Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Event Sponsor

Posted by Anonymous on 4/5/2008 at 11:58 PM ET 250 Points
I would like to ask you all for some help with an event I am doing on July 12 and 13. It is the LA wine Festival and I am looking for 1 corporate sponsor and wanted to know if you have any suggestions.

Last year we had well over 2000 people in attendance and this year we are expecting 2500 people to attend this event, we have rented all of Raleigh Studios to host this event.

So I would really like to get a couple of title sponsors 5-10K

https://valleywinefestival.com/ or lawinefest .com


ANY IDEAS? and if you are interested in working with me on this event please let me know

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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 4/6/2008 at 9:12 AM Accepted
    A simple idea is to look at your competitors and their sponsorships.

    For example: the Southern California Wine Festival has sponsors of: Beverly Hills Physicians, NEREI, LA Weekly, etc. while the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival has sponsors of: COX communications, Saveur, W, Cost Plus, BMW, Viejas, Union Bank, San Diego Magazine, Ivy Hotel, Hornblower Cruises, Southwest Airlines, etc.
  • Posted on 4/6/2008 at 9:52 AM Accepted
    Partnering with someone who can help promote the event is a good idea, i.e. magazine publishers such as Jay mentioned. I've often seen radio stations with booths at wine events, or how about your local TV station?

    How about the tourism industry (agenices, perhaps you have a state tourism board?) Your local casino? (if you have one). How about an importer\producer of coffee - other than Starbucks?



  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 4/6/2008 at 10:25 AM Accepted
    You are way behind time wize in securing sponsors. Did you have any sponsors last year? Sponsors want recognition and exposure. Create the levels of sponsorship-- for example, using wine, you could make your biggest sponsor the champagne sponsor. The more they donate-- the more exposure they get. Tap into the wine reps to help you secure winemaker sponsors. After all, they stand to gain the most.

    Sit with your board and make a "hit list" of potential donors. With this short time frame, the best way to quickly get your sponsors is with personal contact and finding a champion.

    Sell everything! If you pass out bags to gather literature, sell the right to put a logo on it. If you have wrist bands that say their ID has been checked-- sell a logo on it. Sell logos on napkins.

    That is a short answer to a big question-- hopt it gets you thinking.

    Sell Well and Prosper tm
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 4/6/2008 at 10:27 AM Member
    One more thought-- find your media partner first. They'll be valuable in helping you find sponsors.
  • Posted on 4/6/2008 at 1:03 PM Author
    I would really like to have a Casino and/or Hotel as a sponsor, the question is how to do reach these giants in Las Vegas and how to grab their attention ?!?

    Media Partner LA Weekley , CitySearch , and 97.1 are on board
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 4/6/2008 at 1:30 PM Member
    Why would a casino in Las Vegas want to sponsor an event in LA?

    You could take an inkind donation from them and raffle a trip to Vegas?

    Hotels, and the big guys in Vegas all have "support the community service contacts. You contact them by calling them aqnd speaking one on one. Almost all big co's have links on their webpages and forms to fill requesting donations. But that is the long way. These co's get thousands of requests each week-- and there is often a year processing time.

    For quickest response, find a champion who beleives in your event as a good match for them-- and they'll cut thru the red tape.
  • Posted by Bambi on 4/10/2008 at 11:06 PM Accepted
    Who wants to 'talk' to your 'community' (the audience of attendees, exhibitors and other participants), and how do they want to 'talk' to them.

    In other words, who is targeting your customer base? How can you facilitate the dialogue between them (which would most likely entail acknowledging their sponsorship on all event advertising through your media partners)?

    What other value add do you have to offer the sponsor over and above logo recognition, space at the event (e.g. privilege dozen gifts for their customers, exclusive access areas, invitations for your sponsors staff/customers to attend private functions - meet & greet with wine tasting).

    Timing will now be a major issue - dependent on the size of budget some of your potential sponsors will have set their marketing spend for the 08/09 year a few months back - so you may need to be really creative with delaying some part of the sponsorship payment, or trying to source a two year sponsor with a very small amount up front and the majority of the payment schedule into the next year.

    Also consider having more than one corporate sponsor - so that you can spread the sponsorship benefits, you are sourcing a smaller fee from each, and importantly you will have more businesses with buy-in to the event who will in turn benefit from driving event attendance/awareness.

    All the best with your event.
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