> Sponsorship page in process.

> One of the things that has lead to the creation of this site is this question.  How do I get swag?  It is the most frequent question I am asked.  I am sure this is due in no small part to the amount of swag I was able to obtain for FWGG 3 and 4.  After answering a bunch of emails on this I thought....well crap why don't I list it along with some of the other info we have suffered to find out.

> ROI and why you care.
ROI is an acronym for RETURN ON INVESTMENT.  This, in a nut shell, is the measure of what a company will get out of what they give you.  If they give you $100 of product they expect AT LEAST that much to return their pockets through increased product sales, brand awareness, advertising trade, etc.  If they do not receive that or more, then they can not justify the expenditure.

So let us say that JOHN DOE LAN tells XYZ video card company that they will have 300 people at their event.  XYZ decides that 6 cards are good for that size.   A product value in the thousands of dollar range.  In reality JOHN DOE LAN ends up with 50 gamers at the event.  XYZ video card company will lose their butts on the deal and will not get a return equal to what they gave.

Guess what?  Now your LAN will get less or nothing at all from XYZ video card company because that twit from JOHN DOE LAN lied or grossly over estimated his attendance.  XYZ video card company has now exhausted their promotional budget for the year or worse decide that they don't wish to promote their products at LAN events anymore.

You are responsible for doing anything you can to ensure your sponsors get ROI!

> Too much?
Well what you can't tell is the logistical nightmare that mass quantities of swag can create.  How do you give away all of this stuff (100's of items) and still get some gaming done, while maintaining the ability of getting a picture of what everyone gets?  Although people were happy to leave with something cool, they were not so happy about my voice interrupting their gaming every 10 minutes.   For FWGG 4 we thought, ok we will give it away in larger chunks.  This helped but I was still on the mic way to much and people were standing around waiting for names to be read.  It just took way to long and was annoying.  This is something to defiantly consider when you plan how you will disperse your goodies.

> Getting SWAG to your door.
Ok so exactly how do I get swag and / or sponsors.  Well there are many ways to accomplish this.  My way certainly is not the only way.  It is however what I found worked best for me.

> Do your homework
First you need to decide who are you going after.  Well yeah, EVERYONE would be great but it doesn't work like that JR.  So lets start by answering a few questions about your event.

• How many gamers can you HONESTLY say you expect
• what age group(s) will they be
• what games are they most likely to play
• where will they come from (what markets)
• do you expect media coverage and what type
• how many hits do you get on your site (unique and returning)

The answers will tell us a bit about who we should go after or go after first, and what we should expect.  For example.  If you are going to have up to 25 people, at your event you are not going to get a video card from XYZ company. The ROI is just not there for the sponsor.

Now that you know which companies are on your get list, you need to go about finding out a little about that company and who you need to be in contact with.  Let's start with their web site.  Look under the contact information.  Some companies will have a sponsorship contact email right there.  I rarely use that but make note of the name it is attached to or that it is there.  Some companies will also have employees or board members listed along with their job descriptions.

>Plan your attack....errrrr approach.
I personally prefer to call first, then send a follow up email with all the details about the event, links to our site, a thanks for their time, my contact info, and a summation of what we spoke about.  Everyone sends emails first.  It's the easy way, and therefore the easy way to get rejected.  It is also more difficult to build a rapport with someone via email.  I want to build a relationship with this individual, not just get a quick shipment.

Who are you looking or asking for?  The head of promotions, marketing, advertising, public relations, or my favorite, start with the top (CEO or President) and work your way down till you find the right person.  Trust me the CEO is going to know who he has handling promotions.  I do not like starting at the bottom and working up, I want to talk the person who can tell me yes or no.

example::
(BETTY GATE KEEPER) XYZ company this is Betty may I help you? (me) Good Morning Betty, JOHN DOE please. (BETTY GATE KEEPER) May I tell him who is calling? (me) MY FULL NAME
[usually this is all it takes but some extreme gatekeepers will go farther]
(BETTY GATE KEEPER) what is this in regards to?  (me opt#1) Sure Betty it is regarding promotion which I understand he handles, could you connect me please?
(me opt#2) I'm sorry I need to speak with John directly, would you connect me please?
[this is 100% truthful of course because Betty can not make a decision for you. You need to speak with Mr. Doe.]

I do not like leaving messages, speaking to gatekeepers, or someone who will say, I will ask our guy if he is interested in sponsoring your event.  Actually if they say, I will ask MR. JOHN DOE bla bla bla, I will actually call back a little later and ASK for that person directly.  There is one person best qualified to explain my event, and that is me.  I want the decision maker to hear about my event from me... not Betty.

example::
MR. JOHN DOE, I spoke with BETTY GATE KEEPER earlier and forgot to mention (whatever) to her and wanted to make sure you had this information before you made your decision.  Has she mentioned our event (the promotional opportunity) that I spoke with her about yet?

> Do your business a favor, be a sponsor LAN party events. You might be surprised at how many gamers there are and their influence on your patrons. Gamers come from all age groups, income levels, backgrounds, races and locations. Contact a LAN host today!

> To see a list of our current LPN sponsors click here. We offer banner locations on our main page, sub pages, links from our links page and event day banners and/or literature in exchange for cash and/or product donations.