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Little black book: the tech scene - Need to know

Huddle and friends
Get to its founders while you can: Huddle is hot property at the moment after a landmark deal with social network LinkedIn earlier this year prompted tech journalists to hail it as one of the most successful web companies to come out of the UK. Its founders, Ali Mitchell and Andy McLoughlin, are regulars on the tech circuit, giving talks and running London techie knees-up DrinkTank (see below). Not one to be outdone by the boys, Huddle's effervescent marketing and PR fairy Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson is the creator of girl geeks' networking night Silicon Stilettos (see below as well).
Find them: Blogging on the Huddle website; propping up the bar at just about every tech networking event in London; @bandrew, @huddlesuz, @bobfromhuddle, @Huddle; in the 'Best startup' category for every tech awards ceremony in the UK and beyond; interviewed on Smarta.

Ryan Carson
Since Colorado native and compulsive trilby wearer Carson moved to the UK, he has become something of a cult figure among tech fans. Best known for being the man behind the seriously trendy Future of Web Apps/Web Design/Mobile events, Carson's business, Carsonified, also creates web apps. Smarta's favourite thing about Carson? He's leading the way in employee relations: staff at Carsonified only work four days a week.
Find him: at Carsonified.com; at the airport en route to one of Carsonified's many events abroad; @ryancarson; comfortably installed in Starbucks the Bath, the city Carsonified is based in; taking brand new son Jackson out for a stroll.

Tom Boardman
When Boardman and co-founder Michael Acton Smith met at Cardiff university, they spotted a gap in the market for an online retailer which sold quirky toys and gadgets: the result was Firebox, which launched in 1998 as the rather dubiously-named hotbox.co.uk. However, the pair didn't achieve true fame - or rather, notoriety - until they launched their shot-glass chess set, a product with a built-in handicap so ridiculous, it catapulted the website on to the international market.
Find him: Holding court at Berwickstock, the bedroom music festivals Boardman holds at the swish Soho pad he shares with Alex Tew and Michael Acton Smith; @tomboardman.

Alex Tew
Best known as the wannabe student behind MillionDollarHomepage, Tew is no one-trick pony: as well as very publicly making a million dollars (though sadly not a million pounds), he's also co-founded humanbeatbox.com and comedy aggregation service PopJam, which went straight into The Telegraph's High Growth Companies Index when it launched in February. Tew was also the brains behind the frighteningly viral Sock and Awe, a game which rocked the internet earlier this year.
Find him: Taking the mic at one of London's beatboxing events; @tewy.

David McQueen
One of the smiliest faces in tech, empowerment and personal development expert Dave McQueen describes himself as a speaker, writer, mentor and avid networker with a passion for education and youth development. Dave runs training company milestone unlimited, inspiring young people to develop their careers and make the most of what they have.
Find him: At his blog; presenting Channel 4 careers show Vocation, Vocation, Vocation; at social and young enterprise events; shaking his thang at Salsa nights the length and breadth of Britain; @davemcqueen; at Smarta towers if you drop in at the right time.

Paul Walsh
Occasionally a source of fun among the tech crowd for his indisputably self-satisfied tweets, the self-titled Irish Opportunist is one of the veterans of the UK tech scene and has racked up a huge number of notches on his investment/entrepreneur belt: having been one of the first employees of AOL in the mid-90s, Walsh founded web accessibility testing company Segala in 2003. He has also invested in businesses including Newspepper.com and Quick TV, as well as a recent tenure as chair of the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA). While he may occasionally be outspoken, Walsh's following clearly enjoys it. "I just don't know how I'd manage without the constant re-enforcement of how great it is to be Paul," wrote one blogger last year. Quite.
Find him: Blogging all over the place, all aggregated on his personal website; hanging out at Adam Street private members' club; @paulwalsh; voicing his opposition, loudly, to various government policies.

Hermione Way
As the little sister of Ben, the infamous teenage success story who reportedly couldn't afford to buy a tube ticket the same day he appeared on The Sunday Times Rich List; Way was always going to have a lot to live up to - but she's done it, and she's done it well. Having funded her first business, production company Newspepper, with her student loan in 2007, Way started producing technology video podcast TechFluff TV last year. Watch this space: having quickly gained recognition for her hands-on presenting style, Way has been hailed as the UK's answer to US tech babe iJustine.
Find her: blogging at techfluff.tv; chasing entrepreneurs with her microphone at tech events; @hermioneway; presenting a scantily clad version of TechFluff from the sauna at LeWeb; interviewed on Smarta.

Paul Birch
The brother of Bebo founder Michael (see below), Birch holds a significant amount of sway in the tech scene, not least because he was one of the founding investors of Bebo. Birch was also one of the founders of BirthdayAlarm.com in 2001, and has since co-founded business networking service Soflow.com, as well as the mysterious Cominded, which was almost-but-not-quite launched during most of 2008. Following rumours AOL was planning to sell Bebo, Birch told TechfluffTV a sale would only be 'mildly disappointing'.
Find him: Visiting brother Michael and sister-in-law Xochi at their home in San Francisco; taking the stage at one of London's many tech investment events.

Oli Barrett
Known among aficionados as the owner of the best pair of eyebrows in the tech industry, Barrett is a serious contender for the title of most well-connected person in the UK. A prolific networker, Barrett is responsible for the Make Your Mark with a Tenner scheme, and also started WebMission, the annual event which takes 20 of the UK's brightest young tech entrepreneurs to San Francisco to experience the 'sights and sounds' of Silicon Valley. More dubiously, Barrett is the person you should hold responsible for bringing SpeedNetworking - the business equivalent of speed dating - to the UK.
Find him: At his blog, The Daily Networker; in Growing Business magazine, where he writes a column; nursing a drink at London members' club One Alfred Place; @olibarrett; tinkling the nearest available ivories during a generally impromptu but always painfully hilarious one-man show.

The best of the rest

Sophie Cox: Unfailingly cheery co-founder of charity and NGO social network Worldeka. Find her: @sophiecox

Michelle Dewberry: Having triumphed over Ruth Badger in the second series of The Apprentice, Dewberry's latest venture, budget shopping site Chiconomise, launched earlier this year to widespread acclaim. Find her: Blogging occasionally; @michelledewbs; interviewed on Smarta.

Lucian Tarnowski: The 23-year-old BraveNewTalent entrepreneur recently became the youngest person ever to have made it on to the UKTI Global Entrepreneur Programme. Find him: Blogging on his website; @luciantarnowski.

Julia Mitchell: Tech PR legend Mitchell started Toast PR after promoting companies including Boots, BP and Diageo. Her current clients include Ben Way and Dragons' Den entrepreneur Imran Hakim. Find her: toastpr.co.uk

Rassami Hok-Ljungberg: Uber-efficient PR machine whose clients include, among others, TechCrunch UK Find her: at rassami.com; @rassami