Sponsorship proposal Write the Talk

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES BIRMINGHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL 8-17TH OCTOBER 2015

BACKGROUND

Birmingham Literature Festival, the flagship project run by Writing West Midlands, is an excellent way to connect with people in the West Midlands and from further afield.

Our audiences are passionate about arts and culture and have time and money to spend on following their interests. They are, of course, primed with their own ideas and opinions and they enjoy the chance the Festival offers to discuss issues and share views.

Quite simply, our audiences make the Festival what it is.

Man Booker shortlisted authors signing a er their event.

University of Birmingham promo onal material in the Library of Birmingham foyer

Dr Gregory Leadbe er chairing Fes val opening event with Jackie Kay

Our audiences are delighted to welcome high profile names to Birmingham from elsewhere in the UK and overseas. In recent years we saw writers from Canada, Cuba, Denmark, Libya, South Africa and Pakistan.

Our audiences are justifiably proud of writers from the region, including previous and future Festival speakers Alan Ahlberg, Liz Berry, Meera Syal and Steven Knight.

BIRMINGHAM LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2015 Writing West Midlands would like to develop its relationship with Write the Talk. Sponsorship of Birmingham Literature Festival events begins at ÂŁ500 with headline events generally requiring a contribution of ÂŁ1000 (plus VAT). Most of our events happen in the Library of Birmingham, but we also use other venues in the city centre.

We would like to help you make the most of your sponsorship and can provide you with dedicated staff time and the services of a professional photographer during the Festival to help showcase your sponsorship to colleagues and customers. Your sponsorship will help to raise your profile locally through exposure to our mailing list, website visitors and event attendees, as well as providing opportunities for corporate entertaining in the prestigious Library of Birmingham. Write the Talk can also feel confident that they are making a valuable contribution to the cultural life of the region.

Jackie Kay 2014, sponsored by Newman University

Tracey Thorn and Ben Wa s s ll available to sponsor in 2015

Example of sponsorship branding in Library of Birmingham Foyer, 2014

Birmingham Literature Festival Number of events: 42 Tickets sold: 2720 Facebook friends: 2062 Email contacts: 3136 Twitter followers: 4685 Webpage impressions: 13,916 (since Aug 14) Number of brochures printed: 15,000 Listening audience: 1 million (BBC broadcast)

OUR REACH

Partner organisations included: Arts Council England Birmingham Repertory Theatre BBC Two BBC Radio 4 Danish Cultural Institute Festivals Birmingham Heart FM Ikon Gallery Library of Birmingham Man Booker Prize More By Design National Poetry Day Nine Arches Press Poetry By Heart Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate West Midlands Readers’ Network Writers’ Guild

Peaky Blinders: Steven Knight Photo: Lee Allen

Sponsors involved: Birmingham City University Irwin Mitchell LLP Midland Creative Projects Newman University Opus at Cornwall Street University of Birmingham

BE INVOLVED Be a sponsorship partner for one of our Headline Events and your organisation can receive the following benefits: Branding within the attractive full colour Festival brochure and website to include business logo and statement of sponsorship (“Sponsored by…”).

Guaranteed availability of 10 event tickets for guests of sponsor with reserved seating (further tickets will be available at cost) and 5 signed copies of an author’s book.

Opportunity for branding of event venue and distribution of business information (e.g. display material, copies of brochures, etc).

Opportunity to have professional photographs taken of your sponsorship for use on your website or other promotional material.

Opportunity for catering package for guests of sponsor before or after an event (depending on event venue with costs negotiable).

Opportunity for guests to ‘meet the author’ before an event (subject to confirmation of arrival times of author, etc).

Public crediting of sponsor during event introduction and wherever possible through our PR campaign.

All of the above elements are negotiable. Most events take place during the evenings. Please note that all details are subject to change during the immediate planning process.

To follow up any of the suggestions made in this booklet, please contact: Emma Boniwell, Relationship Manager emma@writingwestmidlands.org Jonathan Davidson, Chief Executive jonathan@writingwestmidlands.org Telephone: 0121 246 2770 Images Š Lee Allen Photography. Ben Watts & TraceyThorn Š Sarah Lee

www.writingwestmidlands.org