Lucas 11:18 am on June 21, 2024
Tags: Flagship WordCamps, global sponsors ( 22 ), proposal ( 17 ), Sponsor Team, sponsorship ( 22 ), wordcamp ( 27 )

Proposal for a Unified Sponsorship Initiative

Purpose: This proposal aims to enhance support for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers by forming a task force focused on streamlining sponsorship efforts, ensuring sustainability, and improving the overall sponsor experience. This is not intended to diminish the autonomy of WordCamp organizers but to offer them additional resources and support.

Flagship WordCamps have become an essential item in all our calendars throughout the year. They are the largest gathering of WordPress folks in the community and attract a lot of attention from the Media and our partners/sponsors. One of the biggest issues with becoming bigger is the need for more money and therefore more sponsoring activity, while still relying on the work of volunteers to organize this. Selling all the required sponsor spots gets harder and harder from year to year due to inflation and corporate consolidation in the WordPress ecosystem.

Those volunteers are facing the same discussions and questions from year to year when it comes to approaching sponsors:

What companies to approach for sponsorship?
How can we reach them? Is the list shared?
What are the sponsorship packages, what are the benefits to sponsors and what are some rules around them?
How can we make sure that sponsorship is sustainable for the community and the sponsor?
Why is [ACTION] allowed on WordCamp [Flagship Location] but not in WordCamp [Flagship Location]
How to approach this topic?
How to handle global sponsors for the flagship even if the rules are written down?

Each flagship is organized by those who apply to be an organizer and therefore follow the call. In the worst case, the whole team is different from the previous year’s and needs to rely solely on the documents of the previous year.

This proposal is to create an initial small task force inside the community that supports sponsorship teams; for now, this would focus on the three flagships (WC Asia, WCEUWCEU WordCamp Europe. The European flagship WordCamp event., and WCUSWCUS WordCamp US. The US flagship WordCamp event.) but have relevance to WordCamps and WordPress events, to help streamline the sponsor experience for everyone involved. The proposal is to open a call for volunteers for this task force as well as directly approach community members who might be a great fit. I’ve structured the possible tasks for a task force to work on it:

Sponsoring itself

Harmonize sponsoring benefits across the Flagships with fine adjustments to local e.g.: pricing, booth size, local things, …
- Successful benefit ideas like tweets, social events, booths,…
- Unsuccessful benefit ideas should be centrally listed.
- Common & best practice
Establish clear rules for sponsorship
- Booth regulations
- Handling larger companies with multiple brands
- Designing Sponsorship packages for small businesses while ensuring availability
Support for Sponsors and WordCamps Global Lead
Crafting wording around “Partner” or “Sponsoring” not “Exhibitor” packages

Sponsor Lifecycle

CRM of up-to-date sponsoring companies incl. contacts besides the Global sponsors
Guidance for first-time sponsors
- Crafting detailed onboarding and sponsoring documents
Support for “frustrated” sponsoring questioning value
- Example: More visibility by attending than sponsoring
Active outreach for potential sponsors outside the current sponsors but benefit from WordPress
Crafting detailed onboarding and sponsoring documents

Support for Sponsor Teams

Mentorship for Sponsoring Teams, also available as sparring Partners – a global sponsor mentorship team.
- Focused on Flagships
- Available for all WordCamps
- Trainings on learn.wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/?
Handbooks on how to approach local companies best
Collecting testimonials and ambassadors for the flagships
- Bring them to the Media Partners
- Work with PR Team ahead of Call for Sponsor
Support the sponsor team in the reflection of a WordCamp and centralize their feedback.

Tooling & Processes

Align contract and tooling with Sponsoring benefits
Streamlined processes and define the same tools to use for all flagship events, or at least for each one of them
Include in the process a survey/inquiry for sponsors that didn’t come back to better understand why

Goals: By implementing this initiative, we aim to:

Foster better relationships with sponsors.
Attract new sponsors and grow the ecosystem.
Provide a consistent, improved experience across all flagship events.
Ensure financial support for the growth of the WordPress community, facilitating impactful, inclusive, and rewarding WordCamps.

TODOs:

Better Mentoring for New Sponsors: Provide guidance and community insights.
Engage Sponsors: Encourage sponsor participation beyond sponsoring as speakers and media partners.
Feedback LoopLoop The Loop is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts. Using The Loop, WordPress processes each post to be displayed on the current page, and formats it according to how it matches specified criteria within The Loop tags. Any HTML or PHP code in the Loop will be processed on each post. https://codex.wordpress.org/The_Loop.: Implement clear communication and feedback mechanisms for sponsor teams.
Sponsor Communication: Emphasize the importance of sponsors sharing their work through their booth, recaps and active engagement.

Next Steps

Feedback Deadline: Please provide your feedback on this proposal by July 10th, 2024.

Specific Feedback Needed: Is this initiative worth pursuing? How should the task force be staffed? What are your expectations from this task force?

Post-Feedback Actions: Based on the feedback, if there is general support, we will ask the community team for nominees and open a call for volunteers to form the task force. We aim to establish initial actions before the next sponsorship teams for WordCamp Europe and US begin their work.

Thanks again to @juliarosia @peiraisotta @_dorsvenabili @devinmaeztri for your contributions to this proposal.

#flagship-wordcamps, #global-sponsors, #proposal, #sponsor-team, #sponsorship, #wordcamp

mikeo22 11:23 am on June 21, 2024

Hi
flopez1977 2:05 pm on June 21, 2024

I fully agree and support the initiative to create this kind of support group. It is important to be able to start from a number of bases in order to create an event, especially for new initiatives. In all the occasions you end up asking the mentorEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. or some organiser for certain information or you end up copying which companies have sponsored one place or another, but if from a kind of “cabinet centre” we could extend and maintain links with the big sponsors (such as Google, Microsoft, etc… ) or any other type of companies where we could classify by subject, country, size of the company, etc… when it comes to communicate from any WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. would be much better because in the communication process already got at the time the direct contact with the person of marketing or department in question and that will be a good point.
James Giroux 10:43 pm on June 22, 2024

I’d like to join the task force if that is an option.
Muhibul Haque 8:00 am on June 23, 2024

Great initiative!
Sebastian 6:58 am on June 26, 2024

Hi, it is great because in many cases people do not dip deep into contacts while looking for sponsors. I would take a part and join the team responsible for this initiative. We were able in Kraków (Poland) to host e.g. BMW as a sponsor using “new approach” so I am sure I can help “a bit” :). But I do not want to make it “heavy formal”. The aim should be to add more informarion into Handbook to make the life easier both for us, WC organizers, as well for out MentorsEvent Supporter Event Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. 🙂
asynadak 8:14 am on June 26, 2024

Hi Lucas,

Thank you for creating and sharing this proposal. This is a commendable effort that holds great potential for enhancing support for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers, streamlining sponsorship processes, and improving the overall sponsor experience.

The initiative to form a dedicated task force focused on harmonizing sponsorship efforts across flagship events addresses the challenges we face each year. Indeed we need to establish guidelines, best practices, and a – somehow – centralized support system in order to ensuring both sustainability and growth within our community.

From my experience on the sponsors team of WordCamp Europe over the past two years, I have seen the challenges and opportunities that come with managing sponsorships for such large events. The recurring questions and the need for a consistent approach are very importand and your proposal addresses these points.

I would also like to emphasise on the importance of maintaining the autonomy of individual WordCamp events while offering additional resources and support. This balance is crucial, as each flagship event has unique characteristics, regional audiences, and specific needs. It is essential that our approach remains flexible to allow each event to innovate and cater effectively to its local community.

I am looking forward to participating in further discussions on how to move forward with this initiative!

Thanks again 🙂
- Crixu 12:11 pm on June 28, 2024
  
  Yes we need to make sure WordCamps keep their autonomy and this working group is just a resource pool and supporter. With this in mind we need to ensure that the sponsor teams are still the point of contact for the WordCamps.
Steve Mosby 5:03 pm on June 27, 2024

Just to post here too (after posting on the WordCamp organising thread where I linked over), I think that this would be a great opportunity to harmonise our approach to sponsorship.

After my company sponsored an event last year, we’ve had approaches from other WordCamps to sponsor them (although they’re not in our market, or country) and I wonder how many other sponsors have a similar experience. A unified approach would be much better with relationships between sponsors and organising teams at a different level.

And I’m always 100% for a CRM where we can share and maintain such information!

Happy to support this however I can.
Juan Hernando 11:57 am on June 28, 2024

Hi @crixu, thanks for your proposal!

I think that the Unified Sponsorship Initiative is an essential step towards streamlining sponsorship efforts for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. events, ensuring sustainability, and enhancing sponsor experiences. By forming this dedicated task force, we can address recurring challenges and provide consistent support across flagship (and other!) events. This is crucial for maintaining the financial health and growth of the WordPress community, but also for adapting to our sponsors needs and for helping the current volunteers dealing with all these.

It would be important to have a coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. group of people managing most of the actionable elements of the proposal, but at the same time, to have a broader group where global sponsors, local sponsors, organisers, Central, and other volunteers are represented. Have regular meetings, listen to all the proposals from those specific working groups, and keep iterating, learning and improving.

I’m enthusiastic about the potential of this initiative and am happy to collaborate further to support its successful implementation! Count me in!
- Crixu 12:07 pm on June 28, 2024
  
  Maybe we can establish something like a regular roundtable meeting with sponsors, organizers, volunteers, community members,… to also discuss and debate on how we can make sponsoring WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. more sustainable for all parties.
Rocio Valdivia 9:37 am on July 4, 2024

Thanks for the proposal, @crixu!

I agree with standardizing our tools, centralizing our data in a CRM, and improving our documentation providing updated templates and step-by-step processes (at least for our flagships, but for all if possible).

This would reduce the workload of our organizers a lot and would improve the experience of our sponsors.

Besides that, as a phase 2 of this project, I envision creating a landing page for sponsors, for example, in events.wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org//sponsor/, similar to the Linux Foundation one: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/about/sponsor/ where we could highlight the size, globally organized and impact of our events.

Happy to join the working group when starting on it!
- Crixu 9:58 am on July 4, 2024
  
  A centralized landing page for sponsor would also make it easier for local WordCamps to connect them to bigger local/regional/national sponsors you wouldn’t think of in the first place.
Taco Verdonschot 11:25 am on July 9, 2024

Thank you for drafting this proposal, @crixu.

Wearing my sponsor hat

As a representative of a long-time (flagship) WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sponsor, I applaud the idea of unification. The more uniform offerings across (flagship) WordCamps are, the easier it becomes for sponsors to make a decision and get corporate buy-in. With a uniform focus on multi-brand sponsors, I think we should be able to prevent some of the existing frustrations.

If this means we’re also increasing the lead time for events, that’s an even bigger win for sponsors.

Wearing my community team hat

I’m curious to see how this would differ from having the current mentorship for flagship events. What additional support are we expecting to be able to provide, without (completely) taking over?

At the same time, I’m wondering if taking over the sponsorship arrangement (finding & contracting sponsors) with a focused group is a bad thing. It would free up the ‘local’ sponsors team to fully focus on executing the agreements, potentially leading to a better ROI for sponsors.

Wearing my conspiracy theory hat

If we’re crafting such a team that influences all the (flagship) WordCamp sponsorships, are we giving away too much power to a small group? And how do we assure that it’s not a single sponsor seizing control of that group? Are people in the group for a certain term? Are they voted in/out by their peers? Do we want reps of known sponsors (like myself) to be part of such a group?

Conclusion

I like the idea of unifying the approaches of our (flagship) events, but I do worry a bit about the practical implementation, transparency, and openness of such a powerful group. So, let’s explore your proposal further!
Lucas 9:03 am on July 12, 2024
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the Unified Sponsorship Initiative proposal. The feedback strengthen my idea while still maintaining the autonomy of all WordCamps and be more like a supporting unit, for both the sponsor teams and the sponsors.

Based on the feedback, the next steps involve forming a first working group with diverse profiles, including organizers, sponsor representatives, and other relevant stakeholders. This group will work with the Global Community TeamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps. on the following:
- Defining the structure and responsibilities of the supporting unit.
- Creating a support system for mentorship and centralized assistance.
- Establishing central resources for sponsor teams and sponsors. This might involve a landing page like events.wordpress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org//sponsor/, a CRM or support in dealing with sponsorship agreements.

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