[Board] sponsor contacts

[Jeff McKenna]

Hi Jody,

Related to sponsors, I would like to finalize the sponsor levels.  When 
I review the wiki (http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_2015_Sponsorship), I 
would like to suggest the following levels:

Previous Levels
---------------

Sustaining Sponsor 	$50,000
Principal Sponsor 	$20,000
Supporting Sponsor 	$10,000
Associate Sponsor 	$3,000

New Levels
----------

Sustaining Sponsor $25,000
Principal Sponsor $10,000
Supporting Sponsor $3,000
Associate Sponsor $500


Discussion:

I'm for making sponsorship of OSGeo as easy as possible for both 
organizations and individuals.  I actually feel that the money amount 
isn't as important, as it is for OSGeo to give a chance for 
organizations and individuals to be promoted by OSGeo (as you know, I 
consistently show slides now on OSGeo sponsors and OSGeo service 
providers during my talks), as well as for giving them an opportunity to 
proudly show that they are official sponsors of OSGeo, that they 
officially help grow Open Source geospatial projects.  This promotion 
really helps these companies and individuals, and it also helps the 
community realize that we have a healthy ecosystem. And yes I don't see 
the need to limit sponsorship by how much revenue I or any other company 
earns. (note that our one existing sponsor, thinkWhere, would be changed 
from an Associate Sponsor, to a Sustaining Sponsor, because of the 
amount they paid).  I also propose that we give past sponsors, the 
perfect example is GeoCat, a one-year 50% off offer, to renew now (the 
following year would be fullprice).

Am I still not convincing you?  Well then: Gateway Geomatics would like 
to kick off these new levels, with a new Associate Sponsorship for $500 
level.  (yes, tricky tactics by me, but this is to make a point, of let 
us give the opportunity to our community members to have a stage, on our 
marketing materials and promotions).  Again, I feel the money amount 
means much less to OSGeo, than this promotion is for these companies, 
and the benefits to the community overall.

I do commit to this proposal.

I also wonder if the big process of creating a working group, then 
making the levels, and then changing the benefits for each level, and 
then contacting all previous sponsors, is too much to chew at once, for 
us volunteers.  I propose we change to the levels I propose here, change 
the website amounts, and start contacting sponsors today.

If you reject this, well then, I sure tried to get this moving :)



-jeff





On 2015-11-12 6:34 PM, Jody Garnett wrote:
> I would like a hand collecting sponsor email addresses - for everyone on
> this page
> <http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/2015_Sponsorship_Drive_Working_Group>. If
> you note any likely candidate please add them to the list.
>
> Two questions:
> - It is not the best to collect email addresses on a wiki page - any
> suggestions?
> - Wanted to ask if it would be rude for us to contact the organizations
> on the service provider <http://www.osgeo.org/search_profile> page?
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
>