Simply stating that these great companies, organizations, and individuals were sponsoring the event is only half the story; all our sponsors stepped up to help us in many other ways, take for example…

redPear – Platinum Sponsor
Twitter: @redPear
Our speakers were really grateful to have widescreen computer monitors showing their slides and a countdown timer in their line of sight, and we had two huge Dell widescreen monitors courtesy of redPear. Not only did redPear help with the computer monitors, but they came to the rescue by allowing us to use their web hosting for free after our web host starting experiencing technical difficulties on the days leading up to the event — they were lifesavers to say the least! If you’re looking for a one stop shop for your custom site and applications, then check be sure to check out redPear.

Media Grove – Platinum Sponsor
Twitter: @JeremyZeiders & @darylridgely
Media Grove is an easy to use digital media player complete with scheduling software that takes the headache out of setting up and managing digital signs. Media Grove provided the widescreen flat panel TVs that were sitting in the lobby and showcasing our sponsors, and they also created a custom Twitter wall to display real-time TEDxPhoenix related tweets during the event. Media Grove is a product that was created by TRUE, a design and software company located in Tempe near ASU.

Sitewire – Gold Sponsor
Twitter: @sitewireagency
We were pleasantly surprised when Sitewire’s CMO, Bret Giles, gave us a call and told us that they were interested in becoming TEDxPhoenix sponsors — this was before we even had a chance to finalize our speaker lineup or create a sponsor page with sponsor information. They were willing to take a chance on us before we had put all the event plans in place and for that we’re extremely thankful!

Darren Stevenson Photography – Gold Sponsor
Twitter: @Poppa_D
Darren was recommended by a friend of TEDxPhoenix and he’s not only a great photographer, but he’s also a generous individual who was willing to help us out at the last minute by providing his photography services through in kind sponsorship. Be sure to check out his gallery to see a sample of his unique point of view when it comes to photography.

Dream Catcher Video Productions – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @bpcarson
Dream Catcher Video Productions is run and owned by Brian Carson who provided the video filming for the event. He’s another individual who went above and beyond to help us out when we were in a jam by providing his presentation remote and USB keyboard for us to use. It turned out that the USB keyboard was an absolute necessity as we needed it to run the switch that controlled the input video from our two laptops to the projector since our genius curator brought along a keyboard with a PS/2 plug which would have been helpful if we were putting on the event in 1994.

Acme Prints – Silver Sponsor
Acme Prints provided the awesome TEDxPhoenix t-shirts and printed brochures at an extremely reduced cost, and also helped out by taking care of the rush delivery fees so we could have all our items by the event date without extra expenses incurred. They came highly recommended from several friends, which it turns out is how Acme gets all their business since they only advertise through word of mouth.

Maggiore Consulting & Marketing – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @mcm_az
Maggiore Consulting was the second sponsor to approached us, and also helped us out by connecting us to several other potential sponsors. The company was founded in 2005 by Jennifer Maggiore, President & CEO, who was recently named one of AZ Republic’s 35 Women Entrepreneurs Under 35.

Life’s a Garden – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @lifesagardenaz
Life’s a Garden is a Phoenix business that specializes in low impact and low maintenance desert permascaping. They’re also big TED fans and we appreciate all the financial support and Twitter shout outs that they sent out on a regular basis.

Changing Hands Bookstore – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @changinghands
Changing Hands Bookstore is a popular independent community bookstore located in south Tempe that was willing to help us advertise and market our event through their huge mailing list and in store advertising. They also have a stellar list of authors and guests that visit the bookstore every week.

The Torch Theatre – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @TheTorchTheatre
Jose and Bill of The Torch Theatre approached us early on to see if they could help cover the cost of our event insurance. The Torch has some of Arizona’s finest professional improv performers working together to bring professional improv to The Valley with performances every weekend.

PackFlat Projects – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @PackFlat
Will Nash-McAdam, founder of PackFlat, provided a lot of the copy we used in our press releases and speaker invitations, which we believe really made the speakers and organizations we approached take notice of what TEDxPhoenix was about and why they should be a part of it.

Caliber Signs- Silver Sponsor
Caliber Signs provided the banners that were found in the lobby and onstage as an in kind donation to the event, and they were also nice enough to keep the banners stored for us in a way that will preserve them and keep them nice and new for future events. By the way, their eco-friendly banners use water-based ink technology and 100% recyclable materials.

Arkayne – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @arkayneinc
Paul Kenjora and Adam Ayers approached us after we had sent our brochures to print, but they were still adamant about helping sponsor TEDxPhoenix even with the limited marketing avenues. The were also kind enough to setup their system for us on the TEDxPhoenix blog that helps us connect with the local blogger community, and Adam even extended an invite to all his 1200+ friends on Facebook — it’s more than we could have asked for!

Tyler Rives – Silver Sponsor
Twitter: @tylerrives
Tyler is not only part of the TEDxPhoenix family of volunteers, but he was the first person to become a personal sponsor of the event and simply wanted to help in any other way possible — the help was much needed and appreciated.

If you’ve made it this far, then we would like to thank you for taking the time to read about all the great lengths that our sponsors went through to help make the event a success — please do not hesitate to approach them with any needs you may have as they’ve gone above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed.

Sincerely,
The TEDxPhoenix Crew