This web page aims to provide detailed information for sponsors of the Researcher to Reader Conference, so they can see exactly what their sponsorship package comprises, and get information on sponsorship timing and procedures. It is a growing list of questions and answers, and we would be happy to receive further questions, and answer them here.

This FAQ is currently at a very early stage of development, but will improve.

The questions we have answered so far include:
What are sponsor email messages?
What is an in-conference display?
Can a sponsor secure a speaker slot as part of their sponsorship?
How do the sponsored Lightning Talks work?
Who can go to the speaker dinner?

Promotional Opportunities Before the Conference

What are Sponsor email messages?

Some sponsorship levels may include sending one or more email messages about the sponsor to the R2R community. These are not separate marketing emails, but messages about the sponsor that we embed in the text of our own informational emails about R2R. For example, within one of our emails, we might say something like “One of our Silver Sponsors for is Widget International, and we are very grateful for their support. Widget is the primary manufacturer of widgets for scholarly societies and will be launching their exclusive range of purple widgets this year.” We work with the sponsors to craft the wording that is valuable to them and acceptable to our community.

These messages may be included in any of our mailings, which go our regularly to all members of the R2R community, including people who have expressed an interest in the Conference, past participants, and newly-registered participants for an upcoming event. Typically we send out one or two mailings each month in October to February, and we should be able to make a schedule available; sponsors are encouraged to book a particular mailing well in advance.

Promotional Opportunities At the Conference

What is an in-conference display?

At a physical venue we will position a sponsor-supplied pull-up banner at an appropriate location. Usually the Gold sponsor gets their banner on the stage, and the Silver sponsor banners are at the side of the stage, with the exact positions rotated during the day. Other sponsors’ banners are distributed around the venue. The sponsor is responsible for shipping the banner to the venue in advance, or bringing it to the venue early on the first day of the Conference. The sponsor is responsible for arranging to collect or return-ship the banner. We cannot be responsible for banners or their packaging being lost in transit or at the venue, especially if they are not clearly labelled.

Participation In The Programme

Can a sponsor secure a speaker slot as part of their sponsorship?

We do not offer sponsors dedicated sessions in the plenary programme, as this is always viewed as inappropriate by our participants, however valuable the sponsor’s presentation might be. We do, however, welcome proposals in our Call for Papers from individuals who work for commercial organisations, but these proposals will not be accepted if they are judged to have a strongly promotional intent, or are sent in by marketing or PR departments on behalf of their colleagues.

Promotional or commercial messages may be given in Lightning Talks, however.

How do the sponsored Lightning Talks work?

A Lightning Talks is a short optional presentation given by a delegate during a breaks in the main plenary programme. They can be on any topic relevant to the R2R community, including promotion of products, services or other initiatives. The Lightning Talks may be scheduled in parallel or repeated over the two days, depending on the time available in the programme. The schedule will be finalised in January. During the 2021 Conference, the Lightning Talks proved to be quite popular, with around 30-40 delegates joining each session.

Where a Lighting Talk has a commercial intent or is promoting a product or service (even from a non-commercial organisation), this must be made clear in the abstract. We also ask that all organisations with representatives giving Lightning Talks with commercial or promotional intent provide financial support for the Conference, either by becoming a sponsor, or by the payment of a fee of £250. Our presumption is that any Lightning Talk being given by a person working for a commercial organisation will need to be classified as having commercial intent.

Who can go to the speaker dinner ?

An informal speaker dinner is usually held after the first day of the Conference; and any Plenary Contributor is automatically invited to attend (at their own cost), but Lightning Speakers are not invited. Some levels of sponsorship allow a sponsor to also send one or more registered delegates (normally their own staff) to the dinner (at their own cost). For past physical conferences the take-up rate for the speaker dinner has been about 50%.