How many times have you gone to a conference and heard anything much said about the sponsors? Sure they are present and you see them – so there is a brand impact. But there isnt much in the way of real interaction.
At Barcamp London last weekend, there was definite interaction with the sponsors. From people saying “My view of Yahoo has completely changed” (they hosted the event and provided some of the food) to just the general gratitude towards the sponsors for providing things like food, drink, free t-shirts (I never saw so many in one place before!) and networking cables!
Here is the full list of sponsors:
Yahoo! UK, venue and connectivity!
eBay, Saturday lunch
Yahoo! UK, Saturday dinner + beers!
BBC.co.uk and backstage.bbc.co.uk, Sunday breakfast and Sunday lunch!
TechCrunch, drinks and snacks for the event!
Chinwag, sponsoring event t-shirts!
Belkin, power and network equipment