You probably already realize this, but I work for a company that sponsors conferences. As the editor of Simple Talk, I actually get some ability to influence and choose some of the conferences we sponsor, and even some kinds of event we do.

For example, at PASS Summit 2024 (which ended yesterday as I type this editorial,) I was able to hold a breakfast for 100 attendees. It was a no-pressure, no-sales, just food and a few interludes for me to say, “Thank you!” to some great people, “Thank you for being newsletter subscribers” and “Let me make sure you have heard about Simple Talk.”

Some of the people who were there were subscribers to our newsletter, and some were people who had just searched for “Breakfast” in the session catalogue, and still others were contributors to our site. We all showed up for bacon, pancakes, eggs, etc. (There were vegan alternatives as well!)

Note too that while I will be talking specifically to Simple Talk, what I am going to cover is very much the same for any organization.

Why do we do things like this?

This got me thinking about why we do things like this in marketing. At Simple Talk I am directly marketing a free technical journal, podcast, etc. that Redgate lets us do. As I am sitting in the airport, waiting to fly back home, I started thinking about the WHY. Why did we do this? This question is exactly like the question of why large companies sponsor conferences of all sizes. In my mind it is largely indirect marketing.

While it would be awesome if you could sponsor a conference like the PASS Summit, or even a SQL Saturday and make a bunch of sales that day, it isn’t always the case. At a smaller event, it would be quite rare. So why do it? A lot is brand recognition, and you can help with that when you meet sponsors.

And I am not only talking about one post blowing up on Instagram with some beautiful pictures of bacon, though I wouldn’t fight that!

How can you help?

But let’s take our breakfast as an example. If every person in there just said “@Simple_Talk fed me a great breakfast,” let’s say that on X, each post gets even a very modest 50 views. Now this quick activity for these 100 people eating breakfast becomes 5000 views And if some people click over to the @Simple_Talk account and see that it is a service of Redgate… that is in their minds.

Add in a retweet or two and even a few likes, and you get the point, lots of people hear the name. So later when one of these people are thinking: “we need a tool that does database DevOps stuff, I wonder if Redgate does that? They did serve some nice breakfast.”

This is why, even if you aren’t in the market for a company’s products, just mentioning the ones that you were happy visiting makes the sponsorship fees and travel costs worth every cent. More people have heard about their brands in a favorable way.

Please do this for all vendors!

So, when a vendor is nice enough to sponsor an event, which you go to, learn stuff, and take home some fun toys, socks, or even a temporary increase to your cholesterol levels, thank them publicly. While this isn’t as good as securing a multi-million-dollar deal for software for each of your 1000 locations, or even as good as buying a single license for a product that you will use personally, for many sponsorships, you helping to spread the word is really all they are expecting.

If they get no buzz, no sales, and just bills; sponsorships will end and so will many of the smaller conferences. Larger ones will get more and more expensive too. All you have to do is just give them a link!