LAN party Sponsors?

TheTyrant

Gawd
Joined
Feb 3, 2003
Messages
684
Just asking around, what sponsors that you LAN party organizers have contacted, and had great results. As the events grow, the need for more prizes is greatly needed. the Current Sponsors that i have used and had great results are:
!. bawls
2. thermaltake
3. Shatterweb
4. corsair
5. red bull


I greatly need more...help Follow brothers out. For the Optimal LAN Gaming Experience.
 
You know that Ingrid will pull their sponsorship if they find out you have another drink as a sponsor, right?
 
really?...well what they dont know wont hurt them, i hope though dont..they are really nice PR group.
 
Out of curiosity how big of a lan party does one need to get some sponsorship, and what do you say to these businesses?

I've been having lan parties for the past year and a 1/2 now and the word has spread to a few of the nearby towns. It's starting to look like the spring break bash is gonna be around 50ish. At the moment I don't have an prizes for anyone, what people pay to come only covers the rent for the building we use.
 
Getting sponsors often depends on where you are. I've slowy been getting them - start with companies that have sponsorship programs - you my have to search a bit, but those that have web sign ups include:
nVidia, Thermaltake, Bawls, and my mind is a blank for the rest.
I've noticed that LAN groups in large population centers tend to get better sponsorship than smaller areas. My group is on the east side of WA state - and LANs half my size over on the coase (Seattle area) get gobs more sponsorhip. Why? marketing, sales, demographics ans what not. It could be that I'm not "aggressive" enough in my approach - who knows. I have found that those companie that are "very enthuisastic" about sponsorship don't come through - been burned a few times.

Remember that most companies get hit up for free stuff all the time - I've offered to buy stuff at a discount, or pay for shipping even. Don't beg - or maybe you should because not begging hasn't gotten me too far, but has earned me some loyal sponsors.

LAN party prizes are not a "right" - but most gamers don't realize this. Some months i've been able to give away $500+ worth of stuff - others, less than $100.

The "big" sponsorship for me is caffiene and food - I have a great deal with a local pizza chain and get about 50% off the regular prices for the 15+ pizzas I order each month. It worked out that I didn't ask for "free" pizza, but that I was running a regular event, with a lot of people and was looking for a low cost, long term 'sponsor' to form a parntership with. I also worked out a deal with the hotel we use for a reduced rate (about 2/3 of the regular price) if i do 10 events a year - that reduced cost. The biggest nut to crack of me in Spokane is getting the locally owned computer companies on board - may differ where you are at.

Remember - when someone sponsors your event, they ARE looking for something in return - ad space and gamers buying thier products are just two. The big thing with some sponsors is not understanding the culture. I've got mine where I cover expenses and don't charge an arm and a leg - and it's an all inclusive 24 hour event - I feed them, lots of pop, and manage to get prizes to give away AND get network gear / server upgrades that are needed from time to time.

IM me if you want to talk about it some more. LANaddict.com has a good forum for LAN hosters too - (not my site, but i list my events there)

peace,
Tim
 
Originally posted by ]|[ Mar']['in ]|[
Out of curiosity how big of a lan party does one need to get some sponsorship, and what do you say to these businesses?

I've been having lan parties for the past year and a 1/2 now and the word has spread to a few of the nearby towns. It's starting to look like the spring break bash is gonna be around 50ish. At the moment I don't have an prizes for anyone, what people pay to come only covers the rent for the building we use.

Players for Sponsorship: Any number, if you put the word out to sponsors. Just tell them your background with the LAN, games you are playing, how many people, and other things you can offer them to do, give out flyers, hang a banner, banner on a website, if your lan group has one.
 
Originally posted by somecallmeTim
Getting sponsors often depends on where you are. I've slowy been getting them - start with companies that have sponsorship programs - you my have to search a bit, but those that have web sign ups include:
nVidia, Thermaltake, Bawls, and my mind is a blank for the rest.
I've noticed that LAN groups in large population centers tend to get better sponsorship than smaller areas. My group is on the east side of WA state - and LANs half my size over on the coase (Seattle area) get gobs more sponsorhip. Why? marketing, sales, demographics ans what not. It could be that I'm not "aggressive" enough in my approach - who knows. I have found that those companie that are "very enthuisastic" about sponsorship don't come through - been burned a few times.

Remember that most companies get hit up for free stuff all the time - I've offered to buy stuff at a discount, or pay for shipping even. Don't beg - or maybe you should because not begging hasn't gotten me too far, but has earned me some loyal sponsors.

LAN party prizes are not a "right" - but most gamers don't realize this. Some months i've been able to give away $500+ worth of stuff - others, less than $100.

The "big" sponsorship for me is caffiene and food - I have a great deal with a local pizza chain and get about 50% off the regular prices for the 15+ pizzas I order each month. It worked out that I didn't ask for "free" pizza, but that I was running a regular event, with a lot of people and was looking for a low cost, long term 'sponsor' to form a parntership with. I also worked out a deal with the hotel we use for a reduced rate (about 2/3 of the regular price) if i do 10 events a year - that reduced cost. The biggest nut to crack of me in Spokane is getting the locally owned computer companies on board - may differ where you are at.

Remember - when someone sponsors your event, they ARE looking for something in return - ad space and gamers buying thier products are just two. The big thing with some sponsors is not understanding the culture. I've got mine where I cover expenses and don't charge an arm and a leg - and it's an all inclusive 24 hour event - I feed them, lots of pop, and manage to get prizes to give away AND get network gear / server upgrades that are needed from time to time.

IM me if you want to talk about it some more. LANaddict.com has a good forum for LAN hosters too - (not my site, but i list my events there)

peace,
Tim

First off, this has to be one of the best posts i have ever seen! thank you so much for all the info.

Second: i need to look in for the Nvidia sponsor, i remember i had trouble finding a contact for a sponsorship. Will look into that.

Third: I never thought of Offering paying for 50% of the merch, or paying shipping. I just sent my first wave of Sponsorships emails. I shall send one more, offering to pay for shipping and/or discount price for merchandise.

Fourth: LAN party prizes are not a "right". Nobody at our LANs have complained about items, its more for gaming. But i feel bad if i cant offer them anything. The LAN that i help put on, is a growing one. 4 a year. So sponor items should be there if we are charging 15 door, and 10 prepay.

Fifth: Already hitup the free pizza idea. I dont think the pizza place knew was going to happen. We got 3 Sheets of Pizza, and We ordered almost $ 200 of food. and got a good tip. So, i think that he liked that idea! and shall do it again.

ok..now i have a question. do you offer like 4 big events and 6 smaller events. or 10 constint events. i Was thinking in running a few mini-LANs, to go along with the larger ones. Just at the MINI-LANs offer one to two games, and have that game company sponsor. (ex. Dungeon Siege II, is coming out soon, i was thinking on running a DS: Legend of Aranna tournie, and see if gas powered games to sponsor. and so on and so on. )

But when i get home, i shall IM you and we shall talk more. im currently on break at work. i work for a cable internet provider. and its busy! ahh..time to get back to work.
 
Originally posted by TheTyrant
First off, this has to be one of the best posts i have ever seen! thank you so much for all the info.

Thanks - :) - glad I could help out a fellow LAN host (it's a lotta work)

Second: i need to look in for the Nvidia sponsor, i remember i had trouble finding a contact for a sponsorship. Will look into that.

http://www.nvidia.com/content/sponsorship/frmsponsorship.asp

ok..now i have a question. do you offer like 4 big events and 6 smaller events. or 10 constint events. i Was thinking in running a few mini-LANs, to go along with the larger ones. Just at the MINI-LANs offer one to two games, and have that game company sponsor. (ex. Dungeon Siege II, is coming out soon, i was thinking on running a DS: Legend of Aranna tournie, and see if gas powered games to sponsor. and so on and so on. )

My LANs (or SMo-gs as we call them) have grown from half day (12 hours) to 24 hours. The room I have, space and power wise, is good for up to about 60 gamers' PC's - plus servers and some staffer's systems. The only difference in "size" is I'm going to run a few 40 hour events in 2004 - mainly because my SMo-ggers asked for them.
 
Im the co-coordinator of a LAN in the works right now...

luckily i got my school (yes my school) to let us use their equipment/power/network for FREE. All of the proceeds from this LAN party are being donated to the American Cancer Society. Its alot of work getting everything else organized though
 
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