Download to your iPod(:40 minutes/1MB)

Let’s face it, an exclusive invite-only event isn’t exactly, inclusive for BIMA members.

For those of you who keep an eye on this blog for Top Cats related posts, please keep an eye on my personal blog for future updates.

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

Top Cats is a regular event coordinated by BIMA and Internet People. 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, you’ll need to be recommended by another Top Cat

Sponsorship opportunity for future gatherings

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

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 Online
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 Tavernier, Founder, Greedy Media
54. Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
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?

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.

Every month, BIMA and Internet People, host an exclusive 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

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

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

[Update, names added after the post was published have been added to the bottom of the list]

Confirmed so far

Alexis d’Amecourt, 19 Entertainment
Alex Hoye, Chair, Faction/Buildersite
Andrew Shorten, EMEA Platform Evangelist, Adobe
Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, Online Marketing, O2
Armando Ruffi, Co-founder, Zubka
Brian Hoadley, Managing Director , phunQube
Caspar Craven, Co-founder, Trovus
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
David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
David King, Director, APCO Online
Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
Elizabeth Varley, Editorial Director, Online Content UK
Farzad Jamal, Group Internet Controller, Northern Shell
Hamish Gordon,
Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
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
Nick Halstead, Founder, Fav.or.it
Paul Duncanson, Managing Director, Creativebrief
Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
Robert Killick, MD, cScape
Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager – Web Platform Solutions, Adobe
Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
Scott Gallacher, Director of Online & Partner Marketing, BskyB
Simon Grice, Founder, ideas.org
Theodore Emiantor, Managing Director, Westminster Accountancy
Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Reactive
Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
Tom Sacchi, Founder / Director, Unit9
Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes

Added after the post was published

Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Both Vitruvian Partners
Ben Johnson, Principal, Both Vitruvian Partners
Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
Paul Canty, Founder, Preloaded
Andy MacLaren, Co-founder, Agency Mobile
Edward Charvet, Co-founder, Trovus
Richard Daish, Head of Mobile Services, Chelsea FC
Jasmine Birtles Founder/MD, Moneymagpie.com
Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
Dr Anxo Cereijo Roibás, User Experience Research manager, Vodafone
Andy Finney, Founder, ATSF
Stephanie Bouchet, Marketing Director, Joost
Satish Jayakumar, Co-founder, AdJug
James Booth, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
Omaid Hizwazi, Co-founder, Crayon
Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
James Pimentel-Pinto, Managing Director, Agency Mobile
Tony Cocks, Microsoft
Peter Ogden, Producer, ITV
Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group

Follow this link to find out more about Top Cats.

Thanks to Adobe for their sponsorship this month.

Follow this link to find out more about Top Cats. 

[Update, names marked with ** were added after the post was published]

- Alex Hoye, Chair, Faction/Buildersite
- Alexis d’Amecourt, Head of New Media, 19 Entertainment
- Andrew Doe, Founder, PCIQ
- Andrew Romans, General Partner, Georgetown Ventures
- Ann Jameson, Director, Pricejamieson – an Aquent company
- Aoife O’Sullivan, Partner, Gates & Partners
- Caspar Craven, Co-founder, Trovus
- Catherine Toole, MD Sticky, Content
- Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager, Equifax Personal Solutions
- Charles Billot, Marketing Director, Soup
- Chris O’Rourke, Founder / MD, User Vision
- Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group **
- David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
- David King, Director, APCO Online
- Edward Charvet, Co-founder, Trovus
- Elizabeth Varley, Editorial Director, Online Content UK
- Ellie Kaye, Marketing Manager, Soup
- Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
- Giles Palmer, Managing Director, Magpie.net
- Grant Currie, MD , Inferno PR
- Gurpritpal Singh, Director, of Emerging Microsoft Technology Developer & Platform Group (DPE)
- Hugo Burge, COO, Cheapflights **
- Ian Wallis , Editor, Growing Business
- Jasmine Birtles, Founder / MD, Moneymagpie.com
- Jemima Kiss , New Media Reporter, Media Guardian
- Jon Watts, Founder, MTM London
- Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation, EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
- Justin Cooke, Founder / Fortune Cookie
- Mark McDermott, Director, Codegent Ltd
- Matthew O’Riordon, Founder, The Lemon Foundation
- Matthew Thomas, Editor, Startup.co.uk
- Mike Butcher, Editor, TechCrunch
- MT Rainey, MD, Horsesmouth
- Neil Hughston , Managing Director, Saatchi & Saatchi Interactive
- Neil Svensen , CEO, Rufus Leonard
- Nic Brisbourne, Partner, DFJ Esprit
- Nick Farnhill, Partner, POKE
- Oli Barrett
- Paul Birch, Founder, Cominded
- Richard O’Connor , Founder, Tablina
- Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
- Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
- Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
- Roger Thelwell, Founder / Operations, mook
- Rory Cellan-Jones, Technology Correspondent, BBC
- Simon Murdoch, Founder, friendsabroad **
- Stephanie Bouchet, Head of Marketing, Joost
- Steve Schlenker, Chief Investment Officer, DN Capital
- Syd Nadim, CEO, Clock
- Tom Holmes, Founder & Chairman, Creativebrief
- Tom Nixon Founder, Nixon, Mcinnes
- Will Jeffery, Managing Director, Maverick Media
- Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes
- Yoyo Allalouf, Director, Allalouf Investment Group

Hosts

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

Thanks again to Soup for sponsoring this month’s gather of the Top Cats. Thanks to them, we’ll be nibbling on Sushi and drinking fine wine.

About Top Cats

BIMA and Internet People are coming together to host a new exclusive event called Top Cats, which is for top individuals from the UK’s Interactive sector.

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.

Top Cats is held every month and thanks to our sponsors, it’s free of charge and drinks and nibbles are provided.

Click To Play

Download the video now so you can view it on your iPod(9.7 MB)

This months’ event is exclusively sponsored by Aquent | pricejamieson.We had a few no-shows and it’s a little difficult to remember who didn’t come, so I’ve published the names of all those who confirmed their attendance. If your name is on the list and shouldn’t be, please let me know and I’ll cross it off.The monthly gathering is open to the following types of people

1. Alastair Duncan, CEO, mrm Worldwide
2. Alex Eicke, Managing Partner, Splendid
3. Alexis d’Amecourt, Head of New Media, 19 Entertainment
4. Ann Jamieson, Director, pricejamieson
5. Aoife O’Sullivan, Partner, Gates & Partners
6. Beatrice Pembroke, Programme Manager, Creative Economy Unit, British Council
7. Benjamin Cohen, Technology Correspondent, ITN
8. Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
9. Daisy Cresswell, Brand Director, Channel Five
10. Dan Morris, Managing Partner, Splendid
11. Daren Forsyth, Director of Innovation and New Media, The Media Trust
12. Dr Anxo Cereijo Roibás, User Experience Research manager, Vodafone
13. Ed Freyfogle, Co-founder, Nestoria
14. Errol Damelin, Co-founder, SameDayCash.com
15. Farzad Jamal, Commercial Director, MIVA
16. Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
17. George Nimeh, Managing Director, Digital, iris
18. Gurpritpal Singh, Director of Emerging Technology Developer & Platform Group (DPE), Microsoft
19. Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
20. James Pimentel-Pinto, Director, iris
21. Jasmine Birtles, Founder / MD, Moneymagpie.com
22. Jason Dunne, Publisher, “…for Dummies” and Capstone Business Books
23. Jemima Kiss, New media reporter, Media Guardian
24. John Silva, EMEA Parter Sales Manager, 3PAR
25. Jonathan Dewey, Founder, Funware
26. Juliet Blackburn, Head of Digital, AAR
27. Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
28. Ken Blakeslee, Founder, Web Mobility
29. Leah Kluckow, Senior Producer, Five
30. Nenad Marovac, Founder and managing partner, DN Capital
31. Nick Saalfeld, Founder, Wellspark
32. Phil Guest, Managing director UK, Habbo Hotel
33. Phil Stuart, Co-Founder / Design Director, Preloaded
34. Philip Wilkinson, Founder, Crowdstorm
35. Richard Daish, Head of Mobile Services, Chelsea Football Club
36. Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
37. Robert Killick, MD, cScape
38. Roger Thelwell, Founder / Operations Director, mook
39. Rupesh Chatwani, Director, Promethyan Labs
40. Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
41. Tony Fish, CEO, mashup
42. Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
43. Justin Cooke, Founder, Fortune Cookie
44. Clare O’Brien, Founder, CDA *
    
45. Richard Spalding, Founder, Kontraband *
    
46. Rob Corradi, Founder/Creative Director, Preloaded *
    
47. Giles Palmer, Managing Director, magpie.net *
    
48. Paul Birch, Founder, Cominded (Co-founder, Bebo) *
49. Sam Sethi, Founder/Publisher, Blognation *
50. Amanda Lorenzani, Head, Excite UK *
    
51. Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager, Adobe *
52. Matt Gorzkowski, Managing Director, Play *
53. Andrew Swift, MD, Pricejamieson *

Hosts

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

I’m going to follow up this note with another post to explain who Top Cats is for and why it’s by invitation only.

The industry’s Top Cats are gathering again this month for an informal chat over a glass (or many) of wine. This ‘invite only’ event is co-hosted by myself and Robert Loch.

Below is the list of confirmed attendees, which I’ll update with the names of our late arrivals.

Our thanks go to Microsoft who are sponsoring this months gathering.

[Update: names with an * have been added after the original post was published]

- Alastair Duncan, CEO mrm Worldwide
- Alexis d’Amecourt, Head of New Media, 19 Entertainment
- Alex Eicke, Managing Partner, Splendid *
- Andrew Romans, General Partner, Georgetown Ventures
- Beatrice Pembroke, British Council
- Ben Tamblyn, Partner Strategy Lead – Business Intelligence, Microsoft
- Conor Foley, Founder, IIBN
- Dan Morris, Managing Partner, Splendid *
- David Lethbridge, MD, Confetti
- Denis Greene, Head of e-Business, Royal Mail
- Ed Freyfogle, Co-founder, Nestoria
- Fergus Burns, Founder, Nooked
- Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
- Fionuala Pender, Director, IIBN
- George Berkowski, Co-founder, WooMe
- Giles Palmer, Managing Director, Magpie
- Grant Currie, MD, Inferno PR *
- Hugh MacLeod, Cartoonist, Professional Blogger, Stormhoek *
- Ian Hayward, CEO, Glaxstar
- Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
- Jason Dunn, Publisher, ‘…for dummies’ / Capstone Business Books
- Jason Cook, IT Director, BT Design
- Jemima Kiss, New media reporter, The Guardian
- Jon Bains, Founder, Lateral
- Jonathan Dewey, CEO, Funware
- Juliet Blackburn, Head of Digital, AAR & BIMA Executive *
- Justin Cooke, Founder, Fortune Cookie *
- Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation, McCann
- Katy Howell, Fouder Immediate Future & BIMA Adviser *
- Kevin Nickels, Director Strategy and Propositions, BT Design
- Lawrence Shaw, CEO, Sitemorse
- Madhuban Kumar, Advisor, Doughty Hanson
- Mark Fallows, Head of Interactive, McCann
- Martin Bartle, Managing director, 270 Degree Marketing
- Matthew Bath, Editor in Chief, IDG
- Nick Blunden, Managing director, Profero
- Patrick Walker, Head of Content Partnerships, Google
- Paul Chanty, Founder, Preloaded
- Paul Fisher, Advent
- Paul Walsh (ME), Chair, BIMA & Founder/CEO, Segala *
- Richard Sedley, Director, cScape
- Richard Spalding, Founder, Kontraband
- Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
- Robert Loch, Founder, That’s Useful & Founder, Internet People *
- Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
- Robert Killick, Managing director, cScape
- Scott Rutherford, CTO, Cominded
- Simone Bachmann, Head of Global Sales, Sincode
- Steve Clayton, CTO UK Partnerships, Microsoft
- Stephen Newton, General Manager, Hitwise
- Steve Schlenker, Chief Investment Office, DN Capital
- Suzanne Linton, CEO, FSNM
- Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Mook
- Tony Cocks, Microsoft
- Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
- William Makeower, Managing director, Panlogic
- Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media

As Steve mentioned in his post, the inaugural meeting of our Top Cats was a great success. It was such a success that we’ve had people asking to join via the Facebook group. Check out the lineup of attendees at our recent event.

This regular gathering of likeminded folk is invite only. So, if you’re a BIMA member and have yet to update your company details on the main Web site and you wish to be invited to the next Top Cats event, please update your details now.

I didn’t mention this in my previous post, but the venue for the event was featured on Channel 4 news recently as well as featured as a cover story by Business Week when they were in London to check out the ‘Internet 2.0′ scene. So, it’s conducive to creative thinking and idle banter over complementary drinks and nibbles.

Potential sponsorship

If you’d like to sponsor this event and grab the attention of the UK’s Top Cats, please email paul@segala.com as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. We permit 2 members of staff from the sponsor’s company to attend the event, as well as discrete but obvious promotion on all emails, blogs, BIMA Web site and the Facebook group. There’s also the large screen to mention, where you can promote your brand at the venue.

BIMA and Internet People hosted the first Top Cats event last week and it went down a storm. Even though I said to Chair Walsh I would only be able to stay for an hour, I stayed til the end as the venue, the crowd and the chat were all first class. There was a solid turnout and I think Thursday nights may be the best night for this as they appear to be the new Friday in town.

I met a whole new set of folks and as Paul had promised, it was a senior (not in age) gathering of agencies, influencers, tech folks and more with people from Vodafone, Accel, Top Table, Mook and more more there. No sign of Officer Dibble but perhaps next time. The first Top Cats was exclusively sponsored by Podcast Voices who ‘were the UK’s first dedicated audio and video Podcast Production Company so mucho thanks to them. Expect to see Microsoft sponsoring a future event! Look out for the next event in a months time or so. See ya there!

BIMA and Internet People are coming together to host a new exclusive event called Top Cats, which is for top individuals from the UK’s Interactive sector.

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.

Top Cats will be held every couple of months starting with the first event tonight from 7pm. The event is free of charge and drinks and nibbles are being provided.

The first Top Cats is exclusively sponsored by Podcast Voices who ‘were the UK’s first dedicated audio and video Podcast Production Company and have clients ranging from Lonely Planet to the NHS.’

Intruders.tv will be there to captures interview with top industry people.

Here’s a list of the Top Cats attending this evening.

1. Alastair Duncan, CEO, mrm Worldwide
2. Amit Shah, VP Business development, Openads
3. Andrew McFadyen, Technology Producer, ITN
4. Andy Evans, Founder / MD, Net Communities
5. Andy Oakes, Publisher, NMA
6. Avid Larizadeh, Associate, Accel Partners
7. Benjamin Cohen, Technology Correspondent, ITN
8. Carl Taylor, Director, Hutchison Whampoa Europe
9. Charles Astwood, Founder, London Eating
10. Chris Mooney, International Editor, FHM
11. Chris Seth, European CEO, Piczo
12. Chris Wood, CEO, Top Table
13. Daniel King, Director, Hitwise
14. David Lethbridge, Managing Director, Confetti
15. Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
16. Ed Freyfogle, Co-founder, Nestoria
17. Giles Palmer, Managing director, Magpie.net
18. Hilary Birch, Safety Project Manager, Bebo
19. Ian Hayward, Founder / CEO, Glaxstar
20. James Brown, Creative Director, Podcast Voices
21. Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
22. Ken Blakeslee, Founder, Web Mobility
23. Michael Collins, Director, i-Publishing Consultants (BIMA Executive)
24. Michael Nutley, Editor in Chief, NMA
25. Michelle Acton Bond, Head of Marketing, Wonga
26. Mustafa Mustafa, Publishing Director, IDG Communications
27. Nenad Marovac, Founder and managing partner, DN Capital
28. Paul Fisher, Venture Capitalist, Advent Ventures
29. Philip Wilkinson, Founder, Crowdstorm
30. Pietro Peligra, Associate, DN Capital
31. Richard Sedley, Director, cscape (unable to attend)
32. Richard Spalding, Founder, Kontraband
33. Ryan Carson, Founder, Carson Systems
34. Scott Rutherford, Product Architect, Cominded
35. Sean Seton-Rogers, Associate, Balderton Capital (aka Benchmark)
36. Simon Grice, Founder / CEO, Midentity
37. Sutha Kamal, CEO, planQ
38. Syd Nadim, CEO, Clock
39. Tom Adams, Founder / MD, mook
40. Tom Evans, Founder / Creative Director, mook
41. Tom Sacchi, Director, Unit9
42. Matthew Bagwell, Director, Conchango (BIMA Executive)
43. Steve Clayton, CTO, Microsoft Partnerships UK (BIMA Executive)
44. Tony Cocks, Solution Specialist: Unified Comms & Mobility, Microsoft
45. Roger Thelwell, Founder / Operations Director, mook
46. Robert Dirskovski, Head of Interactive Media, Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
47. Neil Hughston, Managing Director, Saatchi & Saatchi Interactive
48. Mark Fallons, Head of Interactive, McCann Europe
49. Julie Lane, Sales & Marketing Director, Lbi (BIMA Executive)
50. Sam Sethi, Founder / Publisher, Blognation
52. Andrew Romans, General Partner, Georgetown Ventures
53. Judith Clegg, Founder, Venturing Unlimited
54. Mike Butcher, Editor, Tbites.com
55. Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
56. Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone / Founder of Mobile Monday London
57. Jason Dunne, Publisher, “… for Dummies” and Capstone Business Books
58. Juliet Blackburn, Head of Digital, AAR (BIMA Executive)
59. Alistair Gammell, Managing Director, Map Media
60. Darren Gerry, Client Partner, Lbi
61 Peter Ward, Co-founder, WAYN
62. Craig Hill, Founder / Chairman, Digital Outlook
63. Anthony Robb-John, Managing Director, easyGroup IP Licensing
64. Jasmine Birtles, Founder / MD, moneymagpie.com
65. Felix Velarde, Founder / MD, Underwired
66. Dr Charles Wiles, Product Manager, Google
67. Robert Loch, Founder, Internet People (new startup in stealth mode)
68. Paul Walsh, Founder / CEO, Segala (BIMA Chair)