share their individual stories.

This mini-interviews is with Nathan McDonald from We Are Social, based in London.

Digital Mission went to New York from 1st - 5th November, along with 19 leading, UK-based digital companies.

As part of the 'Inside Digital Mission NYC' series, each company was asked if they would like to go into a bit more detail and share their individual stories.

This mini-interview is with Julian Ehrhardt from ustwo, based in London.

Digital Mission went to New York from 1st - 5th November, along with 19 fantastic, UK-based digital companies.

As part of the 'Inside Digital Mission NYC' series, each company was asked if they would like to go into a bit more detail and share their individual stories.

This mini-interview is with Danielle Dalkie from Waspit, based in London.

Digital Mission went to New York from 1st - 5th November, along with 19 fantastic, UK-based digital companies.

As part of the 'Inside Digital Mission NYC' series, each company was asked if they would like to go into a bit more detail and share their individual stories

This mini-interview is with Leon Tong from BrightLemon, based in London.

Plans are afoot for next year's trip out to South by South West Interactive, and we hope, a Digital Mission that's even better than last year.

Due to factors beyond our control the details are still being confirmed but we wanted to make sure that this trip was on your radar as early as possible.

We're gathering expressions of interest from companies who would like to join the mission using this form, as it's likely to be a fairly quick turnaround when applications open.