MH3 Blog

Start Your Engines: Rev Up Your ROI

The 2011 Canadian Sponsorship Forum has officially begun! Justin Orfus kicked off the opening ceremonies with an introduction of five of the TrojanOne team members, and then encouraged the audience to introduce themselves to those around them. Next, Mark Harrison of TrojanOne took to the stage to introduce the weekend and give an overview of how to rev up your ROI. Mark covered many of the topics that other speakers will delve into over the weekend, including social media and word of mouth, the power of turning participants into promoters, and how to get more by giving more. He discussed going beyond sponsorship to make genuine connections. His presentation included a lot of examples, from Hellmann’s to Coca-Cola, from Kraft’s involvement with Hockeyville to the Purolator Tackle Hunger program. He spoke about the lessons we can all learn from Richard Branson expanding, Oprah quitting, and even Michael Jackson dying.

A clip from Charlie Sheen wrapped up the opening keynote before delegates moved out into nearby rooms for the breakout presentation. Stay tuned for more from the Canadian Sponsorship Forum!

Keep up to date with Mark Harrison on Twitter – @MarkHarrison3.

MH3 Blog

Welcome to CSF 2011!

It’s finally here! Yesterday, I hauled myself out of bed at 3:30 a.m., took two separate flights, and spent the evening greeting arrivals to the Montreal airport for one thing – the 2011 Canadian Sponsorship Forum!

The Forum has played a large role in my life for the last few months. I’ve written a lot of the session summaries, which got me excited for the many amazing and varied presentations that will be taking place this weekend. I’ve gathered information for speaker bios, and was wowed by the high calibre of presenters that will be gracing the stage this year. In weekly Forum meetings, I watched as the dedicated and hard-working team put all the pieces together and made sure that no detail went unnoticed.

As I mentioned, I spent most of yesterday (well, the part of it that I wasn’t sitting on a plane) at the Montreal airport greeting the Forum delegates that arrived early. It was great to be the first face greeting many of these people as they landed. I spoke with groups and individuals from Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and probably a few other cities that I didn’t catch. Others arrived on the TrojanOne Express train from Toronto, and even more will be making their way to the Delta Centre-Ville tomorrow.

Last night, I got my first introduction to the Forum and Montreal during Formula 1. How crazy! Friendly, smiling people everywhere. Streets filled with energy and excitement. I’m looking forward to things ramping up even more as the city roars towards the big event on Sunday: the Formula 1 race.

Tomorrow, I’ll be greeting delegates again and making sure they’re in the right place. Then, I’ll be watching the opening ceremonies and keynote presentation from our own Mark Harrison before volunteering at a couple of different sessions. So stay tuned tomorrow for updates – and don’t forget to tune in to the conversation on Twitter by following our hashtag #CSF2011.