November 2010

Waspit's Digital Mission: The Buzz of the Big Apple

Cabs

Waspit has just spent the last week in New York for the Digital Mission with Chinwag and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI).

It was one of the busiest weeks I have had, running up and down town for meetings, participating in the Ad:Tech event with over 260 US companies, functions every night and 12 hour days!

// more

Win Stand Space at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona

MWC09

he Creative Industries KTN and UKTI have joined forces to launch a competition to give a way one place on the UKTI booth for a company to showcase their technology to the leaders of the world mobile industry.
This is fantastic opportunity to showcase your company at next year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Europe's most prestigious event for the mobile sector and meet potential business partners.
How to enter All you have to do is tell Creative Industries KTN, in 250 words or less: “Why would you be the talk of MWC and how will your offering act as a draw and be demonstrated on and around the UKTI booth?” 
Send your entry to ideasatcreativeindustriesktn [dot] org by 26.11.2010.
The prize
The winner will receive a place on the UKTI booth which is located at one of the most prominent places in the congress, plus full integration with UKTI’s presence at the event. Steve Williams of UKTI said: “Our stand is always very busy and we are looking for a company whose product or service has that wow factor that will get everyone at the show talking and bring the key international decision makers flocking to the UKTI stand. This is a great chance to put your business in front of the top people from the world’s mobile sector. We will also promote the winner to relevant companies within our network to increase their exposure even more.” There are also two runner up prizes of guaranteed place at Mobile World Congress pre show press networking event on 17th January at 1 Victoria Street London, with a chance to meet and present your company to more than 20 UK media interested in mobile and technology.
Mobile World Congress 2011 is held in Barcelona Feb 14-17, 2011. It is the leading event for the mobile industry and is attended by 50,000 senior figures from across the mobile sector from 200 countries.
MWC is: •    A world class thought leadership conference featuring visionary keynotes and action-provoking panel discussions •    An exhibition featuring more than 1,300 companies displaying the cutting-edge products and technology that will define the mobile future •    App Planet, the new Centre of the Apps Universe •    A great chance to network, find business opportunities and make deals. The winner and two runners up will be selected by a panel of judges that will include: Mark Leaver CIKTN Theme Champion for Globalisation John Cass CIKTN Director Steve Williams UKTI
Ts and Cs Companies must have working products, services or technology. The judges will be looking for a company that is creating new ways to market through mobile in a creative and innovative way. This is not just about theory but practice. The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The first prize is a place on the UKTI Booth. No travel or accommodation costs or other expenses are provided. There is no cash alternative to the prize. The winners are responsible for transporting and insuring any equipment/products to and from MWC The runners up prizes do not include travel or accommodation or other expenses. The winners will be required to undertake PR activities in relation to the event via the CI KTN platform, e.g. blogs, tweets, video interviews to be agreed with CI KTN

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is one of the most important events in the calendar for anyone that dabbles in the mobile sector.

Aside from the thousands of mobilistas, including a large delegation from the UK, what's not to love? Mobile geekery and Barcelona in February. Part of the UK presence at the show includes a UK Pavilion to showcase the best mobile talent from this side of the Channel, backed by Creative Industries KTN and UK Trade & Investment. 

They've got together to launch a competition to give a way one place on the UKTI stand for a company to showcase their technology to the leaders of the world mobile industry.

// more

#TheEuropas Finalists, Bon Chance!

View from Centre Point

The Europas, the European Startup Awards, will be taking place tonight at Paramount, top floor of Centre Point, in London (see the fantastic view above). The event is now totally sold out, with over 350 people coming from the cream of Europe’s startups, VCs and entrepreneurs.

Update: Livestream from the event is now available...see below

// more

BIMA Awards - Special Awards Finalists Revealed

BIMA awards

Following on from the announcement of the Sector and Discipline category finalists last month, BIMA have now revealed the shortlist for the Special Awards. The Special Awards recognise excellence in interactive crafts, with the shortlist made up from all the entries received across all the main categories, so competition is fierce.

// more

Facebook Messaging

facebook

With their most recent development Facebook will be bringing together Facebook chat, email and SMS into one location for users: Facebook Messaging.

Facebook released their unified social inbox just two days ago. Facebook messages will now be aggregated together, including emails and every Facebook user will be able to get a @facebook.com email ID.

// more

Help Wanted: The Ugly Truth

Help Wanted by Sam Michel

New Yorkers are known for their straight-up, tell-it-like-it-is attitude. One of the points I make during the pre-event briefings for the Digital Mission to New York, is the speed and brevity the mission companies will experience during the networking events in the Big Apple.

// more

New York, New York...

Manhattan Skyline

Last week saw another successful Digital Mission to New York.

We landed in JFK on Halloween and were greeted by a limo and it’s fantastic driver, Clinton, to take us to Manhattan.  Moment of glitz and glamour over, we headed to The Three Monkeys to meet up with all the companies and the UK Trade and Investment team, and generally cause havoc.  I believe everyone had a good time, and judging by some of the stories the following morning, havoc was successfully caused.

// more

Learning to Survive in the Global Creative Media Industries

Books

In 2009, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport reported that 1,978,400 people were employed in the creative media industries and that this sector accounted for over seven per cent of GDP – a contribution of £60 billion per annum to the British economy.

In recognition of the sector’s importance, last year the Labour Government set out in Digital Britain its developing strategy to ensure that the UK remains a global leader in the creative industries.

// more

Rising demand for User Experience Designers: Candidates play catch up

Advanced Web Design

User Experience Design has traditionally been seen as something most Web Designers do.  It’s an essential aspect of designing any site, yet only 1% of our web designers specialise in the area despite a rise in demand for such candidates. With businesses continuing to increase their revenues through digital, User Interface is becoming more vital than ever. So why the shortfall?

// more

Digital Mission Companies Waspit & RealEyes Announce New Products in New York

DMNYC10

Last week, Waspit Ltd and Realeyes Data Services, both companies that joined us on the Digital Mission to New York, managed to find time to announce new launches at ad:tech  NYC 2010, despite a full weeks schedule and their own meetings!

Waspit Ltd launched their new contactless payment system, "BuzzPay" and Realeyes Data Services launched the second generation of their Adgagement eye-tracking service.

// more