Sponsors. Do we want? Do we need?

Tue Aug 17 15:32:34 UTC 2010

On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 6:34 AM, Paul W. Frields <stickster at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 02:57:28PM -0700, Robyn Bergeron wrote:
>> It has been discussed at various points that we have the option of
>> getting sponsors for FUDCon in Tempe.  I'd like to see if we can come
>> to a concrete decision on this so that if we do want to try to get
>> sponsors, we can do so.
>>
>> I'll try to bulletpoint as best I can here. (In wiki format, no less, hah!)
>>
>> * Are we kosher, in general, with the idea of having sponsors pick up
>> the tab for various items?
>
> We are kosher with it, but I want to recognize that we don't
> absolutely *need* sponsors to make things happen.  We've had FUDCons
> with sponsors in the past, and some without.  Our budget should
> accommodate the event even if we have no sponsors.  That being said,
> I think everyone would agree that having someone take care of a $1K
> bill for us (or whatever amount) is naturally a Good Thing.
>
> The key, as you note below, is that we really need that sponsor to
> just pay for something for us.  Having them reimburse us is a lot less
> attractive, because of the gymnastics with Red Hat's finance office it
> requires.
>
>> * Since we have the problem of not being able to accept money, our
>> best option is to take sponsorships for things other than travel where
>> vendors can pay for items directly, or may payment prearrangements /
>> limits. Possibilities include the list below. Are there any items I
>> have missed, and does anyone have any problems with the things I have
>> listed?
>> ** Badges
>> ** Signage / Banners / flyers / other general printing
>
> It's harder with these to provide some kind of return to the sponsor
> that is in line with the cost.  If you print the sponsor name on the
> badge it looks more like they're a major sponsor of the conference
> when badges might only cost $100 or so.  (We don't usually go for the
> whole magnetic card thing, more like simple name tags with a pin.)
> Signage is similarly cheap.
>
>> ** Tee-shirts (name of sponsor(s) on the back), Fedora/FUDCon on the
>> front.
>
> Refer to my previous email about what swag we want to offer, but
> s/Tee-shirts/swag/ and this is a possibility.  We did this in Boston
> 2009 with OLPC, and ISTR an earlier FUDCon that had some Google
> sponsorship too.
>
>> ** Food, including:
>> *** Light Breakfasts - one of or all of three days
>> *** Lunches
>> *** FUDPub
>> *** Friday night hospitality suite food
>> *** Drinks (the non-alcoholic kind during the day - coffee, soda, water, etc.)
>> *** Intarwebz fat pipez
>
> These are all good prospects IMHO.
>
> * Coffee/Light breakfast -- $1K-1.5K each day
>
> * Lunch -- Probably about the same, and in fact I would make *serving*
>  a lunch contingent on getting sponsorship for it.  Otherwise we
>  probably can't afford to do it along with everything else.
>
> * FUDPub -- something like $3K-4K in all likelihood, we'll know more
>  soon.
>
> * Hospitality suite food -- something like $250 probably for
>  pizza/soda -- maybe a good cost for a local business to pick up, but
>  I tend to think this is another "too low to worry about" cost
>
> * Drinks -- see Lunch above for caveats, although this is a smaller
>  cost too
>
> * Broadband -- yes, and I think the deal for b'band itself will
>  include some sort of discount which is essentially a sponsorship or
>  subsidy by the vendor.
>
>
>> * If yes to any of the above items - do we want to do the following in
>> an upcoming meeting:
>> ** Assign an approximate value of what the associated costs would be
>> for sponsoring for each item we choose to have sponsored
>> ** Craft - or request someone to craft for us - a sponsorship prospectus
>
> For the value question, yes, see above.  For the prospectus question,
> I'm undecided honestly.  In the past, we got sponsorships simply by
> sending email and making a couple phone calls.  We didn't embark on a
> serious effort to solicit sponsorships because Red Hat was prepared to
> more or less handle the bills.  I don't have any objection to a
> sponsorship prospectus -- if someone's committed to putting it
> together in the next couple of weeks I see no reason not to have it.
>
>> * I have a list of potential sponsors in a ticket in trac (just to be
>> polite, and all, as this is a public list).  Does anyone have any
>> other suggestions? (Also - no idea what the milestone shoudl be for
>> this - would imagine we'd want to get stuff squared away fairly soon.)
>>  https://fedorahosted.org/fudcon-planning/ticket/27
>>
>> If i've missed anything, let me know.
>
> We should be able to decide which of the above sponsorship
> opportunities to offer here on the list.  I believe the critical path
> is in the following order:
>
> * Need someone in the area to price out vendors for light breakfast
>  and lunch costs

I can deal with this. I'm already half-way in with the breakfast
stuff. It's a Good Thing! </marthastewart>

>
> * I need to hammer the Rula Bula folks to send me the price work-up
>  they promised a couple weeks ago :-)
>

If Rula Bula is dragging their feet, or comes in too pricey, we can
always look at Macayo's. (Mexican food - the big local chain
restaurant - they have a restaurant a short block or two away from the
Courtyard in tempe - they have a separate party room, and very
reasonable pricing for food/drinks.)

> * Decide whether to do a prospectus, and find someone who wants to put
>  it together (probably could use help from someone who's done one in
>  the past) -- this should *not* be a blocker; if it's not picked up
>  quickly, we move on
>
> * Identify and make contact with prospective sponsors to gauge
>  interest in the list of sponsorship opportunities
>
>
> --
> Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
>  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
>  http://redhat.com/   -  -  -  -   http://pfrields.fedorapeople.org/
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