Digital Mission

The Digital Mission to New York are ensconced in the Big Apple's frenetic networking scene making contacts and wrapping their heads around the US market.

Contacts are being made, meetings followed up and progress made in building overseas partners, trade and investment for some of the best the UK digital sector has to offer.

But things don't go quiet just because they're out of the country...

Web 2.0 Expo is in full flow. Yesterday the Digital Mission companies had the opportunity to check out the talks and keynotes.

It was an interesting tone, as Mr Web 2.0 himself, Tim O'Reilly took to the stage to give a speech that was both a 'state of the web' address and a challenge to Google: Would they persue an open web or would they take the path of "one ring to rule them all," producing increasingly closed systems.

Digital Mission to SXSWi is back for it's second year after the success of the mission to Austin in March 2009.

The mission to SXSWi is a great opportunity to take advantage of the publicity and profile from a group of British companies attending SXSWi.

The applications for the mission are open until Fri 4th December. The form is pretty painless and shouldn't take more than 20 mins to complete. There's also lots more info about the application criteria on the Digital Mission website.

The Digital Mission companies have arrived in New York and are well into the first day's activities, which kicked off with the Master Class session at Winston & Strawn's offices.

It's amazing to think that a year has passed since the previous Digital Mission to New York, but the view across New York from the Met Life Building brought the memories back. New York is a unique city, with a very distinctive vibe and culture. Doing business here is both challenging and exhilarating.

The panels were a pleasant mix of new and familiar faces, kicking off with the basics of setting up in the US, including dealing with general legal issues, employment law, Intellectual property and tax. You might be a UK business, but US courts can claim jurisdiction over you. The US legal systems operates at a state level, which raises the spectre of 50 different courts reaching their long-arms out to you.

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.

PRESS RELEASE: London, UK, Wednesday 23rd September 2009.

The UK digital industry will once again get a boost when enterprise and expertise connect in the Digital Mission to Los Angeles and San Francisco, from 11th - 16th October 2009.

Organised by Chinwag and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the five day mission provides the perfect vehicle to make business connections, discover the logistics of setting up shop, build international profile and understand the US digital market.

14 UK-based companies have been selected to take part and they are:

• agency2
• Amaze
• Audioboo
• etv media group
• Great Fridays
• Ideonic Limited
• Littleloud
• MoviesThatRespond (Creative Works)
• NixonMcInnes Ltd
• Orangepanda Digital Media
• Plug-in Media Ltd
• Twofour
• Type3 Limited
• Videojuicer Ltd

Further information and contact details for each company is available on the Digital Mission website: http://digital-mission.org/lasf09-companies.

Due to overwhelming demand, the deadline for Digital Mission to New York '09 has been extended until Thursday, 24th September.

This gives a few precious extra days and the weekend, if you're a workaholic, to complete your application for the NYC Digital Mission.

The deadline to apply for a place on the Digital Mission to New York is this Friday (18th Sept).

If you've been putting off filling in the application form - don't worry I procrastinate with the best - then dive right in. It's a very short form that shouldn't take more than a few minutes to fill out.

After all, we just need to know what your company is about, and what you'd like to get out of going on the Digital Mission. Things you're thinking about every day, right?

The application deadline for our NYC Digital Mission is fast approaching, September 18th to be precise, and here at Chinwag Towers we thought we’d give you a flash back to one of our most popular panel debates, Transatlantic Troubleshooting held during our Digital Mission at SXSWi 2009.

It’s bound to get those of you who’re waiting until next week to get your details over to us to get a wriggle on.

Design heavyweights IDEO have been added to an exciting list of activities planned for the Digital Mission to Los Angeles and San Francisco (11-16th Oct, 2009). The deadline for applications is 12pm on Tuesday, 1st September.

This mission differs from those planned for New York (applications now open) and South by South West interactive focusing on supporting the UK's leading interactive design and development companies.

Activities will be designed to build relationships, develop business partnerships and understanding of the local market with access to high-level contacts that would prove difficult, if not impossible, to reach otherwise.

The 15 mission companies will benefit from a tailored range of activities including visits to leading US design firms IDEO and Astro Studios and two official evening receptions in Los Angeles and San Francisco at the residences of the respective Governor Generals.

March 2010 might still seem a distant dream, but the organiser's of South by South West interactive (SXSWi to its friends) are already cracking on with preparations for the conference line-up with the opening of their Panel Picker.

This year sees over three times as many panels from the British digital industry, with over 60 panels, up from 18 last year, making it to SXSWi's Panel Picker where the public get to rate and comment on the panels being put forward.

The public feedback is designed to help organisers refine presentations and panels, and makes up 30% of decision-making progress.

Below is the comprehensive list (add comments if we've missed any) of panels submitted by the Brits. Good luck to all those in the Panel Picker machine...

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