Francesca Heath's blog

The time has come. Social Media Week London is back. This September London will be joined by some awesome cities including Barcelona, Berlin, Bogotá, Los Angeles, Mumbai, São Paulo, Torino and Toronto.

Here are some important milestones ahead for the London event:

• April 23rd: Event Submission Opens
• August 2nd: Event Submission Closes
• August 13th: Attendee Registration Opens

Whether you’re new or old to Social Media Week London, there are many ways to take part: 

Back in December we announced the first set of companies that will be joining us for the Digital Mission to New York in February this year. 

We are very excited to not only let you know the next lucky group of companies coming along on the trip, but also to let you take a sneaky peak at the mission agenda. 

With an investor roundtable, masterclass in doing business in the USA, a traditional British pub quiz as well as all the keynotes, showcases and presentations that are being held as part of Social Media Week NYC the mission companies are not going to be short on events to go to and people to meet. You can take a look at the full agenda for the week here.

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.

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...

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...

Following the success of our SMWLDN Fashion Day, we're happy to announce two free-to-attend upcoming events, focusing on digital and enterprise in the creative industries of Fashion & Music.

Enterprising Fashion (14 Nov) and Enterprising Music (16 Nov), taking place as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (18-22 Nov) will bring together experienced entrepreneurs, early startups and individuals thinking about taking the plunge and setting up businesses in the fashion and music industries.

Designed for current and future entrepreneurs, existing startups and established companies looking to innovate, the events will provide insight into how markets and consumers are changing, how business and business models are adapting and where this disruption provides opportunity.

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.

Social Media Week London are very excited to announce that Sanderson, London are our official hotel partner for the week of SMWLDN.

As well as co-hosting the official Social Media Week closing party, that is taking place on Thursday 27th September, Sanderson are offering a special rate for Social Media Week attendees staying at the hotel, running from Sunday 23rd till Saturday 29th September.

Last Wednesday Chinwag and Our Social Times held the long awaited Facebook Marketing Conference. The day was packed full with speakers, case studies, stats and quotes, our favourite still being from Tom from We Are Social, asking "are you a dipper or a smotherer" (in reference to Heinz ketchup that is).

The day was a huge success with over 120 people through the door, 22 speakers and a twitter hashtag that not only trended during the day but reached over 76,818 people (baring in mind we ended up with two hashtags being used #fbmk12 and #fbkm12)!

For those of you that could not attend the conference, we've done a recap of the event highlights with links to some of the presentations. It'll almost be as if you were there... just without the free chocolate (thanks again Cadburys Dairy Milk).

Remember the Chinwag Insight: Facebook Marketing Conference that took place last October? Well, it's back and it's bigger and better than before. A day packed full of case studies, panels, advice sessions and insight into marketing on the 800m+ social behemoth that is Facebook with the new commercial realities post-IPO.

This time around we're reaching an even broader digital marketing and agency audience by partnering with Our Social Times, who run events covering social media measurement, marketing and analytics to bring you a day packed with strategy insight, analysis and practical examples of how to access, engage and build value from Facebook's massive data-rich audience.

The first event of the series is taking place in London on Wednesday 18th July with future events planned for New York and Singapore later in the year. Whilst we confirm the full programme details there's a chance to save 50% off the standard rate with a Trust Ticket.

We thought we would give you a little taster of who you can expect to meet at Chinwag's Careers Day this month... With the likes of LBi, Bloomberg, Yammer and more, the day will be one you wont want to miss!

The fair is taking place on Wednesday 23rd May in the Digital Shorditch Big Top at Hackney House. The main 'big top' tent will be the exhibitor hall where you'll meet premier agencies, start-ups and brands, there'll also be a 'little top' tent, filled with how-to sessions, workshops and CV surgeries, so you'll have plenty to do.

So to give you a sneak preview of who can you expect to meet there...

Turbo boost your career at Chinwag's Careers Day 2012.

Are you a grad looking for a step up into the digital world, or perhaps you are just looking for your next exciting challenge. Whatever the case, if you are a job seeker the Chinwag's Careers Day is where you need to be!

The Careers Day, taking place on Wednesday 23rd May, is part of the Digital Shoreditch Festival 2012 and is FREE to attend - it's the place to be if you are looking for that next role in digital. Registration is now open, so don't hang around & sign up now. 

We are very excited to announce the launch of Chinwag's first ever Careers Day on Wednesday 23rd May in association with Digital Shoreditch 2012 and supported by Vitamin T. 

Chinwag has teamed up with the lovely people at Digital Shoreditch to bring you the very first Chinwag Careers Day, focused around jobs in Digital. The day centres on getting a job and building careers including mentoring, CV/social media advice, portfolio reviews plus a careers fair featuring leading employers.

The Careers Day will be free for all you job seekers to come along to, just keep an eye out on @Chinwag and on our blog for the sign up form.