Convene: What are the first steps for associations that might want to explore non-endemic sponsorship opportunities?
Allen: Determining the current attitudes of their members about the volume of existing sponsorship offerings throughout their event's respective venue, hotel rooms, and shuttle buses, will serve as an excellent compass as to whether or not they should even pursue non-endemic sponsorships. For example, if a show has sponsorship signage everywhere but on the paper products in the restrooms, their members will generally have a higher tolerance for these additional sponsorships. Conversely, if the only exhibitor signage on display is in the respective booths, they certainly must tread lightly. Obviously, surveys (online and off-line) are excellent ways to gauge members' attitudes about this subject.

Convene: What kind of information do they need to know about their members/trade show attendees? Allen: Other than their tolerance for additional sponsorships, associations need to gauge the potential desirability of their event audiences to prospective non-endemic sponsors. One should include profiles of attendees, exhibitors, staff, and press audiences when evaluating the desirability to potential sponsors. If their event is the Geriatric Parsimony Association they may find few takers, whereas if they head the Alacritous Spendthrift Association … they might have to fend off prospective sponsors with a large stick. The key is to provide as much scientific demographic information (preferably audited) as possible in making a compelling case to specific sponsors which could benefit most from exposure to the event audience.

Convene: What are non-endemic sponsors looking for in terms of demographic and lifestyle data and information?
Allen: The previously mentioned demographic and lifestyle data, along with verifiable audience size are exactly the type of information variables that will be required to acquire these sponsors and determine pricing. Another consideration is exactly how strict of an interpretation of "non" in non-endemic are we applying to this consideration? If a show is limiting sponsors to only industry companies, as opposed to non-exhibiting (loosely affiliated with your industry companies), their universe of potential sponsors is severely restricted by its limited pre-Copernicus nature, if you will. Just remember that a larger universe of potential sponsors can, at best, lead to a competitive bidding situation. At worst, it can eliminate any need to discount. Also, remember that event organizers are no longer in the business of only leasing booth space. They are really in the business of selling marketing opportunities.

Convene: What is the best way to capture this information? Surveys? Detailed membership renewal/application questions?
Allen: The veracity of the data supplied by the show is extremely important to the non-endemic sponsor. Remember that, to them, the association is not the "mother church." The event is just another marketing/advertising provider competing for a piece of their integrated marketing communications mix. The potential sponsors will do as President Reagan espoused: "Trust but verify." So yes, the association should gather as much information as possible about their membership/attendee profiles, including non-business information. This also applies to the exhibiting companies, who are another significant element of the "audience value proposition." For example, if I'm Southwest Airlines, I want to know how often the members fly, as well as the travel budgets of the exhibiting companies. If an association will ask the question, "Is my target audience also the prospective sponsors?"… when searching for the optimal non-endemic sponsor, they will most likely find a match. For the most part, an association can't provide too much information to their sponsor prospects. There are countless marketing research firms and integrated marketing communications agencies throughout the country that can assist you with such information capture.

Convene: What specific non-endemic sponsorship example can you provide that was successful? Was it an unusual, out-of-the-box partnership or a natural fit?
Allen: At the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association's Super Show back in its heyday several years ago, a special "Sports Collectibles Pavilion" was showcased in one of the show's highest traffic areas. Thus, over 60,000 sports buyers/enthusiasts patronized the pavilion. eBay was an excellent selection as the exclusive non-endemic sponsor for this compatible marketing opportunity, for obvious reasons.

Convene: What are associations' biggest challenges in terms of attracting and securing sponsors of this kind?
Allen: Gaining large enough market awareness as to the availability of the sponsorship offerings is the biggest challenge. Another obstacle faced is that the host facility may already provide sponsorship opportunities that are more attractive than what the association event can offer. The facility has much more real estate for sponsorship vehicles and can provide a longer duration of exposure to a much larger audience(s). In other words, they have the entire building all year long, whereas a show may have the lobby and exhibit hall for just a few days. To combat this "home field advantage," an association has to demonstrate, with detailed demographics, that its members provide an "exact target audience" from which the sponsor will benefit … and can't reach otherwise. The respective sponsor certainly can't reach this audience with the same low cost "per qualified impression" for which the event can provide. Accountability is another challenge. More and more non-endemic sponsors are demanding verifiable (i.e., audited) data that relates to all aspects of your audience. Naturally, expect "real attendance numbers" to be question No. 1.

Convene: Is the return worth the investment?
Allen: Most association organizers regard non-dues, non-booth revenue the same way they do motherhood and apple pie. As long as the sponsorship doesn't alienate your member base, and the sponsor's check clears … I would say that the investment is almost always worthwhile. In most cases, there exists little to no investment on behalf of the association organizer. All that the event is really selling is access to the target audience, which is of great value to certain non-endemic sponsors. Since the association organizer controls the audience, they also control the stage.

Convene: Once you have a non-endemic sponsor, how do you retain their sponsorship?
Allen: By demonstrating their return on their sponsorship investment. If you can, avoid the "billboard"-only factor of non-measurable response; that is, one doesn't know for sure if the billboard on the interstate is driving customers to his or her business, but one sure does "think it is working" or "it seems to be helping." Encourage your sponsors to include measurable feedback instruments into their sponsorship program with your event. These can be show-specific promotion codes to enter on their Web site, or reply cards to send in for special offers. In other words, anything that can tie a response or inquiry to your members would let the sponsor know their exact return on their participation in your non-endemic sponsorship program.

Convene: How can you demonstrate their ROI?
Allen: In its purest form, ROI equals "Total Sales at the Event … or As a Result of the Event" divided by "Total Investment for Participating in the Event." Let's face it, it's fairly easy to measure and manipulate the denominator of this equation. Reducing this number obviously increases ROI when the numerator is static. However, the static numerator (in this equation) is a mythical beast. In this vein, strict ROI is extremely difficult to precisely measure due to the fluctuating numerator. It simply depends on when you calculate the math. If a $1 million sale occurs two years following an event, but is a direct result of that past event, doesn't this affect the calculation which was measured six months earlier? Try to get sponsors to focus on return on objectives (ROO) from participating in the event. In the long run, ROO will drive ultimate ROI. Start with metrics that directly relate to the non-endemic sponsor's real objective. For instance, if the B.A.S.S. organization were to sponsor an Outdoor Sportsman Show, the number of newly converted members would be a highly relevant variable which should be tracked. Ultimately, actual results must be measured against specific and measurable objectives in order to calculate ROO.

°Michelle Russell is editor of Convene.

The C.W. Allen Group (www.cwallengroup.com) focuses on maximizing sponsorship sales, as well as professional sales training/coaching, educational and motivational speaking, and marketing communications.