events

Seven hundred million is a very big number. And with Facebook's big number comes big opportunities for branding, marketing, commerce, games, analytics and insight.

Following on from the success of Social Media Week London, Chinwag is launching "Chinwag Insight: Facebook Marketing", a brand new full day conference exploring how to harness the 700m strong userbase to create a positive impact on their business. 

The event scheduled for early Autumn will take place in central London for senior marketers from agencies, brands and media owners and is the first event (we can find) focusing solely on Facebook as a marketing platform.

We're known here at Chinwag for our Digital Missions - week long intensive trips to expand and develop small UK digital businesses internationally.

From our experience with Digital Missions, the group environment provides a whole bunch of benefits (more on this below), so we've been considering an exciting new idea, to create 'Mini-Missions'.

Mini-Missions will take advantage of both travelling with a group of UK delegates and the many wonderful conferences, like Picnic and LeWeb, that are currently around, some closer to our shores than others.

In Chinwag's recent Digital Mission survey looking at which global opportunities were tempting the UK's digital firms, Germany featured 4th on the list.

Update: Panel line-up and Berline startups announced. Just one travel bursary left. See below.

For those digital firms interested in this market, Creative Industries KTN (CIKTN) and Berlin Brandenburg Medianet have announced a one-day session in Berlin to introduce firms to the local market, meeting with startups and local businesses who will provide mentoring support.

So we are back at the Chinwag towers after a great Digital Mission to Washington, and I’ve found myself reflecting on the goings on of the past week, who we met, what we saw, where we went and what we came away with. I think it is safe to say the trip was a huge success and we caused just the right amount of havoc.

I am going to try and fit in the weeks activities into one blog post…wish me luck.

The recently announced Digital Mission Observer Programme launched this week, with the trip to Washington, DC. The programme was designed specifically to offer opportunities for staff in larger corporates, professional services firms and academia a chance to benefit from the Digital Mission series.

Amongst the observers joining the DC trip is Louise Eldridge (@fieldhead) from London law firm, Finers Stephens Innocent LLP. She said,

"We're excited to be part of the mission and the observer programme affords both companies and individuals the opportunity to engage with the companies selected and learn about their drivers and to better understand how to help facilitate their growth".

The agenda includes a mixture of briefings, masterclass, speed networking, VIP reception and evening events with the US Dept of State, Microsoft, Deloitte, the State of Maryland with more to be announced shortly. Across the week-long trip there'll be opportunities to meet representatives from across the spectrum of the DC digital and governmental scene from departments to NGOs to startups and social innovators.

The team behind the North East's successful incubator, Difference Engine are back with a new accelerator fund, ignite100, backed with funds of £1m.

Jon Bradford, founder of Difference Engine, which includes Digital Mission alumni Screenreach amongst the companies is supported, returns as Executive Director with Paul Smith, a North-East based entrepreneur running the programme. He said,

"Difference Engine was the first major acceleration bootcamp programme in Europe. ignite100 redefines acceleration programmes again and will be first acceleration programme in Europe to offer up to £100k per team."

The deal?

A little over three years ago, preparations for the very first Digital Mission to New York were just starting. A lot's happened since then, so what better time to reflect on the past, and ponder the future?

In this post (sorry it's quite long), we're reflecting on the story so far, looking at the future, how the missions are funded and the work to make them sustainable in the long-term, our plans for the next Digital Missions and three exciting new initiatives, plus how to get involved.

Read on, and do comment, we'd love your feedback.

The companies joining the Digital Mission to Washington are gearing themselves up for a packed week in and around the US capital meeting with numerous federal agencies, major corporates and a host of movers'n'shakers in DC.

We're delighted to announce a VIP Digital Mission Company Showcase (Mon 11th July - RSVP here) to close the first night of the mission. It follows a highly successful event organised by UKTI to promote TechCity a few weeks earlier. 

Working closely with FutureGov, UK Trade & Investment, Fairfax County EDA and Deloitte, the guest list will feature senior staff from across DC including speakers from sessions later in the week and key influencers in this sector from government and industry.

After the official presentations and introductions there will be a spot of speed networking with some of DC’s leading digital agencies and government officials continued with a casual networking session, with a chance to relax with a beer and carry on the all-important conversations.