Ask HN: Any tips on landing sponsorships for a conference?
I'm putting together Byteconf React (byteconf.com) - it's a free, two-day React/JS conference streamed on Twitch.
A lot of the conference planning is going great! We've got a great initial set of speakers, and we received ~70 great talk proposals in our Call for Papers.
The thing that I haven't quite nailed (this is my first conference) is getting sponsors interested in the event. From my point of view, it's pretty compelling - as far as I can tell, it's the first online-only conference for JS/React devs, and it's a great opportunity to reach an audience of devs around the world with a potential product/service.
I've been reaching out to companies at a variety of sizes - from large ones like AWS/MS/Big 4-sized companies, and small ones like React consulting shops, etc. I've gotten a couple responses, but haven't reached the point where a company is REALLY interested and wanting to secure a slot. Generally, people are interested, but by the time I send the prospectus, the conversation slows to a half.
I'm a software engineer, so I definitely have work to do on the marketing side of this conf! Any marketing-inclined people have tips on how to do conference sponsorship outreach well? Here's the sponsorship prospectus, too: I've included prices/perks/etc and am 1000% open to any feedback.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_EiIHX7lB2DQtJp327Ajxgk9ReIVU5Sc/view?usp=sharing