No we don’t allow Sponsors – In the ‘Traditional’ Sense
Recently I’ve been approached by a number of organisations to ask if they could ‘sponsor’ our free seminar series. The short answer is No. But read on…
These free Supply Chain seminars have been running since 2000 and are attended by thousands of industry executives every year. We hold them in Australia and around SE Asia.
But … we don’t allow event ‘sponsors’ as such. Why? Well’ I’d prefer that our seminar series are not commercialised in this way, and sponsorship implies certain obligations on both parties.
So I’ve come up with a way (with NO commercial relationship or implied endorsement) in which broader participation in our really popular seminars could be achieved, without ‘complicating’ things through commercial arrangements.
So … I am more than happy for external organisations to ‘support’ these events, by offering invitations for our events to their clients and contacts. And in return, we are pleased to allow event ‘supporters’ to provide marketing materials at the event, andof course be recognised as a supporter.
Why would I do this? Well for two reasons really.
1. These events provide our current guests and yours, with a broader networking opportunity amongst senior business professionals. This is one of the key attractions for our seminar guests. Many have been coming for 15 years!
2. And of course, it offers an opportunity for our regular guests to be exposed to supporter organisations and so provide both groups with additional value.
We have a goal to make these seminars available to a much broader business community.
So we’d like to make these seminars available to many more like minded industry professionals .
Seminar Guests come from broad Industry backgrounds and are predominantly middle to senior managers from ‘top 500’ organisations. All business and government sectors are represented.
Supporter Application
If you think that your organisation would like to offer free guest passes to these seminars, as well as promote your own organisation to seminar guests, just contact me directly for details.
Please note:
- We do have a number of foundation supporters on board already and places are limited. We don’t want our events to look like a trade show!
- Where two or more competing organisations apply to participate, only one will be allowed. This will normally be the first one to apply, or the one that we think our guests might be most interested in.
- There is no cost to participate. This is not a ‘sponsorship’.
- Events are held two or three times each year in a range of cities.
- Guest numbers depend on the location, venue capacity, time of year, and topic. But they can range from ‘intimate’ discussions over dinner with 20 guests, to half-day seminars with 200+ guests.
If you haven’t been to one of our events before, you can register to receive tickets here: Supply Chain and Logistics Seminars
P.S. My broader views on event ‘sponsorship’ are similar. I get invited to speak at many industry events every year, but only accept a few invitations. I’m amazed at the number of speaking engagement invitations that turn very quickly into a sponsorship request. I usually say ‘hang on’. Do you want me to come and speak because you think what I have to say will interest your audience, or are you just after a cheque?
Where the conversation goes after that, is the interesting bit!
So my view on conference speaker ‘sponsorship’ is that it does the audience no good what so ever. It really is just ‘cheque book’ programming. Quite often the speakers who effectively ‘pay to speak’ have little of interest to say and end up presenting little more than a sales pitch to the audience who have actually paid a lot of money to hear them speak. So I never pay to secure a speaking slot or accept payment. I only do it if the event producer and I both agree that I can add value to the delegates experience.
What are your thoughts on speakers ‘sponsoring’ their space on the speaking program? Share your thoughts below…
