Your Sponsorship Prospectus Should be Reflective of This Year’s Event Location
Along with the fact that your sponsorship packages should not be preset packages, your offerings need to be reflective of the city your event is taking place in. Why you ask? Because what is available in one city may not be available in another. And what may be available at one venue may not be available at another. Or maybe it will be available but at a cost you had not planned for; now your sponsorship is costing you money.
This means that you can't just offer the same preset sponsorship packages. You must do the research long before sending out your sponsorship prospectus to provide the appropriate offerings. Yes, you're right, that means way more work for you. But it will so worth it in the end - increased sponsorship income and engaged delegates!
Let me give you a couple of examples.
- WiFi Sponsorship - not all venues will be able to give you naming rights and modified wifi access for just your group. In 2020 we expect that it is possible but it not always the case. We faced this exact scenerio at one of our events last year. We were not able to offer the wifi sponsorship because we were only one of several groups that would be in house. This particular venue could not split the wifi access between the groups.
- Food & Beverage Activation - some exhibitors and sponsors like to include an activation at their booth to draw traffic. Many like to offer a food or beverage option at their booth. Providing a maple toffee option at your event in Charlottetown will not have the same effect it had at your event in Quebec City. Providing options to your sponsors and exhibitors that are specific to your location are going to be important for both price and relevance.
What this means is that you need to review your sponsorship offerings every year, in detail, before sending it out. You'll need to do some research and calling around to find out what is going to be possible in your location. A location like Toronto or New York City can offer you just about anything you want. However, an island location like Charlottetown or Vancouver Island can be limited in what is possible or affordable.
Why would you want the same offerings year after year anyway?
In my opinion, why would you want to have the same offerings year after year. And why would you not want to offer something original to your location. Like I mentioned above doing a maple station in Charlottetown seems a bit out of place. But an oyster bar or Cow's Ice Cream station could be amazing!
There is so much opportunity with sponsorship and if you do the homework in advance you will not only offer great options for your sponsors, you will provide original and fitting experiences for your delegates. And there is a very good chance you'll increase your sponsorship income.
