[Marketing] OSGeo sponsorship/participation in WhereCampEU

[Alex Mandel]

I guess the question is if we are at the point where we have enough
funds to sponsor an event as pure advertising. Looking at my shirt from
WhereCamp last year and the list of sponsors for this event, they are
all for-profit companies or government. While I do see the benefit for
us I'm just not sure we have the budget for an event like this.

One question is how many OSGeo related folks do we think will be at the
event anyways that could help talk to people about OSGeo (informally of
course based on the nature of the event) and could we just send them
some materials (pins or something of the sort).

It is a good target audience, though small in comparison to spending the
same amount for a week long presence at a big conference.

The bigger question is about our marketing strategy and if sponsorship
of events works for us on our current budget (probably not) but I
wouldn't rule it out down the line.

Anyone have a sense of if the local UK sponsors we do have would think
this a good use of funds?

Alex



Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
> Anyone have more thoughts on this for Jo or my comments?
> 
> I'd like to support the proposal, since it could help the UK chapter
> gain momentum - and considering that at least 3 of our sponsors are from
> the UK it might be encouraging to see some work in their own backyard.
> These are qualitative judgments on my part, but I do think the value for
> pound could be there.
> 
> Tyler
> 
> Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:
>> Joanne Cook wrote:
>>> Apologies- I had formed the impression that OSGeo might consider
>>> sponsoring suitable events for the sake of profile-raising in a new
>>> area, but if that's not the case, then I totally understand.
>> I don't think Arnulf was saying that, unilaterally, we don't sponsor
>> events - but that we just haven't done many to date :)
>>
>> At the level of cost for a wherecampeu sponsorship, and the promo it
>> provides, it makes sense to me.  I also support making sure the UK
>> chapter has the materials they need to do further promotion.  If you can
>> find a printer for your stuff - I can even help coordinate payment
>> directly instead of submitting receipts.   Just let me know.
>>
>> Some other chapters have been able to find local sponsors who would like
>> to fund the development of their marketing material - I encourage all
>> chapters to at least ask the question on their lists before looking
>> elsewhere.  But in the end, the marketing committee has a budget to help
>> with some of these things.
>>
>> Hope that helps,
>> Tyler
>>