Conference Sponsorships - Will you Walk into my parlour ?

 "Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,

'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to show when you are there."

"Oh no, no," said the little Fly, "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can never come down again."

As Mary Howitt tells us, the spider goes on, to lure the fly who finally gives in to the temptation.

Isn’t attending a conference a tempting yet tedious task? . You need to dress up well, be on your feet all day long and specifically be prepared for table topics full day. Pretty stressful.

What is worse than attending a conference? Organizing one. Organizing a Conference is like a black hole. It takes u in, consumes u and you are never going to come out of it. 

You have to find the right venue, get participants / speakers, organize the lunches and dinners, etc. It is all too stressful and steals away your work and family time. This is the perception of most of us. We feel that this is a useless activity and there is nothing beneficial associated with it.

But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. 

I had been struggling with setting up my client’s brand. Incidentally we stumbled upon an opportunity, where architects from all across the country had come together for a special event. The client acted on my suggestion and took up sponsorship and got a speaking slot at the event. The benefits were immense.

1. Networking

2.  Get New Ideas

3.  Access to decision makers

Generating sponsorships for a conference is the most daunting task of all. And this is precisely what attracted me to taking up the responsibility of getting Sponsorships for the annual conference of District 98, Eloquence. Toastmasters is a well-known brand. But not so well known in the business world. 

My Vision is to bring about acceptance in the business community about the value one can derive by participating and sponsoring a Toastmasters Event.

1. Building a positive brand image sends out a message that the org is in the growth phase
2. Reconnect to older connects and Increase reach to new clients automatically leads to growth
3. Generate leads and get stronger ROI than mass media – which is the aim of all businesses.

This means that a sponsor should be able to clearly understand the target group and the ROI which he will be able to derive from it. Accordingly, he should himself be keen to participate and fund the event.

Who Can Sponsor?  – Anyone looking at growing their business should sponsor. There is a bakery chain, and they have stores across Pune. They are in their expansion mode and have invested a lot in their infrastructure growth and want to recover their money faster than normal. They want more clients to come to them and clients in turn get a good place to go to for their bakery needs. It’s a win win situation.

Along with the benefits the sponsors are going to derive, my team and I stand to gain tremendously from this activity. We will learn to approach people without hitch. Thinking off the cuff while answering questions, learn sales techniques, make friends and develop contacts which eventually benefit us in the times to come.

It was a bright morning in October last year, when I walked in for an interview with the Eloquence Convener. And like the fly, I was lured into this fascinating world of Sponsorships.