Professional Development and Its Role in Sponsorship

Professional Development and Its Role in Sponsorship

Professional development is critical to everyone’s career path, from the newbie to the seasoned veteran. In today’s changing world in the sponsorship game, we all need to participate in professional development. It provides best practices learning, new cutting-edge technologies and concepts, as well as instructive learning and networking.

In less than three weeks, the 2015 Western Sponsorship Congress®, Canada’s premiere event for sponsorship professionals to network, learn and share best practices, will host over 200 delegates and speakers in Calgary. When I last checked, there were just eight delegate spots left!

I often hear from people that they have no budget for conferences. Or I hear, “We are too busy and cannot take time off to go for one or two days.” I had one organization say, “Oh, we cannot attend this conference or that workshop because we have our major event the following weekend.” I think that is a load of you-know-what. If you are not ready and prepared for your event a few days prior, you are probably the best candidate to go to organizational time management or event management training workshops or conferences.

Professional development provides all of us the opportunity to share best practices and learn. Having been in the industry for over 25 years, I still attend workshops and conferences to learn and grow. With new activation ideas, new technologies, stories of success (and failure), I leave every conference with at least one or two new nuggets of information. Our entire Partnership Group team is encouraged to register and attend such events and opportunities because we know that it is money and time well invested.

I think that part of the role of leaders in organizations is to encourage staff to attend events such as the Western Sponsorship Congress®, Canadian Sponsorship Forum, Sponsorship Toronto, and the SMCC conference and training events. Leadership is about setting the example, which means ensuring there is ample budget for professional development as well as staff taking a piece of the ownership of attending by paying for part of the investment.

The Western Sponsorship Congress® has over 30 presenters and is a strong mix of agencies, brands, and properties under one roof. There are two keynotes, including predictions for 2016 and the Canadian sponsorship industry, as well as three engaging and interactive panel discussions, not to mention over 18 breakout workshops. There is no excuse for not attending or sending staff. In fact, if two people from your organization attend, the second person is free when the first pays full price. If only one person attends, until we are sold out, you can register and attend for 25% off the full rate.

I will cover $500 of your $1800 registration fee. Just register under the PG Affiliate Rate and I will cover the difference. Space is limited, so register today. Professional development is critical and now you have no reason not to be part of it!

These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well. Please add your thoughts or comments to our blog by clicking here. Thank you for reading and your feedback.

©2015. All rights reserved.

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 
Share This