As I head off for a sports sponsorship conference in Melbourne tomorrow, it's with some trepidation. Although I'm a mature woman and have been commentating on sponsorship for over 12 years, I'm not too savvy on the sports side. I tend to deal more with the good corporate citizen stuff with non profits and on the public relations side.
But what is it that I'm missing? Okay I don't know the rules of the sports games, but how much do I know about music, and I wouldn't bat an eyelid about advising the symphony orchestra on sponsorship.
All sponsorship is about relationships, communication, marketing and brand building. I know about all of those things so why should I be nervous about the sports field?
Okay I'm feeling more confident. No one in Australasia has written more about sponsorship than me - and I've been producing 8 pages of monthly commentary for my publication alone - http://www.foresee.co.nz, Sponsorship Profile, for 12 years. That's not counting all the rest of my writing around fundraising. I've presented courses on sponsorship and I have authored a book on sponsorship.
So just because I don't spend every weekend glued to the tv doesn't mean I won't be a good adviser on sports sponsorship - bring on the conference!
