Sponsorships and Events are like fuel and engine (rather a weird analogy!). Sponsors fuel the events, and no major event can go without sponsors. That said, let’s accept this: sponsorships are not easy to get. Really? Not Really! With the right strategy and calculated moves, you can definitely strike that sponsorship deal, which is best suited for your event.

Here are some ‘cheats’, all tried and tested, that will help you strike that ‘ideal’ deal, with no additional fuss.

1. The Proposal
A proposal is all it takes, whether it’s a romantic relationship, or a sponsorship deal! The right amount of work and thought put into the sponsorship proposal should be an integral part of your sponsorship strategy. A well-built proposal can increase your chances of landing a deal many fold. There are certain essentials to this. Your should be concise, to the point and clear, with no questions left to ask. It needs to be visually appealing as well.

2. Put Weight on Deliverables
The other party is not particularly interested in your event or its vision, unless they genuinely are. So, there’s no point telling them that. Instead, come directly to the point, and let them know what’s there for them in the event, with adequate weight. They are generally interested in the kind, and more importantly, the number of attendees, and things like advertising modes and space provided. Make them believe that this is going to be the best deal of their life!

3. Define Role of Sponsors
It’s a good practice to have different sponsorship roles defined for an event. It has twofold benefits. One, you can provide flexibility to the other party and let them choose from several options. Two, you can accommodate more number of sponsors, and let each one of them feel privileged. Some common terms are ‘Title Sponsor’, ‘Co-Sponsor’, ‘Associate Sponsor’, and ‘Powered By’. Moreover, you can have Outreach Partners, Food and Beverage Partner, Mobility Partner, Styling Partner, and so on – these are some such terms which find fancy with companies of the respective niches. You got to exploit this.

4. Quote Your Rates, Stick to Them
There’s no particular need to be overly flexible with your sponsorship amounts. Changing every now and then reflects lack of professionalism, and also brings to the forefront your desperation for that particular deal. You may end up being pushed even further that way. Instead, stand by your quoted rates, and lay stress on the value that you are delivering, repeatedly. You are already providing a lot of flexibility in way of the different sponsorship roles.

5. Don’t Over-Commit
Never, ever in a sponsorship deal, commit something that you can’t deliver. Sometimes you may get excited, and decide to go over board, but don’t. Such deals comprise signed documents and exchange of MOU’s, and you may end up in legal troubles. Above that, such false commitments ruin your image in the market, which won’t help in your future deals. Rather, be honest, and tell them what they can expect from you in a realistic way.

Follow these tips, and you will never find it hard to get sponsors for your event. A lot depends upon your negotiation skills, your network, and the trust that you are able to establish in the market. Apart from that, a good proposal, weight on deliverables, well-defined roles, fixed rates and no false commitments – that’s just all that it takes!

A great event idea, worked out plans, big intentions, but no money to put everything in place.

Can you identify with the situation?

Well if yes, you, my friend are not alone! There are so many out there, who have all that it takes to organise a successful event, sans the money required. What if I tell you that no money is required? No, I’m not going to pay you out of my wallet, but what I’m going to to do is to tell you some hacks you can use when you have no money to organise the event.

1. Invest in the Idea

When you have no money to invest, invest your brains in the idea itself! Make your event idea like nothing else, and supplement with a robust planning. Planning here, is the key. It should be such that the costs are minimum, and the output maximum. Next few points will help you achieve this.

2. Free Venue

In most cases, the single largest cost in organizing an event is that of the venue. It can be pulled down to zero, if you do it the right way. Simple, make the venue owners realise all that you can offer them except money. It can be publicity of their place, their sales and exposure. For example, you can easily tie-up with a local cafe/restaurant for some free space to host an event. This will help them sell some coffee and build customers!

3. Invite Speakers for Free

Never pay a dime to get a speaker. Don’t run after the ‘big-league’ of names, your chances of getting them for free are next to impossible. However, there is a complete galaxy of awesome speakers, who are lesser known but too good to be left out. Tell them the number of people going to attend your event, and they will be happy enough to deliver for free.
Who knows, you won’t be able to afford them in an year or two!

4. Get Sponsor(s)

Sponsorships can get you covered with all the costs which could not be covered anyway else. All you need to do is to create a nice, crisp sponsorship proposal. List all the gains for them. Quote them your rates, be a little flexible, and they will abide. You can also have multiple sponsors here, like ‘gold’ sponsors, ‘platinum’ sponsors, ‘associate’ sponsors, or the ‘powered by’ ones, whatever fancy names you may like calling them.

5. Find Partners

Your partners not only provide you with a service you require, but also bring a lot brand value to your event. For example, when you partner with the biggest radio broadcaster of your area, people know that the event has some substance. #fact Partners and sponsors are different. While sponsors give you money, partners provide you a service, like a column in a magazine, or catering and infrastructure.

6. Use Free Services

When you have no money, obviously you can’t spend chunks just on petty services like event registration, ticketing and communications. You don’t have to, if you know all the free services you can use. There are tons of them on the internet. Discover them, and exploit them!

7. Use Social Media

When you intend to organize an event in no money, how can you skip using social media? It’s free, and it’s impressive. Use social media to reach the most targeted audience for your event. It won’t only help you save heaps on the advertising expenses, but will also make your campaign effective.

8. Get Some Interns

You have the venue, you have the sponsors, you have the partners. But how will you handle the event in real time? Obviously, you can’t afford an event management company for that! However, what you can do is to get interns from the local university or high school. Believe me, college students are always on a hunt for such opportunities. Your interns will not only help you conduct the event, but will also help you manage your social media and technical stuff, and even act as its ambassadors – all for free or very little money.

9. Set the Tickets and Pricing

In any case, you can also charge the attendees some amount to attend the event. This amount depends upon the worth that your event carries. And if you have managed to set everything else for free, the whole of this amount goes to your profits. Don’t be greedy here, be reasonable. A turned down audience can ruin everything for you.

10. The ‘Other’ Way (not recommended!)

If you believe your event idea is good enough, but requires a lot of investment, and any of the above is just not enough, the go take a loan! While this is not highly recommended, you can repay it with your ticketing revenues. Everything for what you believe in, no?
While these few tips are tried, tested and awesome ways to organise an event in zero budget, a lot depends upon your negotiating and networking skills. Build trust in the market, and you will never be short of people to help you pull off an event. Good Luck!

The community of entrepreneurs in Chandigarh is up, and it’s growing. There’s a large number of startups emerging out of the city every year, and Chandigarh is unanimously believed to be the next big startup hub in North India, after Delhi and NCR.

Owing to this robust startup community, and the ecosystem that exists in Chandigarh, some startup-related event is happening in the city every other weekend, at some ‘coworking space’ (the new trend!). Amongst these, there are some big-league events which have the potential to turn the tables for the budding entrepreneurs.

Here we list some major entrepreneurial events that rejuvenate the startup ecosystem of the city beautiful, every year.

TiECON Chandigarh

The annual TiECON Chandigarh is one of the most sought after entrepreneurial events in the Tricity. TiECON is one of the biggest conglomeration of entrepreneurs, investors, startup mentors, as well as the budding startup enthusiasts. A high-end lineup of speakers, as well as the networking opportunities and exposure that it brings along make it a much awaited event in the Tricity. The event is organised annually by the growing Chandigarh chapter of ‘The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)’, which has the best from the startup community of Chandigarh as its members.

Startup Weekend Chandigarh

Startup Weekend Chandigarh is a three-day extensive and intriguing event, much on the lines of a a business hackathon where you can launch your business idea, within 54 hours!  Powered by the Google for Entrepreneurs, the event is organised by the SAAC Chandigarh annually. The 54 hours of uninterrupted learning include everything – from idea generation to market analysis, and launching your venture in real time. Due to the immense amount of learning, experience and the exposure that the event provides, students also flock to the event in large numbers.  

Startup Jalsa Chandigarh

Startup Jalsa has been a hit amongst the startup folks ever since its inception. This is owing much to the unique concept of the event. While most entrepreneurial events fall in the league of ‘formal’ events – complete with suits, boots and strict timelines, this one lives up to it’s name (Jalsa), to be a more informal, open event providing a conductive environment for learning and networking.

Udyami: E-Summit

Udyami is the only student-organised entrepreneurial summit in the city. While such summits are quite common in the IITs and other big-league institutions, the professional education colleges in the city are also now catching up to the trend. Panjab University organises the National Entrepreneurship Summit, Udyami in the months February and March every year. The differentiating feature of the event is its direct involvement with the student community. Udyami sees a widespread participation by the student community from Chandigarh, where they get to interact with some of the best minds from the world of entrepreneurship.

A quick question first. How often do you see a Municipal Corporation organise some awesome, or say any events at all for that matter? Never, right? They keep the streets clean, that’s a big deal, you would say. But listen here, the Chandigarh Administration is different. Not just that they organise a lot of events every year, their events are actually too good to miss. And every time the guys go a step ahead to organise these events, we can’t help but feel proud!

1. Rose Festival

You talk about events in the Tricity, and don’t talk about ‘Rose Festival’? Impossible! The three-day extravaganza is not just the celebration of the mighty rose of the spring, as it is generally taken to be, but it’s a celebration of the spirit of the city beautiful and it’s never-dying youthful culture. The Rose Festival every year comprises of some really fascinating competitions, exhibitions, and high-base musical performances. In fact, the last time organizers went over board to include ‘helicopter ride’ in the itinerary of the 3-day fest – and it was fun.

2. Jaspal Bhatti Chandigarh Humour Festival

Who doesn’t know Jaspal Bhatti? f you are from North India, you must have grown listening to the awesomeness of his comedy. Now that he is no more, the unique class of his comedy is celebrated by the Chandigarh Administration in the form of a 3-day annual Humor Festival, aptly named after him. The festival features some of the best comedians and artists of India, and when we say best, we mean it. Now guess what? It’s a ‘free entry’ event. You get to witness the likes of Atul Khatri, Jeeveshu Ahluwalia, and Sunil Grover all for free!

3. Chandigarh Theater Festival

Chandigarh is undoubtedly the theater hub of the region. With so many theatrical events going on at any time of the year, and numerous theater groups having emerged out of the city in the past few years, it definitely is! A very magnificent celebration of the city’s theatrical culture is the annual Chandigarh Theater Festival. The three day festival features the best of best from the world of theater, and is certainly the event the admirers of the art look forward to every year.

4. The Chandigarh Carnival

‘Carnival’. Well, it is as cool as it sounds. The Chandigarh Carnival is, believe us, too good to be missed. It’s fun, simply put. The 3-day (again!) festival held in the month of November/December every year features competitions, fun activities, art exhibitions, joy rides, and lots of amazing food! It is also a platform for the institutions and organisations of the city to showcase their best, and attract tourism to the city beautiful.

5. Chandigarh National Crafts Mela

The Chandigarh National Crafts Mela is being held at the art hub ‘Kalagram’ in Chandigarh from the last eight years. And it has come a long way since then. Attracting the best, and absolutely astonishing specimens of art and crafts from across the country, the ‘mela’ which lasts more than week in the month of January is always an art-admirers delight. The last year’s theme was ‘From North to North East (Kashmir to Kohima)’. Exciting, isn’t it?

While the list of events (in general) in the city beautiful is never ending, these were the best organised on part of the UT Administration. So, all set with your plans? Which all are you attending? Tell us in comments!

Chandigarh is renowned as the city of gardens and open spaces. However, when we talk about gardens in the city, what comes to your mind? The Rose Garden, the Rock Garden, or may be a couple of other gardens. That’s it? Well, we have so many of them, that we can’t really keep a count! Fair enough. But there are many more gardens in Chandigarh which, may be, are lesser known, but believe us, they are no less.

Here are some beautiful gardens in Chandigarh, which you probably never knew about.

1. Cactus Garden

Located in Sector 5 of Panchkula, the ‘National Cactus and Succulent Botanical Garden and Research Centre’ is the Asia’s largest such garden, dedicated to the endangered ‘Cacti’ species. It’s not just a delight to the nature lovers, experience seekers and researchers, but also adds to the already diverse genres of gardens of the Tricity.

2. Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden in Sector 31 is the first and the only garden in Chandigarh with a Japanese touch. Spread over an area of 13 acres, the beautifully developed garden consists of water bodies, pagoda towers, golden bamboos, waterfalls, meditation centre, and a well-sculpted buddha idol – everything that signifies Japan and the Japanese culture!

3. Hibiscus Garden

Located in Sector 6 of Chandigarh, the Hibiscus Garden forms a part of the Leisure Valley – the central green belt of Chandigarh. The garden, as the name suggests is dedicated to the ‘Hibiscus’ shrub, 40 different varieties of which can be seen in the garden. You will also see a lot of bamboo plantation in the artistically sculpted garden. The Hibiscus Garden for sure is a nice, serene place for a family outing.

4. Peacock Park

Peacock – the National Bird. How often do we get to see the beautiful bird in our ‘modern’ cities? Hardly ever! But you can get to view more than 50 different kinds of Peacocks at this one garden located in Sector 39. A nature lover’s bliss, it literally is! While the entry to the park is restricted, you can get permission from the Forest and Wildlife Department of the U.T. Administration to visit the garden.

5. Terraced Gardens

A sprawling 10 acre garden in Sector 33, this one is unlike any other. The terraced garden, as the name suggests, is actually terraced. The garden is perfect for a day out with family, close to nature in a very soothing ambience. However, the calm and soothing ambience of the garden comes alive during the annual chrysanthemum flower show, which attracts a large number of tourists and locals.

6. Bougainvillea Garden

Dedicated to the alluring Bougainvillea shrubs, this garden turns pink (literally!) when the Bougainvillea are at their full bloom. Well, many other flowering trees are there to keep the color alive in the off-season for the Bougainvillea. So, visit this place any time, and you are sure to witness a lot of color.

7. Topiary Park

This one is for all the kids out there! Don’t worry, it’s not going to disappoint you adults either. This park features numerous shrubs and creepers grown in the shape of different animals. These beautiful green sculptures of animals make the children glad. Take your kids at this place once, and they are going to love you for the rest of their life.

So Chandigarh, don’t you think you should give these beautifully laid gardens their due credit? Go visit them, at least once.