branding

Monday's talk at the Business & Enterprise Hub at Hub Westminster started with a keynote from Peace One Day founder, Jeremy Gilley, followed by Frontline SMS founder Ken Banks, in which they explored the people and organisations that are harnessing the opportunity the technology provides to overcome social challenges, the heroes of social innovation.

The rise of social media and social technology has demonstrated its power to revolutionise industries, change governments and empower social movements. In a very literal sense, the power to connect and collaborate is quite literally changing the world. Mobile technology and social networks enable groups to self-organise and campaigns to gain worldwide momentum.

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.

Making Social work for Your Business, hosted by Oracle, took place on Tuesday 25th Sept at the Advertising & Marketing Hub at Facebook.

The rise of social media has dramatically changed the way people communicate…irrevocably. The explosion of social has been tremendous, as Facebook closes in on one billion consumers and Twitter approaches 200 million, not to mention emerging platforms like Google+, Instagram and Pinterest.

It’s also clear that companies are fast waking up to the power and value of social. Some organisations have already embraced social and are up and running; using it to connect marketing, sales, commerce and customer service together for an enhanced customer experience, through seamless, real-time responsiveness and high-touch engagement. Others are more tentative and questions remain over value, measurement and how to scale social campaigns.

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.

Blue Eyes, Blue Suade Shoes or maybe you're just Blue (Da Ba Dee, Da Ba Daa) - it seems this shade is top of the charts in more ways than one.

As the lovely Nathalie Nahai mentioned at her Psychology of Online Persuasion book launch last week, blue is a very popular colour for the web - and that's now been backed up by TemplateMonster.com's new infographic, "Coolness of Blue in Web Design" below, looking at it's influence on genders, cultures and more.

And if you missed out on our latest psychology event, keep your eyes peeled for our 2013 events schedule announcement coming soon!

Tuesday morning at the Sport, Entertainment & Culture Hub at Engine saw The Decision Makers: The Truth Behind the Family Purchase Dynamic, hosted by DOCO London. Catch up with the Livestream below.

Families in the UK spend around £187B a year yet not much is known about the complicated decision making dynamic that goes into how that money is spent. This session looked at who in the family makes what decisions and how the members of the family influence each other and what role social media plays in inter-family communications and the decision making process.