R.I.P. Bo Diddley
I am a huge fan of rock music history, and in that regard you don’t get much more historic or pioneering than Bo Diddley.
As we celebrate an historical week for America, we lose an historical figure.
“If there’s a Rock-n-Roll Heaven, you know they got a helluva band.”
Posted Friday June 6, 2008
in music
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Never Assume
It’s real easy to come up with a list of potential sponsors for an event. After all, if you just identify your target market and then figure out which companies would be a good fit, you have filled your sponsor bucket, right?
Wrong.
On the surface maybe it looks like a great match. But have you done your homework? Do the companies you’re targeting even engage in sponsorship marketing? (Note that “they should” does not count.) Do they sponsor events similar to yours? (Are you a folk festival targeting a company that mostly sponsors sports events?) If they do sponsorship, is your market one that they target? Does your event offer something different that they can’t find elsewhere, such as greater reach, a highly targeted demographic, or a unique way to engage that demographic? Do you even know what your demographics are?
Many events do not know their demos, and if that’s you then do a survey. You can do that onsite or online or both. Having some demo data on hand will do wonders for increasing your viability to draw sponsors, because for them it’s all about numbers, or “metrics” as they say these days. The more info you can offer, the better.
The moral of the story is: when it comes to sponsorship, never assume.
Posted Tuesday May 27, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship
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Marketing Opps
Go here for current excellent sponsorship opportunities. The page is updated continuously, so bookmark it or fill out the opt-in form to stay abreast of new developments.
Posted Friday May 23, 2008
in event marketing/sponsorship
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Are You Easy or Playing Hard to Get?
Today I got the the final-last-ever-please-act-now-or-never renewal notice for my subscription to Fast Company magazine. Despite the many prior notices I hadn’t renewed yet, for no good reason other than it was low on my radar and list of priorities (even though I really like it). But today the renewal caught my eye because Fast Company makes it so easy to do – it’s a pre-printed, postage-paid, perforated card that I just tore off the outer cover. All I have to do is pop it in the mail. Don’t have to fill anything out, dig out my credit card, nothing. Couldn’t be easier – the necessary tool was provided and they’d even done the work of providing all the pertinent info. Easy-breezy.
And that got me to thinkin’.
Making things as easy as possible is simple, good business. It astounds me sometimes how certain companies make you jump through hoops to do business with them.
This applies as much to events and festivals as anything else. Certainly most events try hard to make things great for the audience, as well they should. But how easy is it for everyone else to get involved and stay engaged? Event staff, participants like vendors and artists, sponsors, volunteers, suppliers – a critical key to a successful event is to make it a no-brainer for them to come to the table with their A-game. Again, I have at times been astonished at some organizations that take so much for granted and act like they’re doing you a favor by allowing you to be part of the action. That leads to high turnover. Bad business.
Don’t play hard to get. Be easy.
Posted Tuesday May 20, 2008
in festival/event management
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You Say It's Your Birthday!
According to reference.com, May 10 is the birthdate of two contemporary music legends: Bono of U2 (1960) and Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols (1957).