Way back when as the Web Awards were being planned I had an email back and forth with Adam Beecher. In the email conversation he convinced me to keep category costs down as much as possible. Almost to the same level as Blog Award Category costs. His reasoning was that enough events get the big name sponsors and there isn’t any awards show out there where mom and pop stores and SMEs can avail of being a core part of an awards show with their small advertising/marketing budget. The category prices could have been four figures and sponsored by large brands but instead I hope to see smaller brands have their names there.
So thanks to Adam I realised that Awards shows like the Blog Awards and now the Web Awards are not just about those nominated but those people focused companies and individuals putting in their money to make these great events work. So while these sponsors are called “sponsors”, really they’re like angel investors. Investing modest sums into a vehicle and wishing it the very best. The return hopefully is that they get appreciated by everyone else taking part in it.
Thank you Adam.
[...] using a feedreader or email. Thanks for visiting – Damien.Why I call Web Awards sponsors “Angel Sponsors“. None of the sponsors sit back and watch, they take an active roll in the Awards and muck in [...]
Thank you for listening Damien, I’m glad you decided to keep it at an achievable level for small businesses, and I hope plenty of clever founders and scheming CEOs take you up on it.
My own business is quaking at the thought, since it’s just made a hefty “donation” towards my wedding and honeymoon, but I’ll see what I can scrape out of the pot next week…
Hope it goes well on the night, I’ll definitely be there since you’ve brought it home to us; and in such a great venue too!
adam
[...] We’re really thrilled that sponsorship slots are being snapped up so quickly. Today alone we got four more sponsors. There are still sponsorship slots left at €450 each. Read about our sponsorship philosophy. [...]