Digital Mission Blog
The Digital Mission series is run by Chinwag to support UK-based digital companies expand into new markets and attract overseas investment.
Develop Conference Launches £10k Pitch Competition for Game Developers
The Develop in Brighton conference have launched a live pitch competition for game developers to grab £10,000 each to develop a high-impact pitch for their game to help secure a distribution platform and funding.
Launched in partnership with the Wellcome Trust, developers are invited to apply for a spot at the live pitch at the event on Wednesday 10 July 2013. Development funds can be used to develop a game prototype, demo or mood reel.
The organisers are looking for,
"The ideas for your game need to draw on or be inspired by contemporary or historical biological or medical science in an innovative and accessible way. The games can be developed for any mass-appeal genre, platform or business model."
The ideas for your game need to draw on or be inspired by contemporary or historical biological or medical science in an innovative and accessible way.
Those successful will pitch their game ideas to a panel of publishers and funders including Wellcome Trust, Sony XDev and crowd-funding platform Indiegogo.
Submission are open until Friday 26 April. Participating developers will be invited to receive additional pitch training ahead of the live event.
Pic (cc) Ian D.
More Doing Biz Summit Speakers Announced: TechStars, ustwo, The Next Web
Our SXSW masterclass, Doing Business in the USA, is happening on March 8, in Austin, Texas.
We still have some speakers to spoil y'all, including Hermione Way and Jason Seats.
Tickets are still here.
Hermione Way
Hermione is CEO of Newspepper ltd, a global media platform with a unique model of giving paid internships to students and graduates in media.
Hermione also founded startupworld.com.
She is co-host and Video Director at TheNextWeb and a Sky News commentator.
Jason Seats
Jason is the Managing Director of TechStars Cloud.
He was a founder of Slicehost, an early cloud computing hosting company.
In 2008 Slicehost was acquired by Rackspace and became the core for the initial Cloud Servers product.
Jules Ehrhardt
Jules is partner at ustwo where he heads US operations in New York.
The firm is now executing US expansion plans after two years of planning, only a fraction of which prepared them for what it would be like. Jules is happy to share the candid insights, calamities and experiences of the journey so far.
Jules found his calling in the field of user experience (UX) where the scope for innovation, disruption and design with purpose rekindled his passion for digital.
13 Handy Sites for SXSW 2013 (International Style)
Eulogised, mythologised and other -oligised, South by South West Interactive (SXSW) is hard to ignore, even if you're not a fan. Tens of thousands of delegates flock to Austin, Texas for five days of conference, networking and not to be forgotten the parties.
For the several thousand international delegates, the UK being the largest group, it can be a little daunting. The official schedule alone will take several hours to navigate. So, we've pulled together thirteen - it's lucky, right? - handy resources to help those intrepid travellers to Texas navigate SXSW.
- Lanyrd’s Unofficial Guide to SXSW events
- 50 Essential Tips to being a SXSW Rockstar
- Ticket service Eventbrite’s list of SXSW events
- SXSW Party Guide mobile app from developers Shout ‘Em
- NYC events maestro Gary’s Guide list of SXSW events
- SXSW Insider’s Guide from ffvc
- Dave Delaney’s 32 essential tips for SXSW
- Moo.com’s SXSW free 100 mini business card offer
- The UK’s Tech City events at Hackney House in Austin
- Events and networking at German Haus @ SXSW 2013
- The Great British Breakfast returns to Austin
- Buzzshift’s Ultimate SXSW 2013 Party List
- Raul Colon’s Tips & Guides for SXSW
<plug>We're almost too modest to mention our Doing Business in the USA summit taking place this Fri (8 Mar). Almost. If you're setting up or expanding your business in the US, it's designed specifically for you, with an awesome line-up of speakers, lunch and post-event networking with Austin's tech elite. Click here for info and tickets.</plug>
As well as the event, I'll be knocking around some of the events above and looking out for familiar faces and accents. Keep an eye out for the bowler hat and say 'hi' if you spot me or catch up on twitter: @toodlepip.
Photo (cc) alexdecavalho.
Applications Open: UKTI India Trip to Big Tent Activate Delhi - 21 March
UKTI and Guardian Activate have joined forces to provide a fantastic opportunity to visit India for a special invite-only day conference on Mar 21 - Big Tent Activate Summit New Delhi at the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi.
Space is very limited for this high profile event which features Google's Chairman, Eric Schmidt, reknowned commentator Jeff Jarvis, new TCIO boss Joanna Shields, Google's MD India Rajan Anandan, advisor to India PM Sam Pitroda, Guardian Editor, Alan Rusbridger amongst a host of others.
Apply to join the trip and secure a place at the event, a travel grant of £550 towards flights/hotel and additional activity planned by UKTI's team in Delhi.
At this ‘Big Tent’ event, The Guardian's team along with Google are bringing together leading Indian and international experts to discuss the changes the Internet is bringing to India, culturally, economically and to forecast those to come.
The Internet has already changed India. But we’re only at the beginning of a significant transformation as we move from just over 100 million to more than a billion Indians online in the near future.
Themes
- Can India gain a global competitive edge by enabling the full economic potential of the Internet?
- Will the Internet dilute Indian culture, or can it help preserve and share it locally and globally?
- How is the Internet already changing the democratic process, and what will happen as many more constituents come online?
Speakers
The event includes top-level global speakers including:
- Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google
- Alan Rusbridger, Editor-In-Chief, The Guardian
- Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Google India
- Stephanie Cutter, Political Consultant
- Umar Saif, LUMS School of Science and Engineering
- Amit Sood, Director Cultural Institute, Google
- Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18
- Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Indian Prime Minister
- Jeff Jarvis, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
- Sajeeb Wazed, IT Expert
// Check out the full agenda here
// Apply here
Photo (cc) FriskoDude.
Start-Up Diaries: TableCrowd goes to NYC [video]
Kate Jackson is Founder of TableCrowd, a social dining network. We think she lives on a Lear Jet, circling the globe like the twitchy billionaire in Contact.
Monday. Joined Chinwag’s Digital Mission direct from San Francisco. Booked in fundraising and partnership meetings around the hectic DM and Social Media Week schedule. Met my fellow travellers over informal drinks in Manhattan.
Tuesday. Master class from attorneys at Venable LLP on how foreign companies can operate/raise money in the US. Attended first SMW event: roundtable discussion from published social media authors where, bang on trend, there were prizes for the most prolific event tweeters!
Wednesday. Visited Google on 9th Street, the second largest office in New York, with a $1.7bn price tag. So what to expect if you land a job here? Scooters, micro kitchens stocked with freebies, full-service restaurants with guest chefs, and tech stops where engineers resolve your tech issues. Q&A with a Creative Labs employee, which seemed the dream job. No clients. No limit on creativity. No tight budgets. She introduced Glass - I was mesmerised by the intro video.
Thursday. Breakfast at the British Consulate for one-on-one time with large US businesses, UKTI, real estate and branding experts. Useful information on financial grants for market research and trade shows. Over to Spark Lab for Q&A on fundraising. In the evening, Chinwag hosted the Great British Pub Quiz at Ogilvy & Mather and when the action was over, we got an after hours tour of the offices and rooftop garden.
Friday. Headed over to Brooklyn to visit Huge. It is a great space, which matches their client list. They have grown into their once ironic name from a team of 7 to 600+. Interesting that bagging a big client in New York generates 10x revenues per annum than a comparable client win in the UK. Took in one last SMW session before heading to a converted Synagogue for the closing party. Cracking end to an action-packed week.
Photo (cc). Chinwag.
Watch the video here.
