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#020 Sponsorship
Mo' Yodeling Mo' Problems
Today's read ... 8️⃣ minutes
Sustainable stadiums in our future, a successful #SaveOurStages festival in our past, a heartwarming move during hard times, could it all be a dream ~ a “new” song from Notorious B.I.G., and our biggest giveaway yet!
Insomniac’s Hard Summer will return, but this time to the NOS Events Center in San Bernardino, California on July 31st and August 1st, 2021.
While a recent study shows that airline passengers wearing masks are at very low risk of contracting Covid-19, the same can’t be said at this Swiss yodeling festival, which is believed to have caused one of the worst case explosions in Europe.
Congratulations to NIVA and YouTube for raising $1.8 million with their virtual #SaveOurStages festival last week! Just in case you missed out - performances, merchandise, and information to contact Congress is still available.
A government-backed insurance scheme may be the next step to get entertainment back on its feet. That’s what event sectors in the UK and Australia are pushing for as insurance companies are excluding communicable diseases out of their policy options.
Vice’s Emma Garland breaks down “how shit our lives would be” without live events. “At least half of my childhood memories involve festival camping or running around a beer garden.”
In the world of Rock N’ Roll, Wisconsin’s Rock USA has gone bankrupt but Aftershock Festival in Sacramento is a go for the weekend of October 7th, 2021.
Italian artist Elisa makes a heartwarming move by giving all €190,000 in funds raised from her September tour to her crew and bandmates. “We felt passion again and dedication for our job and we were all truly moved to be part of this great adventure,” says her Production Manager.
The first major arena show in the US is set to take place this December, at Rupp Arena in Kentucky. With a 15% capacity and headliners Three 6 Mafia, all event professionals will be watching!
The world’s first ‘demountable’ stadium is under construction in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. This 40,000-seat stadium in the Persian Gulf will be entirely dismantled and repurposed after the games, setting a new standard in tournament sustainability.
This “new” Notorious B.I.G. track might make you want to grab a P.E.P.S.I.
Time to Rewrite the Rules
Up next on the growing list of things changing in the music industry for 2020 - the radius clause. Live streams are currently one of the main ways for artists to bring music to fans. In the past live streams typically act as marketing or a bonus feature of the event. Now artists are finding a new way to make virtual events more creative by putting on a show anywhere. These experiences can be unique and not modeled after a typical live show, allowing for individual fan engagement. With live streams replacing live concerts, how does this affect artist contracts? Some artists have started to charge fans for this concert experience which allows artists to grab sponsor dollars because of the attendance associated with the show. While these times have forced change they have also allowed room for endless innovation. Find out more about how the radius clause is being written.
The Ever-Evolving Drive-Ins
Chicago-based Collectiv Presents has optimized the experience for full band drive-in concert series. Billy Strings, Jeff Tweedy, and Trampled By Turtles will be continuing the series by doing a Halloween leg. With safety on everyone's mind, pods have become essential in distancing fans. Event producers currently running live shows hold an indispensable responsibility for leading other events safely with new protocols. Another critical measure to uphold high safety standards is understanding one’s audience. With ticket prices on the higher end, to make up for the lower capacity, targeting more affluent demographics contributes to these shows' success. Another takeaway from this series is understanding that communication is key to enforce new distancing practices. Is all of this financially worth it? Find out more here.
Keeping Small Venues Afloat
As we enter month eight of the pandemic, it is essential to stay positive and focused on the future of live events. Stephen Sternschein, founder of the National Independent Venue Association, recently created a "Live Music Club Pandemic Survival Guide" to help venues stay afloat during the red tide. Here are what venues should be doing now:
Rule 1: Develop your brand online to help build customer loyalty
Rule 2: “Sell” your venue as a lifestyle brand; experiment with new ideas like live streaming or monthly subscription services
Rule 3: Renegotiate your rent and incentivize your landlords
Rule 4: Collaborate with other independent venues; experiment together
Read more about Billboards list of must do’s and encourage your local independent venues to work through these tasks!
Teresa Stas is a national speaker, author, and CEO of Green Cactus, an event sponsorship and marketing agency based in Fresno, CA, and Portland, OR. She has brokered millions of dollars in sponsorships for her event clients working with local, regional and national brands. She currently handles partnerships for several events along the west coast such as the national relay Hood to Coast, the Oregon State Fair, Country Fan Fest, and the nationally recognized Gilroy Garlic Festival.Teresa is an Oregon State University graduate and holds a Sports Marketing Certification from Columbia University. She is the author of the book “Sell Your Event! The Easy to Follow Practical Guide to Getting Sponsors” and writes the column “Small Event, Big Sponsors” for IFEA’s “ie” magazine, and her online course SellSponsorships.com has been used in university course work and by event professionals nationwide. She currently resides in central California with her husband and step-son.
If you are in the event industry you probably woke up sometime this week and asked yourself “what the actual hell?” I ask myself this regularly, I look at all the events on my calendar that I was supposed to be working this time last year and see the red “cancelled” marked across them. I see the projections of what not only our client’s sponsorship dollars were, but also what my agency was projected to earn in 2020 and it has dwindled to nothing. There is no beating around the bush, this year SUCKS!
Working in the world of sponsorships puts me in a unique situation of seeing the impact of COVID not only on events, but also on those brands and companies that support them through event partnerships. It is not only the events that are suffering but the brands are too. Some sponsorship industries are holding up better than others but for the most part they were all impacted in some significant way. I saw entire field marketing teams let go, entire marketing teams sized down to two people, and companies shut down entirely. I struggled to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I wondered if our agency was going to be one of the companies that didn’t make it, like so many of my industry colleagues, I was afraid that we may not come back from this industry shutdown. This was supposed to be a big year for our events and for our agency and now I’m wondering if we will even be around in a year. Oh, and did I mention that my book about sponsorships comes out today (Sell Your Event! The Easy to Follow Practical Guide to Getting Sponsors)! Perfect timing, right? What the actual hell?
I write all of this because it’s this mindset that I had to drag myself out of to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to be able to tell my event clients that all is not lost. Like many of you, I have seen such innovation and tenacity from the event industry. The creativity that has made us successful in the first place will be what saves us. Sponsors will be one of our biggest allies when it comes to rebuilding our industry. What does the sponsorship landscape look like now? Can’t lie, it’s rocky but sponsors are still out there and believe it or not, now is the time to start looking for them! Your event may not look the same next year but if you plan on having some version of it, whether it be virtual, hybrid, drive-in, or social-distanced you need to approach sponsors now! I say this because we are in the fourth quarter and this is when sponsors start to plan their budgets for the following year. Budgets are being cut because of financial hardship for a lot of companies and you want to get on their radar now while there is still time. If you wait until things “calm down” or until they are “normal” you most likely will miss the boat. Here are some tips to selling sponsorships that can be applied to today’s climate from my new book, Sell Your Event!
Audience data is the lifeblood of your sponsorships. You don’t have to be Coachella to sell sponsorships, but you do have to understand you are selling access to your audience.
Communication is key! Sponsors are keeping track of the changing situation as best they can while also focusing on their own businesses. As events begin to reopen, restructure, or go virtual, it is important you communicate and provide updates as soon as possible. Make sure to include your sponsors in the conversation as your event evolves and always keep in mind what they are trying to achieve as a sponsor.
The principles for selling live event sponsorships are the same for virtual or hybrid events. You must understand what the sponsor is trying to get out of the sponsorship. Just like in a live event, you need to know what the sponsor is trying to achieve. You need to know if you can help them meet that goal no matter what type of event you are doing. Just taking a sponsor who had a major activation at your live event and offering them a logo on a Facebook stream will most likely not generate the same excitement or sponsorship dollars.
Will you be dressing up for Halloween this week?
Last Week's Results:We loved hearing from our BOH Subscribers! We can't wait to share our upcoming Headliners with you!
▶️ Ready to set sail? Carnival Cruise Line is looking for an experienced Technical Entertainment & Lighting Manager.
▶️ Join SiriusXM as their newest Production Assistant for a radio show.
▶️ Solomon Group, a live experiences studio, is looking to hire a team of freelancers from rigging to production.
▶️Check out the most popular Halloween costumes since 1983! How many of these characters have you dressed up as? ▶️ The satisfying joy of watching old, damaged things get restored.▶️ Have a song on the tip of your tongue but can’t quite recall the words? Google search can now identify songs from humming just a few notes.
October 27: Explore the seismic shifts in technology that continue to rock the music business at Music Tectonics Conference, and connect with music tech innovators on a highly interactive online event platform.October 28: As we return to live events, it’s more important than ever to create safe environments and experiences. From meeting setups to F&B, this panel will discuss how to step up your in-person, hybrid, and virtual gatherings.October 28: A conversation about creating the brand purpose at Sur la Table, challenges and surprises along the way, and the future of customer experiences for retail.October 29: Join Music Biz for a conversation around how brands are integrating talent in the new virtual landscape. November 2: A climate action workshop for arts organizations with Julie’s Bicycle and guests to inspire organizations to reframe their cultural leadership and rethink relationships with their spaces, events, and communities.
