Digital Mission

In under a week some of the UK's leading digital firms will be making the trip to the Big Apple for the third Digital Mission to New York.

The week takes in a heap of activities designed to bring companies up-to-speed on the US market, make heaps of introductions and take in the full intensity of the ad:tech NYC Expo.

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

Thinking about expanding your business to the Big Apple? There's been heaps of interest in this year's Digital Mission to New York (1-5 Nov) so we've extended the deadline until Friday 8th Oct.

This trip, the third to New York is timed to coincide with ad:tech New York, the biggest gathering of digital media and marketing types in the city, with 10,000 visitors expected and 290+ exhibitors confirmed. The Digital Mission companies will have access to the UKTI stand, plus Exhibit Hall passes included in the trip.

The Difference Engine, a mentoring programme for digital businesses based in the North East of England, has opened its doors for applications. In fact, if you're interested, you'll need to hurry as applications close on Monday.

Do startups actually get to have weekends off? That's for another post! Companies that get through will receive an intensive thirteen week programme with high-profile mentors from both side of the Atlantic proffering their wisdom. Each team gets £5,000 plus £3,200 per founder to keep the wolves from the door during this period.

Over the last five Digital Mission trips, it's been a privilege to work with some of the UK's leading digital companies. Getting the chance to spend a week away with people who are taking the scary, but exciting, journey of expanding their business into the US is a great way to really understand what makes entrepreneurs tick.

So, it was rather humbling last week, when we announced the third Digital Mission to New York (deadline's Fri, by the way), to see these tweets from Digital Mission alumni @kierondonoghue, @mr_mcd and @stuartbruce...

Together with the London and New York teams at UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) we're delighted to announce the third Digital Mission to New York taking place 1st-5th November 2010. The trip is time to coincide with the Big Apple's largest digital marketing conference, ad:tech New York.

Alongside a hectic programme of events including an official British Consulate reception, there's a masterclass, networking events, company tours plus stand space at ad:tech along with access to the keynote sessions.

The week before last we gathered with the good people of Bootlaw for possibly the last Summer BBQ of the year. Naturally, it poured with rain. In fact next time we organise a BBQ, I'm putting money on rain. To date, we have a 100% hit rate!

Along with over 100 Digital Mission alumni and Bootlawyers, we were joined by Newspepper's Anastasia Emmanuel quizzing the crowd on geo-location and whether they'd rather 'network' with Jack Dorsey or Mark Zuckerberg.

There's just a couple of days left to add your support to the Brits who have submitted panels for the massive digital shindig and Digital Mission destination that is South by South West Interactive 2011.

The Panelpicker lists all of the 2,410 submissions to the conference section of the event with audience votes comprising 30% of the decision-making progress, so those votes are crucial.

We didn't take much persuading by the folks who'd been on the Digital Missions that a gathering might be in order to mark the end of the Summer. 

We've hooked up with the Digital Mission alumni and Bootlaw regulars to gather, mingle, chat and sup a cold beverage. Let's face it, we don't need much of an excuse and it's a great opportunity to meet interesting people doing interesting things.

Tickets cost £15 (+VAT and booking fee), but there's still a few tickets available at the discounted rate (use code: 'dm' to get a 3rd off), but they're being snapped up quickly. At the time of writing there's already 100 people on the list, so make sure you grab your ticket soon.

Can it really be that time of year already? The PanelPicker for South by South West Interactive (SXSW), the annual mass-gathering of digital types in Austin, Texas is open for votes and we're building a list of all the panels submitted from the UK.

The lengthy journey to Austin hasn't deterred an increasing numbers of Brits from making the trek, with initiatives like the Digital Mission to SXSW organised by Chinwag, which involved nearly 100 companies this year mixing with over 14,000 delegates from the US and beyond.

After lots of requests, we've managed to get The deadline for the UKTI mission to the Tokyo Games Show extended until this Friday, the 6th August.

The trip which includes industry briefings and round table sessions with experts from the Japanese games industry including leading games magazine publisher, Enterbrain also features a reception at the British Embassy.

It's like a never-ending stream of free stuff round here at the moment. First the Hubbub competition, next up Shell LiveWIRE for young entrepreneurs and now the chance for a mobile SME to score some high-profile stand space at Mobile World Congress.

The Digital Communications Knowledge Transfer Network (DCKTN) and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) are running a competition for lucky UK-based SMEs with an innovative new mobile or wireless solution or product to showcase their wares.

The UKTI stand will be located on the Avenida at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 14 - 17 Feb 2011 and offers amazing chance to target more than 60,000 key industry decision makers that are expected to attend.

There's still time to get an application in for the UKTI Mission to Tokyo Games Show designed specifically for UK-based games companies targeting the Japanese market with a detailed insight into the challenges of working in Japan, and highlighting the opportunities available.

The team in Tokyo have confirmed that Enterbrain (Wikipedia entry) who publish Weekly Famitsu, Famitsu Xbox360, Famitsu PSP+PS3, Famitsu DS+Wii as well as compiling retail games charts will be attending the roundtable session and the British Embassy reception.