Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

I’m delighted to announce June 12th as the date for the next gathering of Top Cats. We’re testing out Adam Street private members club for the next gathering - One Alfred Place was good, but a 21:30 finish is a little early.

If you’re a Top Cat, pencil it in now. Please don’t register your interest just yet - I just wanted to give you a heads up. I received a response from 70 Top Cats within 24 hours of sending out the invite for May. So, make sure you’ve got your finger on the ’send’ button.

Sponsored by

Our thanks for June’s sponsorship goes to TH_NK

How to become a Top Cat

The purpose of the event is to forge greater collaboration between London’s Internet startup, Web design, interactive marketing, mobile, TV and advertising communities at the highest level.

Top Cats are now permitted to recommend up to 2 new members each month. To become a member of this exclusive club, you’ll need to be recommended by another Top Cat. Less than 20% of recommendations make it however, so please don’t be offended if you don’t get accepted

Sponsorship opportunity for future gatherings

Get in touch if you’d like to sponsor a future Top Cat event. Email paul@segala.com

I sent out the invitation for our upcoming Top Cats this morning. I’m lazy (Loch is lazier as he does even less) so didn’t bother to use Underwired to send out the email. Instead, I emailed the 450 Top Cats in batches of 20 to 30, to help bypass filters that stop emails with a lot of email addresses in the To field. Therein lies the hint. I put everyone’s email address in the ‘To’ field instead of BCC’ing them. I immediately sent out an apology for distributing emails with the following note

Dear Top Cat,

Today I decided to send out the invitations in groups of 20 to 30, as it looks like some company filters automatically block emails with a lot of contacts in the To field. What I failed to realise was that I put your email address in the ‘To’ field instead of BCC. This means approximately 25 other people know your email address.

I apologise profusely for the screw up. I’ll revert back to using a professional company for email distribution. Felix from Underwired.com - expect an email from me soon!

The good news is that everyone on the list is obviously more professional than me and will assume your details should be kept confidential.

Some of them just laughed whilst others said that it was a privilege to be such a list anyway. Phew!

Behind every cloud lies a silver lining. I received 30 confirmations within 15 minutes of sending out the invitation with sample names in the To field. If you’ve been to this event in the past and didn’t get an invite, get in touch before it’s too late.

Whilst you might not recognise some of the companies on the list, it’s extremely likely that the Founders are either backed by an investor, or have previously sold at least one company.

Look at who’s coming in June

I will continue to update the list as more Top Cats RSVP. Keep an eye on the post if you want to see who else is coming.

1. Alastair Duncan, CEO, mrm Worldwide
2. Alberto Nardelli, Founder, UnLtdWorld
3. Alex Cooper, MD, 1upSearch
4. Alexis d’Amecourt, 19 Entertainment (they don’t have titles)
5. Andrew Romans, General Partner, Georgetown Ventures
6. Andy Evans, Founder, Net Communities
7. Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, Online Marketing, O2
8. Ann Jamieson, Director, pricejamieson
9. Armando Ruffi, Co-founder, Zubka
10. Avid Larizadeh, Associate, Accel Partners
11. Bernard Howard, Founder, totallylegal.com
12. Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
13. Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
14. Celia Francis, CEO, WeeWorld
15. Chris Seth, European CEO, Piczo
16. Daniel Appelquist, Senior Strategiest, Vodafone
17. David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
18. David King, Director, APCO Onlin
19. Elizabeth Varley, Director, Online Content UK
20. Emmett Kilduff, CEO, cympitch.com
21. Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
22. George Nimeh, Managing Director, iris Digital
23. Giles Palmer, Managing director, Magpie.net
24. Gurpritpal Singh, Director of Emerging Technology Developer & Platform Group (DPE), Microsoft
25. Hugo Burge, COO, Cheapflights
26. Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
27. James Booth, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
28. Jamie Murray Wells, Co-founder / CEO, Glasses Direct
29. Jasmine Birtles, Founder, moneymagpie.com
30. Jerome Touze, Co-founder, WAYN
31. John Allwright, Senior Designer audience & tools PM, Microsoft
32. John Ingham, Director, ESP
33. Justin Bradley, Head of Digital Television, Sixth Sense UK
34. Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
35. Justin Cooke, Founder / Managing Director, Fortune Cookie
36. Keld van Schreven, CEO / Co-founder, diary.com
37. Mairi Clark, Editor, Revolution Magazine
38. Mark McDermott, Director, Codegent
39. Matt McNeill, MD, sign-up.to
40. Matthew O’Riordon, Founder, The Lemon Foundation
41. Michael Smith, Founder, MindCandy
42. Michele Neylon, Founder, Blacknight
43. Mike Butcher, Editor, TechCrunch UK & Ireland
44. Nic Brisbourne, Partner, Esprit Capital Partners
45. Nick Halstead, Founder, Fav.or.it
46. Nick Saalfeld, Founder, Wellspark
47. Pat Phelan, Founder, MAXroam
48. Paul Birch, Founder, Cominded (congratulations on the recent sale of Bebo!)
49. Peter Ward, Co-founder, WAYN
50. Philip Wilkinson, Founder, Crowdstorm
51. Richard Spalding, Founder, Kontraband
52. Richard Titus, Controller User Experience & Design, BBC
53. Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
54. Rob Tavernier, Founder, Greedy Media
55. Robert Killick, MD, cScape
56. Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager - Web Platform Solutions, Adobe
57. Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
58. Roger Thelwell, Founder / Operations Director, mook
59. Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology Correspondent, BBC
60. Sean Glass, Founder, Pikum
61. Spencer Gallagher, Founder / Managing Director, Bluhalo
62. Stephanie Bouchet, Head of Marketing, Joost
63. Thayer Driver, Independent Consultant
64. Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Reactive
65. Tom Holmes, Founder & Chairman, Creativebrief
66. Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
67. Torie Chilcott, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
68. Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
69. Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes
70. William Makower, Managing Director, Panlogic
71. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, Technology Evangelist, _ _ _ _ _
72. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _, Partnership Manager, _ _ _ _ _

Those with blanks for names aren’t allowed to be named as the company is way too cool. You know who you are Can you guess who it is?

Hosts

• (Me) Paul Walsh, Chair, BIMA & Founder/CEO, Segala
• Rob Loch, Founder, Internet People, Founder, Recommendbox

Sponsored by

Top Cats isn’t restricted to the UK. We welcome Top Cats from any country to get in touch should they wish to rub shoulders with, er, cats. Check my previous post for more information and email me paul@segala.com if you would like to attend, or would like to recommend someone you know.

I’ve been asked this by a few people recently so thought I’d reiterate it here.

Every month, Robert Loch and I host an exclusive invite-only event called Top Cats. The goal of the event is to forge stronger ties and greater collaboration between the Internet start up, mobile, interactive marketing, TV and advertising communities.

There are no formalities apart from a short introduction to the evening and we don’t have speakers. It’s an informal gathering of likeminded people, many of whom end up collaborating on very interesting projects.

Who qualifies to be a Top Cat?

Top Cats is attended by top level executive, senior decision makers, investors and reporters.

• Established Agencies = Founder/CEO/Chai
• Technology Providers & Brands (big companies such as Microsoft and the BBC) = Director/Head or other senior decision maker
• Startups = Founder/CEO/Chair + secured VC funding or have a seriously good track record
• Other = Publishers, Editors, Authors, TV Personalities, Establish Journalists, you get the picture…

The entry criterion is quite strict. This isn’t to alienate non-Top Cats, it’s just one way in which we can deliver different types of events that are relevant to different people. If you feel you meet the criterion above, please get in touch by email janice.cable@bima.co.uk

The next gathering of our Top Cats is May 1st. Sponsored by Microsoft (for the second time!) and hosted at One Alfred Place Private members club in London. I had lunch with the Chief Executive during the week - the venue is second to none and the food was delicious.

Here are some names to give you a taste for ‘who’s who’.

1. Alastair Duncan, CEO, mrm Worldwide
2. Alexis d’Amecourt, Head of New Media, 19 Entertainment
3. Amanda Lorenzani, Head of UK Portal, Excite
4. Andrew Shorten, EMEA Platform Evangelist, Adobe
5. Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, O2
6. Avid Larizadeh, Associate, Accel Partners
7. Ben Luckett, Head of E-commerce, British Gas
8. Carl Taylor, Director of Applications & Services, Hutchinson Whampoa
9. Charles Billot, Marketing Director, Soup
10. Chris Wood, CEO, Top Table
11. Craig Hill, Founder / Chairman, Digital Outlook
12. David Soskin, CEO, Cheapflights
13. Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group
14. Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
15. Daniele Fiandaca, COO, Profero
16. Dr Charles Wiles, Product Manager, Google
17. Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
18. Hugh MacLeod, Professional Blogger
19. Jemima Kiss , New Media Reporter, Media Guardian
20. Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldwide

Hosts

(Me) Paul Walsh, Chair, BIMA & Founder/CEO, Segala
Robert Loch, Founder, Internet People & Founder, Recommendbox.com

Sponsorship Opportunity

The Top Cats event is made possible by sponsorship.

Sponsors of the event receive:

• Brand promote on the invitation email, sent to more than 450 top people from London’s interactive sector.
• Inclusion in the reminder email for the event.
• The option to have marketing material at the event.
• Option to recommend people for the invitation list
• The option to give a two-minute ‘word from our sponsor’ talk at the event.

We’ve never had any trouble attracting sponsorship and we might have two secured for June and July already (unconfirmed). That said, we don’t like to make assumptions and would love to hear from you if you’re interested in becoming a sponsor. We’re considering an unusual event for June which may require a few sponsors to come together.

To learn more about sponsorship please email me Paul@segala.com

Every month, Robert Loch and I host an event called Top Cats. The goal of the event is to forge stronger ties and greater collaboration between the internet start up, mobile, interactive marketing, TV and advertising communities.

There are no formalities apart from my introduction to the evening and we don’t have speakers. It’s an informal gathering of likeminded people, many of whom end up collaborating on very interesting projects.

Who qualifies to be a Top Cat

• Established Agencies = Founder/CEO/Chair
• Technology Providers & Brands (big companies such as Microsoft and the BBC) = Director/Head or other senior decision maker
• Startups = Founder/CEO/Chair + secured VC funding or have a seriously good track record
• Other = Publishers, Editors, Authors, TV Personalities, Establish Journalists, you get the picture.

I’m going to have a chit chat with a few people tonight and stream it live via my mobile. Keep an eye on my Qik account and feel free to comment and ask questions in the live chat room. It might be better to subscribe to my Twitter feed so you get a text message each time I stream live.

So, another Top Cats event is upon us. Check out the names of those who have said they can make it this month.

Who’s coming tonight

• Alex Hoye, Chair, Faction/Buildersite
• Alexis d’Amecourt, 19 Entertainment
• Andrew Shorten, EMEA Platform Evangelist, Adobe
• Andy Co Founder, Agency Mobile
• Andy Finney, Founder, ATSF
• Andy MacLaren, Co-founder, Agency Mobile
• Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, Online Marketing, O2
• Armando Ruffi, Co-founder, Zubka
• Ben Johnson, Principal, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Brian Hoadley, Managing Director , phunQube
• Caspar Craven, Co-founder, Trovus
• Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
• Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
• Charles Astwood, Founder, London Eating
• Chris Wood, CEO, Top Table
• Craig Hill, Founder / Chairman, Digital Outlook
• Dan Morris, Managing Partner, Splendid
• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group
• David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
• David King, Director, APCO Online
• Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
• Dr Anxo Cereijo Roibás, User Experience Research manager, Vodafone
• Edward Charvet, Co-founder, Trovus
• Elizabeth Varley, Editorial Director, Online Content UK
• Farzad Jamal, Group Internet Controller, Northern Shell
• Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
• Hamish Gordon,
• Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
• James Booth, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
• James Pimentel-Pinto, Managing Director, Agency Mobile
• Jasmine Birtles Founder/MD, Moneymagpie.com
• Jemima Kiss, New media reporter, Media Guardian
• Josephine Fraser, Social/Educational Technologist
• Julia Eilon, AMF Ventures
• Justin Bradley, Head of Digital Television, Sixth Sense UK
• Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
• Justin Cooke, Managing Director , Fortune Cookie
• Mairi Clark, Editor , Revolution Magazine
• Mark Fallons, Head of interactive, McCann
• Mark McDermott, Director, Codegent Ltd
• Martin Lowde, 19 Entertainment
• Mike Butcher, Editor, TechCrunch
• Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Nick Halstead, Founder, Fav.or.it
• Omaid Hizwazi, Co-founder, Crayon
• Paul Canty, Founder, Preloaded
• Paul Duncanson, Managing Director, Creativebrief
• Peter Ogden, Producer, ITV
• Richard Daish, Head of Mobile Services, Chelsea FC
• Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
• Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
• Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
• Robert Killick, MD, cScape
• Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager - Web Platform Solutions, Adobe
• Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
• Satish Jayakumar, Co-founder, AdJug
• Scott Gallacher, Director of Online & Partner Marketing, BskyB
• Simon Grice, Founder, ideas.org
• Stephanie Bouchet, Marketing Director, Joost
• Theodore Emiantor, Managing Director, Westminster Accountancy
• Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Reactive
• Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
• Tom Sacchi, Founder / Director, Unit9
• Tony Cocks, Microsoft
• Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
• Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes

Hosts

• Robert Loch, Founder, Internet People & Founder, That’s Useful
• Paul Walsh, Chair, BIMA & Founder, Segala

Thanks to Adobe for their sponsorship this month.