HowTo.... Work with partners
Dan Franc, Google Developers Community Support
August 2015
or may be I should call
today’s meetup like this:
of working with partners
Dan Franc, Google Developers Community Support
August 2015
THE ETERNAL
MEETUP TRINITY:
Getting Partners
Getting Speakers
Getting Venues
It’s all about
sponsorPARTNERship.
we get - they get
we give - they give
and may be not even at the
same time: we’re partner
Who to partner with:
what we get,
what they get?
possible partners
large tech corporations
smaller tech companies/startups
non tech companies
universities / colleges
pre-college schools
other communities and UG’s
NGO's
local gov’t and municipalities
incubators, startup places
cowork places, hackerspaces
partner / what they can provide
venue
speakers
food+
drinks
swag and
prizes
promotion
connections
help with
organization OR
coaching/advice
large tech corporations
Advertisement
smaller tech companies/startups
non tech companies
universities / colleges
pre-college schools
other communities and UG’s
NGO's
local gov’t and municipalities
incubators, startup places
cowork places, hackerspaces
partner / what they can provide
venue
speakers
food+
drinks
swag and
prizes
promotion
connections
help with
organization OR
coaching/advice
large tech corporations
(x)
smaller tech companies/startups
non tech companies
universities / colleges
pre-college schools
other communities and UG’s
NGO's
local gov’t and municipalities
incubators, startup places
cowork places, hackerspaces
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
(x)
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(x)
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Advertisement
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(x)
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x
(x)
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x
x
x
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(x)
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partner / what WE can provide
Hires?
Brand/culture
promotion
Grow
ecosystem
Generate
ideas
Promote
venue
They get trained
Product
promo / lead
gen
x
x
x
large tech corporations
Advertisement
smaller tech companies/startups
non tech companies
universities / colleges
pre-college schools
other communities and UG’s
NGO's
local gov’t and municipalities
incubators, startup places
cowork places, hackerspaces
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
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The conversation with sponsors
● offer partnership, don’t request sponsorship
● start with introducing your group lightly
Advertisement
● then ask about what is it that they’re trying to achieve with your ecosystem - let
them tell you their “story”
● show them how your event matches their story
○ incl. how can you prove it later
Not! ->
Corporate sponsors
● starting small may be easy
● demonstrate your 1) impact, 2) history, 3) quality
● find out what’s their sweet spot and show them how they reach it through your event
● they may eventually become “general sponsors” helping you with more long-term
goals or on scale
● sometimes they may help you in big way non financially
○ either providing something they do (Cell tower!)
○ or helping with venues
● in corporations, everything takes tons of time;
● multiple conversations will be needed
● they may need a test with you - offer a small pilot
Other tips
● Care of your group brand: eventually it may start attracting sponsors of their own
○ brand quality
○ visibility
○ focus & clarity
● Too many sponsors (10+)? Not a problem if
○ they all get what they want, incl. visibility
○ your event / community brand isn’t hurt (e.g. “overcommercionalized”)
○ you don’t bleed out maintaining the relationship
Before/during/after event
BEFORE THE EVENT
● Let them pay for specific items, they
DURING THE EVENT
● Make sure they get what you
prefer it (often) to cash
● Agree specifically on the value you’
re exchanging
● Check if they want to pay for
specific items, ideally not cash
● Invite them to come over
promised
AFTER THE EVENT
● Produce report for them, incl. photos
(with partner’s logo or other