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250 people is an insane number for a meetup!

Not really - the NY Tech Meetup / DC Tech Meetups would regularly have hundreds of attendees, and a few others like the Data Community DC ones had quite a few. Even in those larger numbers, sponsors are flighty and often unappreciative.

> Even in those larger numbers, sponsors are flighty and often unappreciative.

Can you elaborate on what you mean? In my experience running meetups, sponsoring is an expensive and thankless activity akin to a donation

Current organizer of Data Community DC here. It's a lot of work to get a sponsor, and they tend to churn after a year or two when the individual advocate moves on.

The best sponsors know the value of long term community engagement. Bad sponsors are more transactional, and want to really see the short term value they get.

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