November, 29th 2014Cong, Co Mayo

www.congregation.ie

Social & Digital Media GatheringSponsorship Proposal

About Congregation

Now in its second year Congregation www.congregation.ie is a one day ‘unconference’ discussing social and digital media issues using a unique entry, location and presentation format.

As the complexity of technical and social issues continually increase traditional means ofexchanging, sharing and debating issues have struggled to keep pace.

Because of the unique structure of Congregation all attendees have a stake in the event, develop indepth relationships, challenge themselves and peer debate issues.

As the blog submissions are posted in advance and as there is a follow on eBook the life cycle of the event carries on beyond the day itself.

As there is no charge to attend Congregation with lunch/refreshments provided throughout the day, we are looking for a small number of sponsors to help this day reach its potential.

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Congregation was designed to create a forum for peer to peer sharing and socially orientated connecting. It is an ‘unconference’ in that

• No tickets were for sale.• Attendees has to earn or ‘Blog Their Way In’.• Every attendee was a speaker.• Blog papers were published in advance on www.congregation.ie• Presentations were made to ‘Huddles’ of less than 10 people.• Huddles took place in social venues from coffee shops, bars to exhibitions spaces.

57 blog submissions were received and up-loaded to www.congregation.ie in advance of the day. Over 45 people presented on the day, along with 5 chairpersons, on a wide variety of social media topics in 5 different venues in the village of Cong, Mayo.

Overview The submitted blog papers reflected the di-versity of insight, opinion and interest areas from education, business and charity sectors through to consultancies and agencies.Debate at each of the sessions reflected the re-ality that social media is ever growing and there can only be learnings rather than certainties.

There were many tangible outputs in the form of published and visible content, clear indica-tions of connections being formed and plenty of follow on conversations about possible col-laborative projects.

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November 30th 2013 saw over 50 people from all around Ireland descend on a sunny Cong Village in County Mayo for the inaugural Congregation Social Media gather-ing www.congregation. ie. Over 50 people presented, debated, ranted, analysed, and discussed the 57 blog papers that were submitted in advance.

The blog papers acted as catalysts for in-depth conversations that went beyond the original topics. Small groups, social settings and informal structures all led to honest contributions and real world con-nections.

Social Media is still a relatively new discipline or selection of channels and the only consensus on the day

What Happened in 2013.

was that no one person has all the answers and people struggle on different aspects.

Each sector faces its own chal-lenges and as with real life, rules on what is appropriate evolves with experimentation, which helps to push the boundaries.

Attendees started to gather from 9am in Cong village. On arrival each attendee was given a badge and allocated a number, which corre-sponded with a timing and loca-tions spreadsheet. Following regis-tration, coffee and breakfast a quick briefing was delivered before each huddle set out for its destination.

The day itself

Destinations Huddles Plans for 2014.

A variety of locations in Cong Village were used including Crowe’s Nest (bar), Jenny’s Coffee Shop, Rare and Recent Books (exhibi-tion space), Danagher’s Hotel and Lydon’s Bar.

The reason for this choice of location was deliberate – these are social spaces and one of the things Congregation wanted to achieve was a relaxed environment where conversa-tion, engagement and sharing were as natural as possible. Some had background noise as the day wore on but this had little impact on the focus and interest of each group.Tea and coffee was on tap in each location to encourage mingling during the breaks.

Each huddle was chaired by an expert who guided the conversation and ensured that self-promotion was kept to a bare minimum. Two attendees volunteered to present at each huddle, which acted as the catalyst for subse-quent conversations, questions and observa-tions.

Each huddle lasted an hour after which the groups were randomised so that no two hud-dles had the same composition and attend-ees alternated venues.

Each venue had a video projector/screen but in general people talked through their areas

and conversations took them forward.

The ‘social media hack’ ice breaker proved to effective in getting people in the group talk-ing and also increased the focus on insights than self promotion.

The day finally finished as dusk began at 4.40pm with some groups taking the conver-sation late into the night.

#cong14 will see the addition of more venues and speakers with one flying from Italy to attend along side interna-tionally recognised diaspora expert Kingsley Aikins. #cong14 attracts a diverse mix of digital experts, practitioners, agencies, academics, researchers, startups, large and small business owners and the plain curious. This diversity of attendees is reflected in the very broad and challenging nature of submitted posts. Two books are expected to be launched at the event in addition to virtual huddles via Google Hangouts.

. 57 blog paper submissions

. 1,319 tweets using #cong13

. 51+ authors using #cong13

. 272+ retweets using #cong13

. 300+ tweets using #congregation

. 19 tweets from home page

. 154 tweets using main page url

. 204 tweets using #congregation13

. 44 tweets using Congregation & Cong

. 1 animated video

. 3 technology.ie video interviews

. 4 podcast interviews

. 80+ Flickr photos #cong13

. 27 Audioboos Boos

. 50 Klout influence score

. 10+ external blog posts

. 5,000+ visits to www.congregation.ie

. 1 Google+ Hangout with USA & Canada

. 2 curated List.ly lists

. 1 Trended on Twitter

. 60:40% Male:Female ratio

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIESHeadline Sponsor

As headline/title partner you will benefit from a bespoke package, tailormade to your individual requirements. Your brand will be clearly discernable above other sponsors and appear more prominently in terms of positioning and size. Your customisation will be above all other standard ele-ments of the partnership package. The sponsor will receive headline sponsorship of Congregation and have full asso-ciation with every element of the event.

Included will be:• Branding on website www.congreation.ie• Branding on all advertising and marketing collateral including press releases, road signs etc• Branding at the different venues on the day of the event, including information pack• Namecheck on all social media activity in the lead up to and during the event• Bespoke hashtag • Dedicated category sponsorship/presentation opportunity on the day• Free ‘blog free entry’ tickets

• Goody bag insertion and opportunity• Branding on post conference eBook• Branding on update Newsletters• First option on future sponsorship• Assistance with ideas for promotion activity• Branding on volunteer tShirts

Refreshments Sponsor

This sponsorship will help fuel attendees throughout the day including lunch, teas/coffees and post conference nib-bles/drinks.

• Branding on website - www.congregation.ie Branding on all advertising and marketing collateral including press releases• Branding at the different venues on the day, including menus and information pack• Namecheck on all social media activity in the lead up to and during the event• Blogless ticket• Branding in post conference eBook• Branding in Update newsletters

€8,000

€2,000

To become a partner or become involved in

Congregation 2014, please contact Eoin Kennedy eoin@congregation.ie

or +353 86 8339540