steverezhener SQL Saturday

Reflecting on 2024 Data.SQL.Saturday.LA event

About a week ago, on June 1st, 2024, we delivered our 8th Data.SQL.Saturday.LA (yes, we didn’t stop in 2020 and 2021 and delivered 2 virtual events). It’s now a perfect moment to share our experiences, the successes, and the lessons we learned along the way.

Overcoming Obstacles

Obstacles:

  • Delivering 2024 SQL Saturday in Orange County just one month ago.
  • Getting many sponsors, speakers, and attendees
  • Delivering an event in a new building

The keys to our success are delegation, very experienced organizing team, and proven toolbox. To some degree, it was just a rinse and repeat for 8th time in a new building.

Event Highlights and Successes

The event saw numerous successes:

  • Listed all event tasks in Planner to facilitate delegation and transparency
  • Welcomed over 70 attendees, with more than 140 registrations.
  • Celebrated our 8th event in a new gorgeous building (LMU, University Hall)
  • Fancied speaker and volunteer appreciation dinner at Gulp Brewery in Playa Vista
  • Perfected lunch order with collecting lunch selection during registration ticket while sending an email to Mendocino Farms in Marina Del Rey with individual choices and names
  • Used EventZilla for registration and check-in as well as collecting lunch chpices
  • Collected session feedback using https://eval.sqlsaturday.com
  • Taking photos and videos with our new event backdrop

Lessons Learned and Future Improvements

While many aspects of the event were successful, we identified areas for improvement:

  • 2-3 months of advanced planning is required for pre-conference on Friday
  • Bring lunch much earlier
  • Improve EventZilla experience
  • Add signage floorplan

As we reflect on 2024 Data.SQL.Saturday.LA, we are grateful for the community’s enthusiasm and participation. Each challenge was an opportunity to learn and each success, a moment to celebrate. Looking forward, we are excited to apply these insights to make future events even more rewarding and engaging for everyone involved.

Join us as we continue to build on this foundation, ensuring SQL Saturday remains a cornerstone event for our community. Thank you to everyone who joined us this year, and here’s to many more successful gatherings in the future!

Bird’s-eye view

Registration and check-in

Food court

Sponsors and reception

Raffle

Lunch

steverezhener SQL Saturday

2024 SQL Saturday San Diego Calls for Sponsors

When: Saturday, September 14, 2024

Where: UCSD Extension (6256 Greenwich Dr, San Diego, CA 92122)

Sponsorship Plan

We appreciate you taking the time to consider sponsoring 2024 SQL Saturday San Diego. We have assembled a few sponsorship plans that you can select from. Donations for this event will be used only to cover the cost of running an event. If we have any surplus, it will go into sponsoring future events.

The event is put on by Rebecca Renko Dycus, lead organizer of SQLSAT SD, and working in conjunction with Data Driven Technologies, Inc. a local 501.c.3 non-profit, and its volunteers. SQLSAT SD is spearheaded by a local organizing team, put together by a group of dedicated California-based database community volunteers, user group leaders, and volunteer speakers from SoCal, NorCal, other US States, and globally. The funding for this event is coming from Data Driven Technologies, Inc. a local 501.c.3 non-profit.

Event Overview

The 2024 SQL Saturday San Diego is a single-day conference that offers data professionals the opportunity to improve their skills and learn about new products while networking with others in their field and connecting with other members of the local Database community and our sponsors.

Attendance

We anticipate 150-200+ attendees for our kick-off in 2024. This is going to be our first event after COVID. SQL Saturday in San Diego used to bring 400+ attendees before 2020. Our goal is to exceed the previous year’s attendance each year.

Cost of Sponsorship

2024 SQLSAT SD sponsorship ranges between $0 for VIK (Value-in-kind) to $2,500+ for Platinum, depending on the package you select: (VIK: company literature inserts, pens, notepads, stress balls, bags/tote, keychains, magnets, stickers, cups, gadgets, etc.)

 TIERVIKBronzeSilverGoldPlatinum
AMOUNT$0$500$750$1750$2500+
SWAG/Advertisement
(min. of 250)
Products/services in lie of money		X
Sponsor Logo and URL on the event website X X X X X
Sponsor Logo and URL included
in social media/email campaigns		 X X X X X
Sponsors Logo included in session slides X X X X X
Sponsor Logo included in YouTube videos X X X X X
Social Media posts Facebook/X/LinkedIn/Instagram X X X X X
Sponsor Raffle X X X X X
Collect Raffle Leads* X X X X
Email sent on behalf of a sponsor   X X X
Sponsor table
Comes with 1 table, 2 chairs,
WiFi, and electricity
(based on availability.
Attendance is-optional) 		   X X X
Product-focused sponsor session 
(Based on availability) 		 X X
Sponsor a room (name a room)
(Based on availability) 		   X X
Sponsor a Lunch X
Sponsor a Speaker Appreciation dinner X

ADD-ON Sponsorship Options:
The following add-on options are available and can ONLY be bundled with a sponsorship above. Please contact us if you want to sign up for one of these and we can send you a single payment link.

Option #A: Lanyards & Badge Holders. $250 + cost of the materials (or you provide this is a great add-on for marketing your company/business)

Option #B: Speaker shirts $1500). Our logo on the front, your logo on the sleeves.

Option #C: Volunteer Party ($1000). We host an event for the speakers, sponsors, and main volunteers the Friday night before the event from 7-9 pm.

Option #D: After Party ($500). This would run from 5-7 pm and usually includes soft drinks and appetizers, but we can customize this if you would like to do more.

ATTENDEE INFORMATION:
Unless the attendee specifically requests that their information not be shared, sponsors will receive contact information for all attendees.

For credit cards, please use the link below:

https://www.zeffy.com/donation-form/f58ff531-0443-4b6e-869a-6c5fa142c302

For other forms of payments like Zelle and ACH, please send an email to:

sqlsatsd@datadriventechnologies.org

Cancellation Policy

Any cancellation that is caused by us will result in a full refund. It’s really that simple – no event, no expenses, no need for sponsorship money.

Raffle Management

Raffle registration is used to opt-in attendee information with our sponsors.  Remember the raffle prize is your key to success and the better the prize the more leads you will collect. Attendees must be present to win.

We will manage the raffle, collect, clean up, and de-dup the data for you and send you the leads after the event.  We will let you know who the raffle winners are, and you can send them the prize.  At the same time, we strongly recommend we take over prize disbursement as well, to be a one-stop shop for an entire raffle lifecycle. Please let us know if you would like to handle the raffle prize on your own. 

YOUR SPONSORSHIP WILL WELCOME SQL SAT BACK HOME IN SAN DIEGO!!