Sponsorship Summit Events

Summits are important. They take sponsors of properties to the next level. I am excited next month to be speaking at two summits on behalf of the properties who are hosting these events for their clients. Summits are so different from what we traditionally see. I hear properties say “oh yes we had a sponsor summit. We had a cocktail party to thank all of them”. Or they say “yes, for sure. Every year we host a summit. We have a sponsor golf tournament”.

These are NOT summits. These are social events. These are appreciation events. A summit in my opinion is a gathering of sponsors for a specific property, hosted by the property to engage sponsors further and provide educational and professional development opportunities for those crucial partners so they can better invest and gain greater ROI. Sponsors get enough golf tournaments and cocktail parties they must attend. A summit is an event they want to attend.

Earlier this summer in the Edmonton Journal, David Finalyson wrote a great article on an Edmonton based IRL (Indy Racing League) sponsor. The company is Safefreight Technology and they are the only Canadian company that’s an official sponsor of the IRL. For the full article you can link by clicking here.

The CEO of Safefreight Technology, Curtis Serna, commented that he would attending he IRL meetings in Chicago “where all the sponsors get together to develop business relationships between each other. For a smaller company like ours to be part of that is incredible.” These business meetings and summits are where people like Curtis will have the opportunity to meet other sponsors in a closed environment to talk business versus a venue such as a racetrack in the heat of the Indy event.  Sponsors get the chance to plan cross promotional opportunities, learn insider information and start new business to business relationships with other sponsors. Curtis knows that by attending he will probably open 4-5 new business opportunities. This is where sponsorship truly hits the ground running or in this case the “rubber meets the road”.

So next time you decide to “thank” your sponsors or as a brand are invited to a thank-you reception or golf tournament, think “how could I better spend my time?” The answer is probably a summit. More and more of our clients are now hosting annual summits. Many are engaging us to manage these summits on their behalf or speak at them. A sponsor summit will result in much better relationship management than any cocktail party or golf tournament ever will when it is done right.

These are just one person’s thoughts. Yours are welcomed as well, so post your comments below, and thank you for reading.

Brent Barootes

President

Partnership Group – Sponsorship Specialists

Office: 403-255-5074

Toll Free: 888-588-9550

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