[text shamelessly borrowed from BarCampLondon]
Introduction
BarCamps are weekend-long community events, run by volunteers. Nobody is charged for attending a BarCamp although everyone is expected to give a presentation or lead a discussion session.
Due to the 'residential' nature of the event there are a number of costs incurred which make great sponsorship opportunities for local businesses, regional tech/industry companies and international companies looking to increase their UK exposure amongst the UK geek/industry scene.
How the sponsorship works
Like most BarCamps, we have created a number of sponsorship 'packages' that represent real costs we face as part of the running of the event. We invite potential sponsors to cover one of the costs - either directly (preferred) or by providing us with the money to source it ourselves.
Sponsorship opportunities - food
Here is a list of the costs we face:
- Saturday Lunch (for 100 people - approx $500)
- Saturday Dinner (for 100 people - approx $1000)
- Saturday Beers/Drinks (for 100 people - approx $500)
- Sunday Breakfast (for 100 people - approx $500)
- Sunday Lunch (for 100 people - approx $1000)
- Snacks and drinks/water (for 100 people - approx $500)
- Venue (approx $200)
- Misc stationery (blu-tak, large sheets of paper, pens, paper), paper cups & plates (etc) and basic colour printer resource (approx $200)
- Books, Software, Hardware, etc... that we can give away as prizes
- Coffee (hmmm, caffeine!) - a delivery of fresh coffee from a local coffee house would be v welcome! For about $400 you can hire a coffee machine and buy boffee/milk.
- Power strips/Network equipment - can you provide/loan us with these?
Ideally we would prefer each sponsor to arrange this directly (ie pay a pizza place $500 directly to deliver pizzas to the venue etc). We can recommend and suggest suppliers, we just find it's generally easier if it's done directly - Australian corporate sponsors can also claim GST back (where applicable) if they pay directly. Alternatively we can accept money directly and source items ourselves -- whatever works best for you.
What sponsors get
- A slide (to themselves) with their logo/url, and a mention during the 'welcome session'
- Their logo, in colour, on the 'main wall' at the event in the chill-out area. We can print your logo onto A3 paper, or you can provide your own signage.
- Mention + link from BarCampMelbourne webpage
- Opportunity to offer schwag/literature/etc at the event.
How to sponsor
If you think you might be able to sponsor any of these items please contact Ben Balbo (ben at benbalbo.com). And just a reminder - BarCamp is 100% non-commercial, non-profit and community driven -- no one is paid for their time, no one is charged to come and no profits are made.
Thank you.
