90p Admin

Hi everyone I need to be able to reply to these vendors as I know from experience once we start talking about it we get more inquiries (SWK already asked). I recommend that we look at something similar to this. The $$ and number available can be variable but this seems about right - I would prefer that we have fewer sponsors than to have a lot of sponsors that we have to fit into an already tight schedule. Under this concept we'd have three vendor presentations which seems similar to what we had in prior years. The difference is that we'd be charging them. As an added value we would probably want to provide a followup webinar for our premier sponsor and maybe a standalone email for the dinner sponsors. Please follow this link to view the updated pricing as the document may have changed: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fmd_M_Blo_M687YjZtKS3kZkV-hr6OlRaN9DAfLlolI/edit?usp=sharing We could also do shirts or some other giveaway and ask for sponsorship on that. Or possibly include shirt sponsor for Premier.

I think also that we probably want to make the sponsorships somewhat exclusive. What I mean is we probably don't want three EDI speakers. It is probably easier to limit it to one from each category. If we were to limit it by category we'd probably want to first invite back prior year sponsors, then we could do a selective mailing to chosen vendors that we'd like to have as sponsors (based on reputation, etc) then finally if any sponsorships remain we could open it up to any vendors.

All i would suggest is the post conference 'blast' be sent by us. I'd never want to give them our direct contact info or the calls and email hounding would never end.

Great Start. Let's run with it.

Sorry if this is a dumb question ... if the vendor paid for a sponsorship, would we pay for the lunch or dinner with those funds? Is that how those things are done normally? I believe in the past that the vendor picked up the dinner bill, right? I might be mis-remembering. Regardless ... bump the premier up by another $500 - $1000. Just my 2 cents.

Here's a link to the Google Doc that I'm working on that we can send out to potential sponsors: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fmd_M_Blo_M687YjZtKS3kZkV-hr6OlRaN9DAfLlolI/edit?usp=sharing

Yes we use the funds to pay for lunch of dinner. Our cost for the lunch/dinner should be less than what we charge. That's a good point though we should think about what 50 people (presuming that is the number attending) would cost for lunch or dinner. It will be more than prior years when we had 25.... Now that I look at this I'd think our costs (WAG) Lunch - 50 x $20 = $1,000 (I'm guessing this is what a buffet at hotel might cost) Dinner - 50 x $ 75 = $3,750

That was my concern - that the costs would be more than the dinner if we use sponsorship funds in this manner. An alternative would be to lower the sponsorship fees and simply state that the vendor will also pick up the tab. The additional fees cover the pre and post marketing perks.

If I were a vendor I think I'd want some idea of what the dinner was going to cost. Open bar for 50 people could be a different $$ than a dinner in the hotel or local restaurant. It seems easier for us to provide them with a $$ figure.

No argument. I was just throwing out an alternative that might work to ensure the fees are ""right-sized.

Any ideas on how we could add more value to the Premier sponsor? Should we give them shirt sponsorship? I think we can sell a premier but we have to provide them with enough value that it differentiates from dinner or lunch sponsor.

Just a quick one ... maybe a listing on the 90 Minds website under a Sponsored Solutions tab. They all get listed for a year but maybe Premier can put more content up there? Either better, longer descriptions or whitepapers, etc.

Also recommend we not accept competitors to Sage - Intacct, Netsuite, SAP. Those could be separate type gatherings. Since this is Sage product focussed it seems that we should keep the topics to Sage technical and Sage business (the two established tracks).

Please be sure to review the Google Doc as I've made changes -- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fmd_M_Blo_M687YjZtKS3kZkV-hr6OlRaN9DAfLlolI/edit?usp=sharing

Returning Sponsors offered first opportunity: Sage Intelligence Avalara Altec I think those were the three from last year Potential sponsors: SWK And in my view Sage would be a paid sponsor if they wanted. I have some concern that if we wanted to feature a ""Shoot out"" between financial reporting tools that offering one sponsorship might preclude us from including other vendors but I suspect if we wanted to include competing products that we could have a member do that portion of the presentation.

Are you going to send this to the returning sponsors before sending to SWK? Is that the plan?

Yes I think what we should do - open for discussion - send to the three who I think are our returning sponsors. Give them a relatively short answer period as a courtesy. If we don't have payment by the deadline the I would suggest we send it out more broadly to identified sponsors -- presumably ones that don't also conflict with members -- for example lets not invite a Sage CRM firm or a web host --- things that might conflict with member offered services. We also by creating a small number of opportunities and some exclusivity also create a FOMO = Fear of missing out - which may prompt some vendors to commit. I honestly don't know if the amounts are too high but I do know that I'm perfectly fine with fewer vendors to deal with.

Hmm, open bar for this group? That could be fun :)

One potential sponsor would be SmartLinc.

Any other feedback? Otherwise lets roll with this. Our biggest risk is that the pricing is too high and we don't get any sponsors but at least we won't be too low and have too many (aka a conference that's a complete sales pitch of presentations).

Here's a screen grab of the sponsors from MAPADOC EDI conference being held next week. Just an FYI

It's actually this week.

Can I presume that everyone is ok with this fee schedule and that I can start polishing it in advance or presenting it to our returning vendors? I will need to look at the deadlines and adjust them but I think giving the first opportunity to returning sponsors is the best idea then offering it to new potential sponsors.

Go for it.

Yes - agreed! Thanks

Start spreading the news....

Yep

Good with me