events

A highlight of SXSW is the enormous opportunity for networking. And it's not just catching up with the Americans, with such a large British contingent making the trip to Austin, it's a great chance to catch-up with people from the UK, too.

Bill Thompson, Gareth Mitchell and the crew from BBC World Service's Digital Planet show were in town to record a special live session at SXSW interactive (listen here). Bill swung by the Digital Mission stand where I pounced on him with my flip and asked him about his first SXSW...

Compiling Chinwag's digital events listings is a great way to see the huge number of events supporting all aspects of the digital industry. One discipline under-represented is UX (user experience to the uninitiated).

So, when Nick Cochrane from Zebra People, got in touch about their new event UX People (22nd March), designed specifically to support people working in the user experience field, our ears pricked up and we asked him for more info...

What is UX People?
UX People is a new, one-day user experience conference which will be held in London on March 22, 2010. It is a unique day of presentations and workshops designed for UX professionals. Attendees will develop practical knowledge and new techniques which they can implement in the workplace the very next day.

The Digital Mission companies were taken on a tour of the Capital Building in Austin.

Although the state capital has moved over the course of its history, Austin has become it's resting place, nestled centrally in the state of Texas. It's quite an incredible building, steeped in History.

When you mention tech and the US most people's minds jump to the coasts, usually San Francisco and Los Angeles, or Boston and New York. It hasn't always been that way for tech, and it may not always be either, at least if the state and city folks here have their way.

The third video installment from Digital Mission to SXSWi 2010 from Techfluff.tv's Hermione Way.

In a whirlwind trip around SXSWi, she speaks to the Digital Mission companies, visitors to the Digital Mission stand "Trust Agents" author, Chris Brogan and Tuttle Club's Lloyd Davis with a ukelele solo (yup, you read that right).

It's hard to describe South by South West interactive. Yes, it is a trade show. Yes, it's a conference. Yes, there's lots of business going on.

The laid-back atmosphere of Austin pervades the event, and despite the frenetic activity, networking and business going on, for the attendees it doesn't feel like a corporate environment.

Hermone Way from Techfluff.tv, took her film crew out and about at the Austin Convention Center, to try and capture what makes SXSW special.

A sleepy Austin, Texas, eased it's way into Sunday. At 2am the clocks switched to Day Light Savings time, cruelly robbing the South by South West attendees of a much needed hour's sleep. I say 'much needed', but there were people crowds up and working their way between the parties and meet ups into the early hours of the morning.

It's a big part of what South By is about: Finding people, meeting people, connecting with people. In the evenings, as well as the day, deals are planned, meetings arranged and contacts made. That's how it works here.

The first day of the Digital Mission to SXSWi 2010 day starts with the masterclass, an opportunity for the companies to wrap their heads around doing business in the USA, the legal issues, the cultural approach, the business landscape and insight into SXSW.

Techfluff's Hermione Way stopped by to film some of the attendees and Leah Mayo from UK Trade & Investment's office in Houston.

It's Saturday and I'm nestled next to a power socket and Ethernet connection on the Digital Mission stand. South by South West is in full swing around us, with the companies talking, demoing and networking their way though the show. It's hard to describe the buzz in words; the tweets on the #sxsw hash tag rush past at the rate of a couple a second and the streets and hotels of Austin are packed with people from the digital media industry.

Yesterday the Palm Door was the venue for the master class sessions. The Winston & Strawn team talked the companies through the issues around setting up a US entity, both in terms of tax and legal benefits. Thinking about where you establish a US entity can be a complex issue, each of the US states has different laws and regulations. The session also covered how to avoid intellectual property issues when working with contractors, and key employment issues businesses setting up in the US should be aware of.