> Last time around (two years ago?) when we were trying to put a UCL bid in
> place (which, by the by, got absolutely no votes in the final
> decision-making process after reaching the shortlist) we found that the
> large organisations which might be anticipated to be able to offer
> sponsorship (BT, IBM, etc) were unable to put anything in writing or even
> give a verbal assurance until such time as we have been awarded the event
> and/or would not let us state their name in any way in advance of being
> awarded it. Horse and cart, etc.
I've never understood why individual bids are expected to contact
large international organisations for sponsorship. Shouldn't the WMF
do that and tell all the bids that they have $X to spend from
international sponsorship and if they need any more they should get
local sponsorship. Having half a dozen people all contacting the same
companies for sponsorship for the same event (just hosted in different
places) seems like a really bad system.