Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Phil is right-you have to put together a plan and budget before you can do anything.
It is possible to do an event without it costing you money, if you can gain sponsorship. As an art and jewellery gallery, do you potentially have any suppliers who may be interested in helping you make this a success with the opportunity to promote their brands?
I actually did run quite a great event for the 50th anniversary of our family business at no cost to us. We established a sponsorship program with three levels of sponsorship and different benefits attached to each level. We had a tremendous response from suppliers. We did not expect at all to have the event fully paid for by sponsorship but that is the way it worked out. It was a first class affair as well.
If you don't have an opportunity like this, it will be difficult. I would not charge for nominations because no one will pay. You might want to explore potential interest with your suppliers if this is at all applicable in your situation.
Good Luck
Linda Whitehead
ZUZ Marketing

Awards don't have to be monetary - they can be an award that they can display in their storefront. Make sure that the press is invited and you send out press releases highlighting the winners. This type of award is better than money - it helps build clientele for the winners.

Dear Nicole,

As you've given no outline for a timeline, you might want to figure out when will be the best time for your awards ceremony to take place and work back from there.

This will give you ideas about the weather you might encounter (you're based in Montreal, yes?), a location for your award ceremony, who it is that might present your awards (perhaps someone from the world of jewelry or fashion?), and give you more time to find or offer sponsorships.

Companies sponsor events like this for several reasons, three of which are:

A). Because it gives them cheap advertising
B). Because they have a connection to the industry in some way
C). Because their association with a cause gives them a certain appeal.

So, decide on differing tiers of sponsorship and tell potential sponsors that for this much, you get platinum status, for that much, you get gold, and so on, with logo sizes and placement varying accordingly.

When sponsors know that someone they consider a major competitor is on a similar level, they're more likely to ask for (and expect) more bang for their buck.

The first question a sponsor is going to ask is "If I'm sponsoring your event, what do I get for my money?"

If your guest of honour is someone well known, this can again be used as bait to pull in bigger sponsors.

But the other contributors are right, you've got to have a detailed plan before you can begin thinking about the "thing" you're going to give people.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA