Chinwag

It might be called 'Glastonbury for Geeks', but despite the laid-back demeanour, South by South West (SXSWi), there's plenty of business going taking place.

SXSWi is famous as a launch-pad for Twitter and laterly foursquare, and with so many tech types crammed into Austin for a week, provides the perfect cauldron of opportunity for spreading the word.

The UK firms taking part in the Digital Mission are seizing this opportunity with both hands (imagine a mobile phone in one hand, a mouse in the other). Here's a summary of the shiny new launches that will be unleashed from from Brainient, Codegent, Codility, Littleloud, Little World Gifts, oneDrum, PageDo, Skimlinks, Smidgn and Tweetjobs:

Preparations for the impending mission to South by South West interactive (SXSWi) are in their final stages. Chinwag Towers is littered with all manner of goodies ready for the trip to Austin.

Hermione Way and her crew at Techfluff.tv, with a helping hand from the folks at Viadeo, have put together a trailer for the Digital Mission to SXSWi, giving a flavour of the companies attending, and capturing the pace of what awaits them...with a dollop of tongue-in-cheek for good measure.

Check out 'Mission Possible'...

In spite of job prospects for graduates looking bleak, there appears to be lots of opportunities in the digital sector to score some fantastic internship opportunities.

Roll up, roll up, we'll be publishing the list of programmes at the end of this week...if you'd like to include your company's programme/requirements, fill out the simple form and yes, it's all free, just something we're trying out.

London’s Business Community Connects for Social Media Week 2010

PRESS RELEASE: London, UK, Thursday 28^th January 2010

A diverse range of events, covering everything from music, property, politics and charity through to recruitment, will be held next week from 1st to 5th February for Social Media Week London. A global initiative that sees simultaneous activity in New York, Berlin, Toronto, San Francisco, and Sao Paulo, Social Media Week aims to identify and advance social media practices and policy in the corporate, public and non-profit sectors.

Organised in London by Chinwag, the UK digital community, Social Media Week has drawn the support of industry bodies such as the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB UK) and British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) and generous support from sponsors including Meebo & icrossing and a wide range of companies which are organising events as part of the schedule.

Over 20 debates, panel discussions, presentations and socials are running over the course of the week, many of which are free to attend, bringing together experts in social media strategy and practice with those interested in or already deploying these new communication channels in different business sectors.

It's Digital Mission time in the Big Apple and we're delighted to formally announce the 21 companies who'll be joining this year's Digital Mission to NYC.

Thank you to everyone who applied, we really appreciate your time and effort. Don't be downhearted, the applications for the Digital Mission to South by South West interactive open next week.

Congratulations to the companies selected for the Digital Mission to New York: BandCentral, Bizk.it, Box UK, Can Studios Limited, Cognitive Match, coull, Digital Clarity, ipadio, Ixaris Systems, KMP Digidata, LAMP Digital, learn2lingo, Martingale, Mobilized, Open, ShareMyPlaylists.com, Stylescape, SubHub, The Filter, Type 3 and Wolfstar.

The USA remains the top destination for UK-based companies targeting overseas markets.

Oh yes, we're all a flutter about the new iPhone 3GS. Well, we would be if a shiny new one appeared in the office. Anyone? No, oh well.

Failing that, what about an informal get-together to talk about iPhone apps? In the last week or so, there's been a bunch of posts on the uk-netmarketing email list suggesting a group pow-wow to talk iPhone.

Turns out that lots of folks on the list are considering or are actually taking the plunge in the heady world of app development. And well, they're a talkative bunch and would like to share.

The first time I went to South by South West interactive, the sheer volume of events was over-whelming. A predictably hurried decision to go left little time for any proper planning and the show whizzed by.

According to Aaron Brazell, second time out, the event should be an endless round of conference sessions, meetings and partying networking. As part of the Digital Mission, featuring 35 of the UK's hottest digital companies, our group will number nearly 100. For more Brit-related shenanigans, keep an eye out for Rebecca Caroe's cunning plan.

30,000 Feet up in the air feels like a very odd place to be writing a blog post, but it is curiously appropriate. I'm halfway between London and New York as I type this. Around me are representatives from the Digital Mission companies. Already, just a few hours into the mission, there have been discussions about the challenges and opportunities of business between the UK and the US .