Personal Conference Sponsorship Guidelines

By Tamara

Many of you are looking to secure conference sponsors to make your trip more affordable. Currently, I am working on getting posts together that focus on how to create a conference sponsorship pitch and what companies are looking for in that pitch.

Something you need to think about as you are writing your pitch is how you plan to promote the brand. Again, future posts, beginning next week, will get into how to formulate creative ideas to promote a brand, but let’s start with the most obvious one.

I think the first option that comes to mind is: passing out product samples at the actual conference. While this idea is still an option, there are certain guidelines you will have to abide by when engaging in this kind of brand promotion. Many conferences make it a rule that you can’t pass out personal sponsorship materials within conference areas. This includes ballrooms, small rooms for sessions, networking and vendor areas. Why? Because blog conferences have their own sponsors who are not only helping to make the conference a success, but also are making it more affordable for the attendees. So then it only makes sense that they should be the only brands being promoted on conference grounds.

Below are links to some conference-specific personal sponsorship guidelines. Not every conference has their guidelines posted, but I can assure you that almost every conference (and probably all of them) DO have guidelines about this. If you are currently creating a sponsorship pitch or working out details with your sponsor, be sure to contact the conference coordinator to find out their personal sponsorship guidelines.

Relevant Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

BlogHer Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

Blissdom Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

Mom 2.0 Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

Type A Mom Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

Blogalicious Conference Personal Sponsorship Guidelines

Evo will be posting their guidelines soon, but so far have stated the following:

• Attendees may not bring swag or personal sponsorship brand materials into conference areas (i.e. ballrooms, breakout areas, suites).
  
• You may pass out business cards, pamphlets and swag at breaks, but not in suites.
• You can host informal parties in your rooms at or after 10pm each night.

While this may be your first time attending a blog conference, don’t let that keep you from doing your homework.  It’s important to know conference rules, especially if you are approaching companies for sponsorship. The last thing you want to happen is that you get in trouble for or even asked to the leave the conference by promoting your sponsor without knowing the guidelines.

Food For Thought:
Start thinking outside “outside the box” for ways to promote your sponsor. Your promotion efforts aren’t specific to the conference alone; you can begin promoting your sponsor before the actual event. Not only are products and samples powerful, but so are your words.

Also start thinking of ways to promote yourself. Feel like you are not visible enough in the blogging community, yet want to gain more exposure? Consider guest posting; inquire on blogs that welcome guest posts OR just ask your favorite bloggers if they’d be interested in having you guest.

You should also be brainstorming ways to explain what makes you different in order to get sponsor’s attention. Do you write about unique topics? Have you accomplished something in the blogging world? Have a thriving community even if you don’t think your stats are high enough? As we discussed in the post about how to make a media kit, everyone can find something that sets them apart from others. And you can, too!

Coming to Blog Conference Newbie soon….

• Conference Sponsorship pitch ideas (i.e. what to include in your letter)
• Ideas for promoting your sponsor’s brand
• Insight into what companies want in a pitch letter

If there are specific items you’d like to see in a post about conference sponsorship OR on any other topic, please leave a comment here letting me know.

I am working hard to get the content you NEED and WANT posted as soon as possible.

And remember, if you want to write about your conference experiences, either preparing for or experiencing them, or even your concerns, I’d love to hear from you!