spotlight
SPONSORS
FOR BETTER,
NOT WORSE
Commercial support is not what it used to be,
with relations evolving into partnerships between
the likeminded. Steve Cray reportsGONE are the days of simple
sponsorship when logos were
traded for cash. With sponsors
now acting more like event
partners, meetings industry
professionals are finding they
have to change their approach.
“It’s a bit like marriage. Sort
out how it’s really going to
work before you say yes,”
says Peter Jones of
Melbourne-based Peter Jones
Special Events.
And, like marriage,
sponsorship is such an
important commitment it has
its advisers.
ASAE: The Center for
Association Leadership made
event partnerships one of
three major talking points at
its Xperience Design Project
(XDP) at the Gaylord National
Resort and Convention Centre,
near Washington DC, in April.
The two-day project focused
on “how to engage attendees
through gamification, drive
attendance at meetings, and
create meaningful partnerships
with industry suppliers”.
Indeed, ASAE listed no less
than 28 strategic, corporate
and event partners for
XDP, with Amy Ledoux, the
organisation’s senior vice
president for meetings,
expos and special events,
explaining to MIX how
important the support was to
the event’s success.“With the planning and
executing of XDP, we carefully
selected our partners based on
the ability, expertise in the area
in which we hired them, and
areas that we felt we needed
their expertise,” Ledoux says.
“The audiences that ASAE
was attracting to the XDP
event were ones that they
currently work with and
wanted to get additional
exposure in front of by
showcasing their capabilities
with this new event.”
Ledoux cited 360 Live Media
as an example of a sponsor
that played a vital role. They
helped ASAE take a different
approach to its events. “It is
never comfortable to make
big changes with your event...
even small changes,” she says.
“They helped us envision
an event by talking to all theparties we identified as key
audiences at our event, and
they did a scan of what a
successful event looked like
to them. Then they helped us
create the model for that event.”
Ledoux says there are key
considerations to take into
account when teaming up with
a sponsor or partner:
• Ensure their ability to deliver
on the event expectations –what experience they have
with projects of the same
scale and type.
• Understand whether they
share the same vision as the
event organiser or are able
to expand and enhance your
vision to make the event
even better.
• Find out whether can they
manage what has been
designed in the “move in and40 MIX AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 http://www.mixmeetings.comAmy Ledoux