Call for Sponsors 2024
Come and grow with us!
We were absolutely blown away by the success of the 2023 Carolina Code Conference across the board. The energy and excitement for the event materialized into a fantastic day!
We sold out in 25 minutes with a waiting list of 95 more people on 4 months of planning!
We had 23 great sponsors jump at the opportunity to support the event!
15 wonderful speakers created a memorable event for us out of 83 total applications!
For 2024, we’re expanding! The event will grow to 2 days (Friday and Saturday) while doubling in size to 300 attendees. The evening in between will provide an opportunity to network and have some fun. 2024 ticket prices were just announced as well.
We’ve expanded our sponsorship offerings and included a unique opportunity for 2024 with the new conference website too! If you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to sponsor@carolina.codes.
We have 4 primary sponsorship tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum and an single premium Title sponsorship that can be discussed as well. As the audience size will double this year, the sponsorship levels that include table space at the event have also doubled. The Bronze Tier rate remains the same with an unlimited number of sponsorships (based on ticket limitations of course).
Sponsorships spots can be claimed at any time with payment due by January 15th to allow flexibility with your internal budget allocations to either 2023 or 2024.
2024 Website Opportunity
In addition to the sponsor features mentioned below, we’re currently developing a website for this conference with the goal of featuring a polyglot website for a polyglot conference. This website will be over-complicated-for-the-sake of it and the subject of the 2024 2025 welcome talk. (UPDATE: It’s taken longer than we hoped to get this project moving and we are now targeting 2025).
If you have technology that you would like to see included in our stack, please let us know. We may need your help to get it included, but every piece will be showcased during that welcome talk. It will also be highlighted on the new conference website as long as it remains in operation.
Contact us to discuss it further. Here’s a blog post dedicated to those plans.
Sponsorship Features
A few items to highlight this year that will be available in various sponsorship levels.
Topic Requests - As a sponsor at the event, you may want to ensure your target audience is in attendance. If you’re hiring for PHP, Cybersecurity, .NET, Java, Rust then it’s more likely your target audience will be in attendance if there’s a speaker covering the subject. While we do not sell speaker slots for the event we do weigh a number of factors during talk selection, including the preferences of our sponsors.
Social Media - We have multiple social media channels and we’re happy to post about your company in various capacities, including tagging your accounts on your preferred platforms. We currently cast a wide net but the number of platforms are rapidly expanding. If you would prefer to see us active on a platform we don’t currently support, please let us know. We’re currently active on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook, Mastodon and Instagram.
Conference T-Shirt - Last year’s t-shirt was a huge hit and we have no idea what this year’s design will be. T-shirt print costs increase for colorized logos and we are going to discuss the potential to colorize Gold and Platinum level sponsor logos on the shirt this year. It’s included as a potential option, but can’t be guaranteed just yet.
Digital Swag Bag - This is something new that we’re going to try this year after seeing the idea at other conferences. Following the conference, we will send out a Digital Swag Bag newsletter to all attendees that includes a list of limited time, optional promotional opportunities. It could be a free trial for a service. It could be a t-shirt you’ll send in the mail. It could be entry into a contest for a larger prize. Feel free to get creative if you wish to participate. We will need final decisions on entries if you wish to participate by August 1, 2024.
Now Hiring Email - Prior to the conference this year, we will send out an email summarizing available positions with our sponsors who will be in attendance. All paid sponsors can include positions in this email so that potential candidates may come prepared to speak with you during the event. These will be due 1 week prior to the event.
Job Board - There will also be a physical marker board where available jobs can be written. Sponsors will get first access to this, but any other attendees will have access to fill in positions if space is available.
Podcast - We have a podcast now! The Carolina Code Cast is just getting started, but it’s going well so far and we plan to keep it going. Thus far, we have not included any type of advertising or official sponsorships in the podcast but we do plan to include it in the future and we’re researching the most effective ways to manage it. If you have an interest in advertising on the podcast, let us know and we will involve you in the trials.
Video Sponsorship - Conference videos will feature your logo and a link to your company. Visit our YouTube channel for examples from the 2023 event. These videos are also shared on additional platforms like Facebook and Twitter/X to increase visibility.
Scholarship Tickets - We just announced our ticket structure for 2024 including a scholarship ticket pool for applicants who may have a financial need. Each sponsorship tier will include some tickets contributed to the scholarship pool in the name of your company. You can contribute more if you wish. The scholarship ticket pool will be generally available when it opens and is not limited to sponsors. We will be finding a way to feature companies who have donated to this pool.
Booth Space - The Crescent ONE building is currently under construction and although we have seen the space layout as well as the renderings, we can’t fully share details the available booth space. Booth space will include a 6’ x 2.5’ standard folding table for your display with selection preference allocated by sponsorship tier and date.
Badge Scanner - We haven’t settled on a specific badge scanner system yet, but we do plan to implement one for our sponsors with booths in 2024 to streamline your ability to reconnect with people you meet at the event. If you have suggestions or positive experiences with specific systems, please let us know!
Naming Rights - If you have a creative idea for something at the conference that we can put your name on, talk to us about it. If there are hard costs to putting your logo on something like a lanyard, you will be responsible for those. In 2023 we had the Seek Quality Conference Retrospective and the Engineer Kit Lunch Hour, where mentorship and career opportunities were discussed.
Conference Chat - Last year we setup a Zulip chat system for conference attendees to interact with each other, speakers and our sponsors. All sponsors will have access to this system.
Sponsorship Tiers
Bronze Tier (No Limit)
$500 sponsorship. Items in Bold are described in detail above.
Logo on the website with link to your company. Potential inclusion on the Conference T-shirt as well depending on design space.
Social Media shout outs
Inclusion on a “Thank You Sponsors!” slide in the opening talk
1 Full Ticket (both days, $150 value)
1 Scholarship Ticket in your name ($150 value)
Silver Tier (Limit 10)
$2,000 sponsorship. Items in Bold are described in detail above.
Logo inclusion on the Conference T-shirt and the website with link to your company
Social Media shout outs, including “be on the lookout for…” style posts just prior to the event
Blog post and Email about your company on the site that will be distributed to our entire mailing list
Mention of your company before the introduction of at least one speaker
Video Sponsorship with company logo and link with at least one speaker video
Optional inclusion in the Digital Swag Bag
Booth Space at the event for company promotion, swag giveaways and interviews
Inclusion on the Now Hiring Email and premium access to the physical Job Board
Topic Requests for programming language, technology or speaker topic consideration during the event
2 Full Tickets (both days, $300 value)
2 Scholarship Tickets in your name ($300 value)
Gold Tier (Limit 4)
$5,000 sponsorship. Items in Bold are described in detail above.
Color logo inclusion on the Conference T-shirt and the website with link to your company
Social Media shout outs, including “be on the lookout for…” style posts just prior to the event
Blog post and Email about your company on the site that will be distributed to our entire mailing list
Mention of your company before the introduction of at least one speaker
Mention of your company during the conference welcome
Repeated mentions of your company throughout the conference
Video Sponsorship with company logo and link on multiple videos
Optional inclusion in the Digital Swag Bag
Booth Space at the event for company promotion, swag giveaways and interviews
Inclusion on the Now Hiring Email and premium access to the physical Job Board
Topic Requests for programming language, technology or speaker topic consideration during the event
Naming Rights to an aspect of the conference either during or after conference activities (see above)
Optional Podcast sponsorship
4 Full Tickets (both days, $600 value)
4 Scholarship Tickets in your name ($600 value)
Platinum Tier (Limit 2)
$10,000 sponsorship. Items in Bold are described in detail above.
Color logo inclusion on the Conference T-shirt and the website with link to your company
Social Media shout outs, including “be on the lookout for…” style posts just prior to the event
Mention of your company before the introduction of at least one speaker
Mention of your company during the conference welcome
Repeated mentions of your company throughout the conference
5 minutes during either the opening or closing of the conference to Address the Attendees (optional)
Blog post and Email about your company on the site that will be distributed to our entire mailing list
Video Sponsorship with company logo and link on every video
Optional inclusion in the Digital Swag Bag
Premium Booth Space at the event for company promotion, swag giveaways and interviews.
Inclusion on the Now Hiring Email and premium access to the physical Job Board
Topic Requests for programming language, technology or speaker topic consideration during the event
Naming Rights to an aspect of the conference either during or after conference activities (see above)
Optional Podcast sponsorship
Optional Podcast interview by a member of your company
6 Full Tickets (both days, $900 value)
6 Scholarship Tickets in your name ($900 value)
Thank You!
If you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to sponsor@carolina.codes. This event cannot happen without your support.
Additionally, we’re always happy to discuss, Community, Media and In-Kind Sponsorship opportunities for organizations who wish to help us promote the event in other ways. Contact us to discuss any ideas that you may have!
*Per the same conference rules for speakers, political sponsorships will not be allowed. Yes, we know it’s an election year.