Play On Con Sponsorship Drive

We've reached our first goal!   One week left to reach the others!          

 

What is Play On Con?

POC is a four-day, family-friendly fandom convention held each year in Birmingham, Alabama. We’re a fan-created, fan-run, and fan-supported event.  We focus on four main areas for our attendees:

1. Shows: Interactive and energetic events that welcome new fans as well as old.
2. Gaming: The best board, rpg, live action, video, and card gaming available.
3. Parties: Nightly (and daily!) hospitality events thrown by award-winning party hosts.
4. Community: Active personal involvement with related fandom events throughout the year.

      

What are you featuring for this year’s show?

The biggest announcement is that we’re hosting the show at a Summer Camp!   The Alabama 4-H Hotel and Convention Center features some of the finest meeting space we’ve seen, a collection of hotel and dorm rooms, and a wide array of traditional “campy” activities like canoeing, archery, and nighttime campfires.  We have exclusive use of the property, access to the pool all day and night, and we don’t have to worry about “mundanes” and their “noise complaints”.

We will be featuring  the  events that have made Play On Con notorious with the convention crowd:  Live music, open and tournament gaming, nightly party battles, audience-inclusive performances and workshops, video gaming, the biggest game library we’ve ever seen, costuming workshops and contests, Film Festivals,  and tracks for Anime, Steampunk, Star Trek, Star Wars, and many more.

Why are you looking for additional funding for your convention?

So we can make our convention bigger and better!  The mission-critical parts of the con are already funded, but we have a huge opportunity this year with our new property to make something truly spectacular.  We need your help to pursue that and to continue pushing things over the top like we always have!

From 2008-2011, our con doubled in attendance every year.  In 2012 we saw exponential growth online, with several videos from the event racking up over 70,000 hits a piece on YouTube.  For this year's upcoming event, we sold out every hotel room less than a month after announcing.  So we know we're onto something here!

We spent a lot making 2012's event happen, though, and we simply don't have enough funds on hand going into this year to line up everything we feel like we should.  We're confident that, given a proper boost this year, we can successfully push POC through to the next level!

What are the donations going to do for the convention?

There are three main areas we want to improve.  Each section has two goals we are stretching towards.

$4000: Shuttle Service 1 and Outdoor Events 1
$5000: Entertainment 1
$7000: Shuttle Service 2
$8000: Outdoor Package 2
$10000: Entertainment Package 2

 

 

 

Shuttle Service:  Since parking on-site is going to be limited, we are seeking to get a shuttle traveling to and from the overflow hotel in regular intervals.  This will allow people staying at the overflow hotel to travel without worry about parking.  We’ve also secured a parking lot near the hotel so that inbound guests can opt to park off-site and use the shuttle to get to the convention.  We would also like to offer airport shuttles for our out-of-town guests.

1. Basic travel at a few times each day to and from the overflow.  One Airport trip each day.
2. Catered service to run constant shuttles to and from the overflow.  Multiple Airport trips.

 

 

Outdoor Events:  Almost all the outdoor events at 4H require a trained staff member to run them.  We will be using funds to make sure the climbing wall, the archery range, the canoes, and other “camp” events are available to as many POC attendees as we can.  There is even a Bird of Prey presentation we’d like to book.

1. Several low level activities catered to our attendee requests 
2. A wide array of constant activities, including the Bird of Prey exhibit.

 

 

 

Entertainment: We would like to up the ante on our live music and performances.  We have a few opportunities to include some incredible acts, but we’re going to need funding to book them.   Should we reach our top level of entertainment funding, we may even be able to book a very popular musical performer we’ve booked several times in the past.

1. Book one or two additional musical acts for the weekend. 
2. Book the aforementioned “popular musical performer” for a return visit to Play On Con

What are the donor rewards?

Our rewards are designed to offer good incentives, even if you are not attending the event.

For attendees:  You get a special badge at the show, priority seating at limited attendance workshops or events, as well as early admission to the Guest Meet & Greet.   You may also purchase memberships, get a special sponsor T-shirt, or buy Wes or Dan’s room to help support the event.

For businesses: You can get advertisements in the program book, sponsor or brand rooms for the weekend of POC 6, and get your promotional materials into the hands of our attendees.

For friends of POC:  You can sponsor your friends in “Badge Wars” and help make the convention better for everyone at the show! 

Underlined rewards are cumulative.  At any dollar value, you also receive the underlined rewards from earlier levels.

All supporters will have their name added to the POC sponsor web page until the 2013 show.

Red Level Sponsors
$5 : Sponsor an Attendee in “Badge War”
$10: Mention in our social media
$15:  Special Badge Art (@)
$20: Small Printed Material Included in the Shwag Bag ( < 3”x6”) (+) (&)
$25: Limited Edition Sponsor T-Shirt (+)
$30:  Name listed on POC Sponsor page in the Program Book
$35: Large Printed Material Included in the Shwag Bag (+)(&)
$40:  100x100px icon on POC Sponsor web page
$45:  Early Admission to the POC 6 Guest Meet & Greet (@)
$50: One Full Weekend Badge for POC 6 in 2013 (+)

White Level Sponsors
$55: ¼ page ad in the Program Book (+)
$60: One Full Weekend Badge w/ priority placement in one POC 6 Event w/ limited admission (@)
$65: ½ page ad in the Program Book (+)
$70:  500x100px banner on POC  Sponsor Web Page with clickable link (in place of 100x100px icon)
$75: One Full Weekend Badge w/ priority placement in two POC 6 Events w/ limited admission (@)
$80: Full page ad in the Program Book (+)
$90: Two Full Weekend Badges for POC 6 in 2013 (+)
$95 (1): Sponsor the Shwag Bag with your printed logo (must provide bags) (&)
$100 (1): Competitor Slot in the Iron Bartender Competition

Blue Level Sponsors
$110 (10): Sponsor a Gaming or Programming Session (Content Selection and in-room banner) 
$125 (1): Judge slot in the Iron Bartender Competition
$250 (5): Brand a gaming room for the weekend (3  Tournament rooms, 2 video gaming rooms)
$300 (3): Sponsor a POC Party
$350 (5): Sponsor one of the POC Programming Tracks (Announcements Only)
$400 (1): Sponsor Registration 
$450 (1): Sponsor and Brand the Charity Casino 

Gold Level Sponsors
$500: Lifetime Membership to Play On Con (+)
$510 (1): Steal Wes’s Room (2 Queen Beds)
$540 (1): Steal Marc's Room (2 Queen Beds)
$525 (1): Brand the Con Suite
$550 (1): Brand the Expo Hall
$575 (1): Sponsor the Costume Contest
$600 (1): Sponsor the Friday Night Concerts
$700 (4):  Sponsor One Day of Shuttle Service (Announcements Only)
$1000 (1): Steal Dan’s Room (2 Queen Beds) + a Lifetime Membership to POC
$1000 (1): Sponsor the Saturday Night Concert & Events

(#) Rewards with number after the sponsor level are limited to that many sold.
(@) Rewards designated with @ are non-transferable & may only be redeemed by the original sponsor
(+) Rewards designated with a + may be added to your reward level “a-la-carte”.  For instance, any sponsor may have a Sponsor T-shirt added to their reward package for an additional $25.
(&) Printed materials and bags will be provided by the sponsor.  

Special Terms:

• “Badge War”: Sponsoring an attendee in badge wars gives them one supporter.  The “Badge Wars” players with the most sponsors will go into the finals.   The victor will win a prize package to be determined later that may include badges for future events, room nights, POC T-shirts, and POC Marks.
• "Steal a Room": The hotel rooms on-site are already sold out.  The Owners of Play On Con are so committed to improving the convention that they are willing to give up their own rooms to help raise funds.  If you steal Dan, Marc, or Wes's rooms, they will scavenge some other place to stay, letting you stay on-site.
• “Priority Placement”: Certain outdoor events and workshops may have their attendance limited.  Priority placement attendees will be allowed to hold one of these limited slots at their preferred time.
• All printed materials, logos, banners, branding and spoken announcements are subject to editorial restrictions.   Any branding must be non-competitive for vendors that participate in that room.  Sponsorship includes declarations of sponsorship during announcements in that room as well as allowing for your printed banner to be displayed during the event.  Branded rooms and events will be named by the sponsor.
• Delivered goods must be sent to POC at least two weeks before the first day of the convention.  Anything sent after that point cannot be guaranteed to be included.
• All physical rewards will be available on-premise during the weekend of POC 6.  Any unclaimed rewards can be shipped to the recipient after the convention, but all shipping will be paid for