Sponsors

[twistedcricket]

My most pressing question is how we can all get the sweet swag for each regional event.

Can we post a list of vendors that always donate? Maybe post the regional vendors that donate to specific events as well in case last year's swag-getter is unable to attend or help???

Last year's CFO and so far the SFO and NAFO events had really great stuff! How do we keep the vendors interested in donating stuff? (i.e. "We get 50 people, reference the website, etc etc")

 

[luvtoride]

My most pressing question is how we can all get the sweet swag for each regional event.

Wow, a new section... coolness!

On topic: We sent a really nice letter via email. There are a few vendors who donate every year. I was looking at the latest EOM door prizes & so far see all donators gave last year.

I'd like to ask one of the NAFO guys what (& how) do they get goodies to give to each person.

Heidi

 

[Ignacio]

I'm thinking Toecutter and Warchild will be the best responders for the question.

Personally, I think integrating at least the major sponsors (in NAFO's case I think it was Bikeffects.com and RKA) into the banquets was important for the sponsors. They were as much attendees as they were sponsors. And somebody like Jeff Atchison that rides and FJR has a lot of street cred. That and we reserved them a table up at the front. Scott Cathay of Nline was another attendee as well.

I would add that I did a side deal with Alex Johnson for the only real swag we added to packets. Besides him donating some $20 off coupons for reflective stickers, I commissioned him for a set of custom NAFO stickers. He charged $325 for 300 of them...and we put one in every bag. At a cost of $1 each attendee....pretty good value IMO. The stickers were stunning I think too.

Good use of the new area too......good question!

Matt

 

[thompsonian]

To add to Heidi's response, if anyone would like a copy of the letter to use for their respective meets, shoot me a PM with your email and I'll pass them your way.

-Dave

 

[luvtoride]

If that happens I highly recommend that you use it for an idea & "completely" change the letter using your own words. I know that some of the same vendors give to more than one meet. How insulting it'd be to receive the same letter from a different group.

 

[Toecutter]

I'm thinking Toecutter and Warchild will be the best responders for the question.

Not so much myself....

The first clue I had that I was supposed to be involved with the acquisition of NAFO swag was in a PM from TWN that I received on July 24th, five days prior to leaving for Colorado. After arriving, during the first staff gathering on Wednesday, I was presented with my staff badge, which read "Vendor and Swagmeister". To me, it was the Staff badge of shame, given the lack of vendors, swag, and prior notice I had been given. It would have been nice to have known about six months prior, minimum, so I could have made a reasonable and coordinated effort to acquire swag and line up vendors.

It wasn't just me. I overheard an attendee complaining to another about the lack of vendors and how much better last year was in Park City. The last time I spoke to Wayne Boyer of Cycleport, he told me he was planning to attend, but wasn't there either.

I'll get over it, but at the time, I really felt like saddling up and going home, except I was too tired from the ride there. :glare:

Moving forward, we can do better....

 

[twistedcricket]

It wasn't just me. I overheard an attendee complaining to another about the lack of vendors and how much better last year was in Park City. The last time I spoke to Wayne Boyer of Cycleport, he told me he was planning to attend, but wasn't there either.
Moving forward, we can do better....

I was hoping for more vendors as well. Jeff from BikeEffects was great at answering my questions while there. I was hoping for more from Yamaha personally.

Following a BMW meet may have led to some vendor availability issues? One rumor I heard was that the exhaust vendor (who's name I forget) couldn't attend NAFO because they said they sold out or something while at the BMW-MOA event. Doesn't make sense to me, at the least they could have shown up and taken orders.

I did like the recognition of the vendors that did attend during the banquets.

Iggy - did you just PM Alex (RealTime Industries) and ask what his minimum order would be? Hopefully he could do about 100 stickers for CFO, but the timing might not work out great (around 6 weeks now).

 

[Fencer]

Dave,

If Cycleport was unable to make it to NAFO, offer them a "second chance" at EOM.

I had sent Borrec on a mission to bring me back some kevlar from them, but he called and said they were a no-show.

Just as a side note (happy for me) I am told I'll get my bike back this week (a week too late, but I'll be back on the road again)

 

[Ignacio]

Iggy - did you just PM Alex (RealTime Industries) and ask what his minimum order would be? Hopefully he could do about 100 stickers for CFO, but the timing might not work out great (around 6 weeks now).

I did PM him. I e-mailed him a graphic of what our shirts were...and he then converted the full color version into two possibilities and asked me to choose. In fact, here's the proof he gave me.

We chose the rounded one, knew we had 260 paid people so I ordered 300, asked for a price, and he quoted $325. We had some history with each other, so he knew we'd talk him up at the event. They were very popular too...even more than the ones we did at WFO-6.

He was even gracious enough to send the stickers while I mailed a check.

I would imagine he could scale to 100 stickers. It might be a bit more expensive per sticker, but would still seem doable. It's great personalized swag for the price....and we sold out of them as we ended up selling most of the other 40 or so for $3 each.

 

[thompsonian]

I'll gladly try to contact them for EOM if someone can shoot me some details.

 

[Fencer]

I'll gladly try to contact them for EOM if someone can shoot me some details.

best I can do

 

[luvtoride]

Did Yamaha have a presence @ NAFO this year? If not, maybe they'd be interested in EOM. I expect that the meet will probably be bigger than last year & we had about 110 bikes in '07.

The last I had heard about Yamaha is that they would no longer support anyone else but WFO/NAFO... which does not seem fair to me. But maybe that is right for them. I don't know.

 

[Toecutter]

Did Yamaha have a presence @ NAFO this year?

There were 200+ Yamaha's at NAFO, but not one shred of support or presence from the mothership.

Gulfstream provided more swag than Yamaha did. (I got a hat!)

 

[Ignacio]

Did Yamaha have a presence @ NAFO this year?

There were 200+ Yamaha's at NAFO, but not one shred of support or presence from the mothership.

Ditto. I'm extremely disappointed in Yamaha.

We handed them a national gathering....the very first one in fact.....and not only did they skip it....I think they snubbed us.

We actually made the NAFO dates work around their schedule to come from Laguna Seca with the semi...got their verbal...and then they bailed on that. Then we then asked if they'd send swag in the alternative...and again got the verbal.....but they didn't even send a friggin' key chain or cup cozy.

We were locked in by that point and did fine without them, but my toast Saturday to the FJR was to the motorcycle and NOT Yamaha.

I have been hoping that some NAFO attendee would start something in the general forum on this.......

 

[luvtoride]

Wellll, sounds like maybe EOM swagman should work on Yamaha. Will be talking with thompsonian.

 

[twistedcricket]

Did Yamaha have a presence @ NAFO this year?

There were 200+ Yamaha's at NAFO, but not one shred of support or presence from the mothership.

Ditto. I'm extremely disappointed in Yamaha.

We handed them a national gathering....the very first one in fact.....and not only did they skip it....I think they snubbed us.

We actually made the NAFO dates work around their schedule to come from Laguna Seca with the semi...got their verbal...and then they bailed on that. Then we then asked if they'd send swag in the alternative...and again got the verbal.....but they didn't even send a friggin' key chain or cup cozy.

We were locked in by that point and did fine without them, but my toast Saturday to the FJR was to the motorcycle and NOT Yamaha.

I have been hoping that some NAFO attendee would start something in the general forum on this.......

I'm your huckleberry

:assassin:

 

[twistedcricket]

What about asking a local dealership to be a "Gold Sponsor" (or whatever) for a rally? Get their banner, hoist it up, tell people about the services offered (tire changes, later Saturday service hours for just us) and ask them for Yamaha trinkets? It has to be beneficial for them, and I'm drawing a blank as to how that would work...

For some of the IT conferences I attend, there's a "Partner" whose logo is everywhere and they basically get a ton of advertising. I don't know what they pay and some conferences have far greater attendance than our rallies (for now). Granted, our attendance isn't always 50+ bikes, but I don't think it's anything to sneeze at.

 

[spklbuk]

I went in person to the dealer who works with EOM Lewisburg on tires and such and asked politely. They already knew me by selling me an FJR and the salesman I worked it thru rides one too, so that may have been the key. They did it last year and have agreed to work with us again this year, all for nothing more than word of mouth on the forum and at the meet.

I really like the idea of making them an "official" partner with some more concrete advertisement and perhaps presence on their part. Might this be an avenue worth pursuing for our upcoming meet?

 

[slapnpop]

This one kind of goes against my policies on the forum...

So for my commercial perspective on things, you have to sell the meet. I wish I would have paid attention to what was going on with NAFO on the front end and I would have done everything I could. That being said, EOM is drawing close and your guy's window is closing.

You need to have a realistic estimate on your number of attendees. Orangevale's effort for WFO6 went as far as to chart FJR owners average spending habits for accessories, and talked up the captive audience part. It's all a shill game to some point, but you gotta be the used car salesman. You obviously don't want to come off flaky, but you have to justify the expense of their donations with potential future revenue. I'm certainly not the world's best sales guy, but I can work a phone well enough to ******** a marketing guy into a couple hundred dollars worth of swag. Look at what companies you've bought stuff from for your FJR, and call those places. Offer to put up company banners, pass out fliers with registration packs, etc. If they have an "in" for advertising that you can do easily, this is the best way to accommodate their needs.

Change the mindset. You're not begging for free stuff. You're selling advertising options in exchange for product.

Most vendors are also very concerned that the stuff be going to a legitimate meet. Have a website up early that looks halfway professional. Be very upfront and public about all of the donations going directly to door prizes, and stick to it.