I am one to think outside the box. How about any tool company, camping equipment company or grocery store chain. (Anyone who otherwise would not win at the raffle might be pretty happy with a $50 Kroger gift certificate.)
Having the tire option from ProComp this year was super. I thought this was a particularly good raffle.
Another thing I thought about was trying to get a company like Johnsonville sponsor a meal. Would be a great savings to the club if we got a bunch of free meat in exchange for hanging a banner.
@jynx, RC4WD donated 2 trucks for 2017. They are on our list to contact again. Unfortunately, they couldn’t or wouldn’t donate this year. We’ll be in touch with them again. We’ll also contact Traxxas and Axial.
@Hugh Heifer, Procomp was an awesome pickup in 2017. We’re going to shoot for them to send a vendor display this year. Maybe even more than one set of tires. We’ll see.
The committee is discussing having sponsored meals. Johnsonville is a great idea. We’ll also shoot for more camping, tool and other companies whose products we all use. Thanks for the suggestions.
I really respect those of you who can successfully talk these people into donating. One year I went to a flour company in an attempt to get some support for the running club I am part of that marks trail in baking flour. It was kind of a big deal. We had over 3000 participants in the Sand Gnats stadium in Savannah. I was just hoping for 50 or 100 pounds of bleached flour. The company refused me access. Did not even want to hear what I had to say. And they were a small local mill in Rome, GA. While I understand rejection is part of this, my track record sucks.
Here's to your guys! I will stick to writing the article, yelling at the crowd and selling raffle tickets!
For those if us that haul our junk around on trailers how about something from etrailers.com or similar vendor. Trailer tires, wheel bearings, straps, tool storage boxes, etc. are things we all use.
For that matter we're typically rolling workshops and generators, inverters or cordless tools are awesome. Makes me wonder how many Harbor freight inverter generators are on people's wish list?
Jamie,
The previous suggestions did not state it directly but appeared to imply a connection to and focus on business case rationale as a basis for targeting businesses to sponsor GSMTR. Specifically, we should enlist businesses with direct business cases involving Toyotas/Land Cruisers/Off Roading/Camping ... as potential sponsors. Plus develop relationships businesses with indirect (ancillary) business cases benefiting from GSMTR [the challenge is to help these businesses see/realize that their bottom line is being aided by the event & will be improved further by becoming a sponsor].
Example for this discussion ... Quad-copter companies might be prime to be a sponsor. Last September at the 70 Series Meet-n-Greet, one owner had a quad-copter that I was amazed to see in action. The copter not only had the usual camera and manual flight modes, but it had an auto-pilot escort mode. In that mode, the copter would hover above the trees and behind his truck ... where ever the truck went and transmitting video down to the truck. It was always there, hands free but ready for manual over-ride. That looked like something that could catch on with a considerable segment of the community... If only we knew about it. Tapping into such a market could cause manufacturers to sponsor and possibly attend GSMTR to demonstrate what they could do for use & in turn lead to increased sales for them.
Just a thought to energize discussion.
Is this helpful feedback relative to your objectives in starting this topic line? Finally, Chris's note in the chit chat prompted this bit of cheating ... below are the 2017 sponsors from Appalachian Toyota Round-Up which might help add to a base list of potential sponsors to combine with GSMTR2018 sponsor list.
Platinum Sponsors
Aramalite
Premiere Sponsors
Toytec Lifts
BudBuilt
Trailwork Fabrication
Southern Style Offroad
U.S. Off Road
ARB
OEM Audio Plus
Apex Overland
Cascadia Vehicle Tents
LFD Off Road
Pure FJCruiser.com
Resz Fabrication
Southeast Overland
RCI Off Road
DOB Customz Offroad Fabrication
Adventure Motors
JBA (IFS specialists)
Relentless Fabrication
RAD Rubber Design
Second Chance Consulting
Blue Force Gear
GZila Designs
PP Engineering
Highland Expedition Outfitters
Metal Tech
Toyota Knoxville
Greer Automotive Services
Offroad Trail Guide
Orange Boxx
Trail Toys
Smoky Mountain Patch and Supply
Riot Printing
Holsters, especially in-vehicle holsters = great idea! I also think the fzj80 products such as the header at this year's raffle and newer Toyota products are great.
It may also help to see who the "crowd" is that is starting to come to events, like the overland/expedition scene that is so popular right now. I know that some events are targeting overloaders to gather, and I missed GSMTR this year, but was there a lot of that crowd showing up? If so, more overloading "gear/off grid" companies could be a good draw for that type of wheeler that may be browsing for events to go to next year...
