Re: [UG-ADMINS] Introduce yourself!

Hi all,
I stay quiet on this list because I don't really run OINK-PUG anymore
(Ohio, Indiana, Northern Kentucky PHP User Group for those wondering). But
I still feel very connected to the community, so usually I just lurk :)


On Wed, May 29, 2013 at 2:17 PM, Joe Constant <[email protected]> wrote:

> I think my current "big" issue is finding a new sponsor for food/drinks.


This advice goes to everybody on this list who struggles with this, as I
think it's a common problem :(

I work at GitHub on the Community team, and while we can't sponsor every
group's regular meetings we are happy to help if you have a special event.
Just shoot me an email at [email protected] if you have something
special coming up, like an anniversary or inaugural meeting or something
neat. If you're not in North or South America, I can put you in touch with
my counterpart who handles the rest of the world.

Besides GitHub, other companies like Engine Yard will probably also be
willing to help out on occasion. I think your best best there is to contact
Davey Shafik ([email protected]). He can at least point you in the
right direction.

Also, if any of you are doing a special meeting on a topic that involves a
company's product, you might take a stab and contact that company for swag
or potential sponsorship. For instance, if somebody's giving a presentation
on Git/GitHub we would love to send stickers and buy some pizza. I imagine
the same would hold true for companies like Twilio, 10Gen (Mongo), Send
Grid, New Relic, or others. I'm not guaranteeing they'll respond, but
chances are they'll at least send you stickers or something. (It's worth a
shot anyway!)

One other place to look for sponsorships is local recruiting companies.
Some are better at integrating themselves with the community than others,
but the good ones will make friends with you, and help defray the costs.
The really good ones won't even ask for much in return (maybe just a
mention), but some may ask for a quick 2 minute slot to introduce
themselves. While it's uncomfortable to be beholden to them, it's a nice
partnership if you can make it work in a non-douchey way.

OINK-PUG gets its sponsorship in the form of a large company who employes a
lot of PHP folks. Originally they wanted to host the meetings so they could
get to know the community (and potential hires), but they just kept on
hosting us. It's been years now. I guess they'll come to their senses
eventually :)

Anyway, hope that helps.

Cheers,
Elizabeth