In addition, Shell LiveWire is also offering an opportunity to pitch for £1000 and PR on the day, which can become a great boost and exposure for someone’s business idea.

Innospace’s own Dan Sodergren is sharing his insights in mobile, digital and social marketing.

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The Creative Industries KTN will partner with PICNIC and the UK Science & Innovation Network in order to deliver a unique event in Amsterdam, on 21st and 22nd February 2012, exploring the creative landscape and making active business connections between the UK and Netherlands.

The event will mark the first in a series of collaborations between CIKTN and PICNIC throughout the year and will build on political contacts between the UK and Netherlands to drive economic connections, and which saw the Dutch Prime Minister visit London and Manchester with a group of digital businesses late last year.

Over the course of two days (pm 21st, am 22nd) attendees will hear case study presentations from high profile digital entrepreneurs, gain insight on two dynamic European marketplaces and participate in panel discussions contrasting the experiences of UK and Dutch digital start ups and exploring the landscape of European capital finance. On the evening of the 21st there will be a dinner hosted by the British Ambassador with a keynote presentation on future trends.

Importantly over the two days there will be a chance to network with like-minded digital businesses and instigate opportunities for commercial collaboration.

Who should attend:

The event will focus on start up media businesses with a concentration on digital technologies – whether communications, applications or services and ranging from social media to the distribution of digital content to software as a service.

The first 14 UK digital start ups to register their interest will receive a bursary of up to £250.00 towards the cost of travel and accommodation.

Event detail:

Date: 21st & 22nd February 2012

Time: 21st - 1400 > 1700 plus evening networking dinner hosted at British Ambassador’s Residence
22nd – 0930 > 1300

Location: De Waag
Nieuwmarkt 4
1012 CR, Amsterdam

Cost: FREE

Support: Bursaries of up to £250.00 to cover travel and accommodation costs are available to the first 14 digital start ups to apply (companies must less than 2 years old and able to articulate their potential in the European market).

Application: To register your interest in attending please apply here – places are limited. Final closing date will be 17th February 2012 but applying earlier will ensure your details are circulated amongst the Dutch attendees in order to set up one-to-one meetings.

For more information contact:

Mark Leaver CIKTN Producer mark@markleaver.net

Liesbeth Bouwhuis SIN Benelux liesbeth.buowhuis@fco.gov.uk

The innovative platform runs on Facebook and also integrates with Twitter, making it an extremely viral game running for 10 weeks.

The idea is to find the ‘most supported’ university voted for by UK students. It was the brainchild of Innospace tenants Grip Media, who also run the UK’s largest student money website www.SavetheStudent.org. As tuition fees are set to increase three-fold this year, the aim is to rekindle positive sentiment towards British universities by harnessing the power of social media and community spirit.

The experimental first round generated well over 2.5 million hits and 11,000 players, ending in a dramatic finale which saw Aberystwyth University take the title. Many student unions and universities themselves got on board, welcoming the support and realising the wider benefits of the fun competition.

For 2012, organisations including http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.com Fireb,ox and Vodafone have got on board to benefit from the high student activity and engagement. The competition runs until 31st march 2012 when the winning university is announced and 3 lucky students win big money prizes.

The success of University Face Off has inspired the team of Manchester graduates to continue developing the Facebook contest application, with the view to licensing.

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The M.E.N was one of 500 newspapers that took part in the scheme, organised by the Newspaper Society. Hundreds of entries were received from businesses across Greater Manchester, which were whittled down to three winners following a rigorous judging process.

Here, we profile the three Greater Manchester winners, who have won an advertising package with MEN Media, as well as a half-day coaching session from the Business Growth Fund, a scheme set up by Britain’s biggest banks to make equity investments in companies with growth potential.

They will also be put forward to a national final for the chance to secure a year of mentoring from Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden.

Mr Cameron said: “Congratulations to all the winners of the Local Business Accelerators scheme. It’s brilliant that so many promising young companies, from such a wide range of sectors, are benefiting from this excellent initiative.”

*Read about the Local Business Accelerators success stories:

Hiring-Hub aims for £1.4m turnover

Hiring-Hub

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