Sponsored

From MashupCamp

In order to make camp possible, we need sponsors. So, to facilitate a some more participation in the Camp sponsorship program (which is necessary to sustain Camp under the current business model), we offered some dedicated slots in the Camp grid that would-be sponsors could "acquire." To minimize the intrusiveness of this approach on the unconference nature of the program, there are a few stipulations:

• Per time slot, only one room can be allocated to a sponsored session
• Sponsored sessions must be disclosed as such on the Web site and in any discussions
• Attendees are in no way required to attend a sponsored session
• Other sessions can exist during the same time slot
• Sponsors of such sessions are advised that there is no guarantee of attendance

Offering such slots also makes one other aspect of the unconference manageable: the part where vendors may attempt to dominate the freely available slots with "commercial discussions" (discussions of their technologies). The open discussion slots in Camp are for non-commercial discussions only. The idea is they are discussions for developers, by developers or others engaged in the mashup ecosystem who have a non-commercial topic to discusss. By having sponsored sessions and unsponsored sessions, a framework is created whereby commercial discussions can take place without disrupting the integrity of the non-commercial component and the fact that they are sponsored sessions is, unlike with many other events, 100 percent above board.

We welcome your feedback on this approach to making events like Mashup Camp sustainable.