Francesca Heath's blog

The companion to the Chinwag Insight: Facebook Marketing conference, the Facebook Marketing Bootcamp (Wed, 5th Oct) is a chance to roll up your sleeves and really get stuck in. Don't worry it's almost certainly not as muddy or as energetic as the picture suggests.

This day-long workshop, taking place at Channel 4's offices in London, will explore the practical side of the tools, tactics and best practice of Facebook Marketing.

Find out how to use the tools to achieve that all-important ROI, the Bootcamp is a great place to hone your practical skills and great preparation for the following day's conference.

We're very excited to announce the first Chinwag Insight conference and bootcamp, Chinwag Insight: Facebook Marketing taking place in central London on 5th and 6th Oct, 2011. And for the Chinwag audience, book early and save £100 - on the early-bird rates, too.

Facebook has an audience of over 30m registered users in the UK and 700m worldwide and with a multitude of channels and techniques to target them, what's working, what's not. The conference will look at case studies from Dell, Channel 4 amongst others as well as hearing from Facebook themselves.

Are you interested in expanding your digital business to the Far East? The massive growth in mobile, social networks, gamers and online businesses all across China and South East Asia represent a huge opportunity, but what’s the best way to find out more and harness this potential? 

Good question, glad you asked. It’s something we’ve been thinking about, too. Following the success of our Digital Missions to the US, we’re putting together plans for a trip to two of the key hubs for the region, Singapore and Hong Kong, during the last week of November 2011.

We’d love for you to tell us exactly what you want. Come along to our “Digital Mission Discussion: Asia” on Thursday 29th September from 6pm at the offices of our friends, Pinsent Masons. It’s a chance to find out more about the region and discuss the plans for the trip. 

Chinwag Live: When Customer Service Goes Social just got really exciting with the announcement of some leading brands joining the panel.

The event, taking place on Wednesday 5th October, will look into the profound impact social media is having on how corporates interact with their existing and prospective customers.

We are very pleased to announce that we'll be joined by Gavin Sathianathan, Strategic Partner Manager at Facebook, Julia Monro, Community Manager at Marks and Spencer, Boris Jacquin, Digital Marketing Manager at Nando's Australia and Guy Stephens, Technology Consultant at Capgemini (UK).

Chinwag Live returns to London on Wed 5 Oct, 2011 with an evening session that explores what happens When Customer Service Goes Social, sponsored by Conversocial.

The impact of social media is having an increasing impact on the way organisations market themselves and interact with their customers. Conversations previously confined to phone or letter are now taking place publicly on Facebook, twitter and other social media channels.

Taking place right in the middle of National Customer Service Week our expert panel will look into the profound impact social media is having on how corporates interact with their existing and prospective customers. 

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.

Next week some of the UK's leading digital firms will be making their way DC for the Digital Mission to Washington. 

The week takes in a heap of activities designed to bring companies up-to-speed on the US market, make heaps of introductions and build their international profile.

For those taking part in the Digital Mission, and anyone travelling to the US from the UK, the forms for immigration have changed and it's now obligatory to complete the snappily titled Electronic System for Travel Authorization for (or thankfully, ESTA form).

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.

OpenAir Summer, a night of networking, engaging conversations, cocktails and a rooftop sunset, what more could you want from an evening?

The event, taking place at 6pm on Thursday14th July, fits nicely with the end of the Digital Mission to Washington and is being organised by Tech and Innovation advisor Justin Herman and Director of FutureGov Dominic Campbell. 

Congratulations to the 10 leading UK digital companies that have been selected for the Digital Mission to Washington, DC 2011.

This trip will see the companies travel out to Washington, DC for a packed five day trip. To find out more about what the companies will be getting up to while over in DC, check out the Digital Mission Activities page.

Each of the companies is listed below, don't hesitate to drop them a line directly to arrange a time to meet up in Washington, or follow their progress via their Twitter accounts below. You can follow the coverage of the mission on Twitter @digitalmission and we've put together a Twitter list (@digitalmission/dc11) for all the companies and speakers taking part.

We have some very exciting new events to add to the already packed full Digital Mission to Washington. 

Not only will mission companies be visiting The US State Department on Thursday morning, we have also arranged an afternoon of very exclusive government briefings with World Bank (tbc), U.S. Department of Agriculture, The Federal Communications Commission, White House Deputy CTO Chris Vein and General Services Administration’s Sheila Campbell. 

We’re delighted to announce more additions to the Digital Mission to Washington DC line-up including: a breakfast session at Affinity Lab, with great new speakers from iStrategy Labs, Big Window Labs, as well as final night event sponsors Beekeeper Group and Rock Creek now on board.

Affinity Lab is a startup incubator space for the booming community of Washington based businesses, non-profits and start-ups. Affinity Lab describes it as a rather cool “shared office space that meets incubator that meets entrepreneurial club-house.”

Combined with events at the US State Department, the State of Maryland, Microsoft and Deloitte the mission programme will expose UK firms to the full breadth of the digital scene in Washington, from the US government’s top digital players through to start-ups and agencies, potential partners and collaborators, building links between Washington and the UK.

Last week we promised you some exciting news about the up and coming trip to Washington and we would hate to disappoint.

Just in case the top 10 reasons to head over to DC weren’t enough, we’re excited and delighted to announce a stellar line-up of partners for the Digital Mission to DC, including the US Department of State and a range of federal government agencies, Blue State Digital, the State of Maryland, Microsoft and Deloitte.

Along with our partners, Future Gov, Bright Lemon and Kathryn Corrick we have been working away to secure some of the most influential organisations and government departments for July’s mission visiting the US capital from 11-15th July. Applications close on 10th June, with a limited number of spots available.

We are very excited to announce that applications for the Digital Mission to Washington, DC taking place 11th - 15th July 2011 are now open.    

This trip is ideal for companies interested in digital government and social innovation who are looking to expand into the US market either directly or through partners.

Alongside a hectic programme of events there will be a chance for companies to interact with the US Government and key players within the digital space.

We have been working hard with our friends at digital government consultancy FutureGov, community builder BrightLemon and digital media consultant Kathryn Corrick in order to bring you this mission that helps bridge the gap between government and digital. 

We’re gathering interest for a digital government and social innovation-focused trade mission to Washington for UK-based digital companies in July. Interested? Read on...

The last few years have seen a dramatic adoption of social media and digital technologies in government, NGOs and campaigning organisations. There’s a highly active community here in the UK, and an equally vibrant counterpart in the United States, centered around Washington DC.

What started as a conversation with our friends at digital government consultancy FutureGov, community builder BrightLemon and digital media consultant Kathryn Corrick, has come together to form concrete plans for a Digital Mission to Washington DC, scheduled the week 11th July 2011.