Finding local conference sponsors

Do you have conference sponsors? Are companies willing to pay you to attend a conference and represent their brand?

The Awesome Table at SOBCon ’09,
an expensive but well-worth-it conference.
Becky McCray, Neenz Felaefine, Paul
Merrill, and Sheila Scarborough.

In some fields, it’s considered common practice. In other fields, it’s practically unheard of. I remember hearing legendary former Texas Governor Ann Richards speak, when her tour was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. So sponsor relationships come in all sizes.

There are several guides out there to finding these kind of sponsors to send you to a conference. My recommendation: Want to get Sponsored? You’d Better Be Sponsorable by Peter Shankman. He covered how to create an effective pitch statement and an example of providing value to your sponsor through blogging and other promotion.

But what if you could work with local business? How would your approach need to be different?

Why local companies are a better bet for sponsors

Your local community is full of businesses capable of affording sponsorships. Your local network is probably where you have your strongest connections. You know more local business leaders than you do national corporate leaders. And you can help a local business more directly than you can most national companies.

Local businesses are less interested in you giving them blog posts or promotion at the event (especially at a national event that might not even be near their market). But you do have something they are interested in: information.

Offer your local sponsors the benefit of what you’ll be learning at the conference. You might share it with them by doing a presentation or consultation with their team. Maybe you can do a presentation to a civic group on their behalf, extending that sponsorship into the community. (I’m betting your local sponsor would be happy to bring you as a guest speaker to their Rotary meeting.) Find a way to share something of the knowledge you’ll be gaining or to gain attention in the community.

Sit down in person with the potential sponsor, and talk through what they need and what you can offer. Find a way to benefit both of you. There is no short cut. You have to dedicate the time to find the right exchange of value.

Thanks to Todd Jordan for helping to refine these ideas.

Next week: Not finding conference sponsors? Sponsor yourself.

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About the Author
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Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.

www.beckymccray.com

Comments

Adele McAlear says
February 10, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Becky, The exchange of money for information is exactly what I offered last year to attract sponsors to offset the cost of attending SXSW (where we met in person for the first time.)
Other things I offered: I videotaped sessions that my sponsors were interested in, then transcribed the video so that the content could be sliced, diced and searchable. I also went out of my way to meet people that were pertinent to my sponsors’ businesses and provided a report of those conversations and their contact information. I did an executive summary of the experience, relevant to my sponsors’ needs, and had the whole thing (1 1/2 inches thick) spiral bound. I burned the video to DVD and sent that along too.
The sponsors were impressed with the results. So much so that one of them is sponsoring me again this year :)
My only advice when you are seeking more than one sponsor is to make sure they are not competitors. Complimentary businesses in the same industry work best.
(And, my thanks also go to Todd Jordan who last year encouraged me in my quest to find sponsors.)
See you at SXSW!
Adele
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Becky McCray says
February 10, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Adele, you went above and beyond for your sponsors. Not only did you give them good info, but you proved to them that you took your responsibility seriously. Great work! Thanks for sharing that real-world experience.
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