connecting people,opportunities and ideas

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Summertime = heat, swimming to keep cool, relaxation and reflection (at least the last two weeks of August).  I recently read a couple of books – The Waxman Report and The Alchemist, by Paul Coelho.  I won’t review the Waxman Report in this space as it is probably too political for some of my readers.

However, The Alchemist got me to thinking a bit and how it relates to sponsorship.  Okay, full disclosure, I am always thinking about sponsorship!

According to Paul, in order to fulfill your Personal Legend, one must be also connected to the Soul of the World and know The Language of The World.  To get connected in this deep way, one must be committed to the journey and the process and facing the inherint challenges.  Wow, pretty deep.

In sponsorship, this means being an evangelist of the medium, truly and authetically building integrated platforms for brand promotion, through creatively leveraging the asset or property.  In order to do this, one needs training and understanding and of course, being connected.

A couple of interesting ways to train and get connected are coming up soon.

• LA Office is hosting their annual conference in Hollywood, CA.  They are offering free movie passes for brand representatives who want to take advantage of the special rate for our readers.  Just click on this link and type in the word SPONSORSHIP, when booking.
• IEG has expanded their training and are offering a couple of unique courses and a combined course which brings together many of the necessary tools for sponsorship success. Their next one is on Sponsorship Activation.  Click here to register and find out more information.

Both of these institutions have helped me learn, grow and get more connected.  I hope this is helpful and look forward to your feedback!

We hope you like it and it helps you connect with others, find new ideas and become more effective in your job.

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Today, I received the following invitation from IEG to become a part of their social media community.  I’d like to say thanks and we welcome you too!

Since it is summer and I am in California, it may be appropriate for a surfing analogy:  Welcome to our wave and please recognize those of us that have been working to maintain the beach and share in the community aspect by supporting one another.  We celebrate the love of what we do and recognize the uniqueness of what we do as not being the most mainstream (advertising vs sponsorship).  We collaborate, share success and failure while trying to get better.  We cheer for each other after a good ride and help each other out after a wipe out.  We never jump in on someone else wave if they have already taken it.

While many of the IEG staff are members of our group, to this point they have remained silent on our discussion groups, yet ours is the biggest forum on the internet for sponsorship professionals.

As you know through this blog and on my sponsorship groups LinkedIn, our coverage includes news from IEG and often praises their work .  However, the question should be asked, is this initiative of theirs to sell more products and services (advisory, valuation, conferences, SER Report, Sourcebook, Webinars etcetera) or to serve the sponsorship community objectively?  Why have they chosen not to participate in other communications online before deciding to launch their own?  Does their launch and membership of 600 or so make ours eventually obsolete?

we have done our best to lead the way online via social media and share valuable information and foster a dynamic, interactive, virtual community.  Our objective for our group is to help you enhance your career, knowledge and efficiency.  We have never charged anything for our work (and it is a lot of work!) in providing you with this group, blog postings and newsletters.  We will continue to feature their work, promote their conferences and educational programs.  The question is, will they reciprocate or even acknowledge us in their education and media?  Should we charge for advertising or subscriptions and will that compromise out objectivity?  How do we all ride the wave together in harmony?

Here is their invitation:

You’re invited to join the sponsorship conversation through IEG’s just-launched social media initiatives.

We are excited to provide our industry colleagues with (more…)

Featured Article by David Rachell of Pinpoint Marketing and Dan Beeman of Sponsorship Insights Group.

The global economic downturn has taken multiple shapes that adversely affect many industries. The wise sage, Benjamin Franklin, once said that out of adversity comes opportunity. Perhaps Ben’s statement could very well apply to the downturn being our opportunity to strengthen the North American sponsorship industry.

Most reports show that the industry is weathering the economic storm fairly well.  But, activity from a different type of storm has been brewing at the U.S. Capitol. This storm involves legislative regulation aimed at prohibiting some of the most prolific industry players from using sponsorship as a means to foster new business growth.

Imagine (more…)

From a personal experience and perspective, I am a big fan of sponsorship summits.  It is a great way to take some time out and get together in-person with sponsors.  The benefits are obvious in developing a more personal connection and the more connected they are the more likely they are to renew.  We all know renewal is usually preferable to getting out and pitching a category.

I attended a webinar hosted by IEG today and want to share a  few key takeaways.

Goals: (more…)

This offer comes from Kim Skidlum-Reid with Power Sponsorship.  Her critically acclaimed workshops are now coming to the US!  She is offering a $50 discount for the sponsorship seeker course and a $25 discount for the sponsor course for our members! – Thanks Kim!

The Sponsorship Insights Group member offer goes like this:

Current SIG members can subtract $50 from the price of Power Partnerships (for sponsorship seekers) or $25 from the price of Amazing Sponsorship Results

This discount MAY be combined with the other discounts on offer – early-bird pricing and the charity discount. This would give an SI member with charitable status who registers before 1 June a combined total of $175 discount on the $650 base price for Power Partnerships. Note: That is the biggest combined discount I have ever offered.

Registration must be by FAX. The US fax number is on the brochure’s registration form. This SIG offer will not be available for online registration

SIG members must use the code SI-50-25 in the promotional discount space

Delegates will receive confirmation and a receipt by e-mail within two working days of registration

Here is a link to the brochure:
http://www.powersponsorshipdownloads.com/powersponsorship/PowerSponsorshipWorkshops-July09.pdf

Here is a link to the workshops page. From there, you can register, see the course outlines, check out my delegate list and quotes, and download the brochure.

http://www.powersponsorship.com/workshop-registrations.html

The economic landscape is altering the sponsorship industry and no one is immune.

With new deals and renewals taking longer to close and with fewer prospects left standing in key sponsor categories including banks and media, last year’s strategies are not sufficient for selling in these highly turbulent times.

To give rightsholders and agencies the economy-defying approaches they need to jumpstart efforts and sell more to buyers with less, IEG is taking its flagship training seminar to the entire industry immediately. (more…)