Room for AviD and Rоry McCune

Rоry McCune

14:00

wassup?

AviD

so @RоryMcCune we have a new potential sponsor for AppSecIL

and we could sure use the sponsorships

however, they have a condition:

Rоry McCune

ooh

AviD

they need to get a list of participants

yknow, for marketing leads

obviously we're not gonna just give the whole list

privacy and discolusre and such

often, many big confs give the sponsors badge scanners, and everybody has scannable badges, right?

Rоry McCune

@AviD yeah that would seem like a reasonable compromise

AviD

but we'd never done that before, and my co-organizers are pushing back against doing that.

Rоry McCune

14:02

well anyone who gets a badge scan at a conf. knows the score

AviD

cost, effort, more work, bla bla

@RоryMcCune right

Rоry McCune

if the company does it along with a competition of some sort, it generally goes down ok

in my experience

AviD

in general, I think it's a legitimate request, they're not doing it for niceness

this is a marketing investment

they actually asked for the scanners, not the list...

Rоry McCune

exactly it's expected that sponsors get something back

AviD

@RоryMcCune yeah, somebody suggested offering a raffle

based on business cards, I assume

Rоry McCune

14:04

at least I'd think so, no-one believes people do this stuff out of the goodness of their hearts

maybe some companies do

but not many

AviD

I dunno, I find that is kinda a cop-out on our part.

@RоryMcCune some actually do it to show support for OWASP

and/or the PR

Rоry McCune

@AviD which is usually to improve their rep/standing

AviD

but I dont expect that, and it is perfectly fair for them to expect some sales leads.

Rоry McCune

I'm not saying that all co's are in it for the money, but most are :)

AviD

@RоryMcCune yeah exactly

so

I have a legitimate request, from a sponsor we want, that is actually tricky for us to do, because we are cheap-ass and still rather informal

looking for a creative solution

Rоry McCune

14:07

@AviD yeah I mean the options are , get sponsors, or charge on the door...

AviD

if we need to, we CAN offer them the raffle, but I'd rather not, I dont think it looks good

@RоryMcCune heh, or both

Rоry McCune

I'd say the scanners option or the competition option are the ones I've seen as generally accepted

AviD

but yeah the conf is free to attend

@RоryMcCune do sponsors see that as a legitimate return on their investment?

the competition, I mean

Rоry McCune

@AviD well I've seen it done a lot.

If you think about it, prizes are cheap

AviD

sure, but sometimes on top of the scanners

like eg at AppSecEU there were scanners, and also some did raffles

Rоry McCune

14:09

So if they spent 5-600 units of local currency on prizes that's way cheaper than most sponsorship packages

AviD

@RоryMcCune My feeling isnt about the prize, its the return on sponsorship.

Rоry McCune

@AviD yeah that'll be 'cause a lot of people don't like scanners and will avoid being scanned

AviD

i.e. we already paid all this money for sponsorship, and we dont even get leads??

Rоry McCune

unless there's a prize involved :)

AviD

@RоryMcCune hmm interesting

Rоry McCune

14:10

but if you go for scanners, that's nothing that most/all confs I've been to do, so really should be de-rigeur

AviD

so it's a fair claim that the prize actually gives better results than the scanner?

Rоry McCune

@AviD well for me, I'd avoid being scanned unless I really wanted to know about the product, but if there was a prize I'd go for it... Whether that's a good quality lead or not is a different question

AviD

@RоryMcCune yeah I've gotten scanned often, cuz they've asked, and I'm a crap lead.

just curious enough to hear their pitch...

and take soem swag...

Rоry McCune

I'm now scared to return to the other room as it looks like kalina is engaging with Andrew smith...

AviD

oh geez

Rоry McCune

14:12

she must be bored today

AviD

so bottom line, you think it is legitimate to tell the sponsor, no list or scanner, but go ahead and give out a prize?

Rоry McCune

@AviD well for me scanner is a legit option but if your co-hosts don't like that you could try prizes, and pitch it as being "from our experience this gets a better return, lead-wise"

AviD

@RоryMcCune ah okay, cool cool

thanks!

definitely better than the 3rd option I hated

offering opt-in during registration to be fed to sponsors...

Rоry McCune

@AviD ooh yeah that would likely end badly

I can't ever imagine opting-in to that

AviD

well if its opt-in it doesnt go against privacy issues, but yeah that would be a tiny list

well thanks, I appreciate your perspective!

Rоry McCune

14:17

no probs :)

AviD

okay that came off sounding a hella more corporate-ish than I meant it :-)

Rоry McCune

lol

AviD

right Imma gonna have to go kick andrew then

Rоry McCune

good call :)

Transcript for

Room for AviD and Rоry McCune