Would sponsorship be a good idea?

just wondering if anyone has any experiences with sponsorship in feathers any advice wanted

thanks alex

For featherweights, Ewan would probably be the best person to speak to about sponsorship. I would imagine he knows quite a bit about it, the amount of sponsors he has :)

Sponsorships always a good thing aslong as you dont promise them anything - such as being on TV. And since robot warsis not around anymore, people seem to be less willing to sponsor. But the more the merrier:)

Email has been sent.

Grant you would be surprised :)

I got sponsored and a summer job at the same time , for helping around the machine house I was able to get parts of my robot milled for free and get paid while I was there !

Alex, my advice as follows.

1: make sure you deliver what you promise, sponsors want something back, make sure they get it!

2: get what you need. there is no point being sponsored something you will never use, just for the sake of getting it free.

3: respect your sponsor, they are doing you the favour, make them feel you appreciate it.

I say this as I have spent £2000 sponsoring different teams in the last year or 2, and not one of them gave me any kind of value back. Its a shame, but I guess it left me to sponsor my own machines instead, so Im happy with that as I got LEMS and lots of nice stuff, which could have been spent on someone elses robot? Their loss. As I say, make a sponsor feel like you appreciate them and your first few ££ may become several hundred £££ next time, and several thousand ££££ later. Loyalty is worth a lot you will find.

Hope this helps.

Or you could always try the completely unorthodox and most likely ineffective method of:

Does anyone fancy sponsoring me at all? Im after some batteries!

(Not guaranteed to deliver successful sponsorship - but certainly worth a try :))


(Message edited by K_C_R on August 06, 2006)

Alex - visit the XFM website

http://www.extremefightingmachines.co.uk/applications.htmlhttp://www.extremefightingmachines.c...lications.html

Section on there about getting sponsorship.

Ed
http://www.teamstorm.comhttp://www.teamstorm.com

thanks all

ewan already suggested the guide and it helped

got a lot to think about

thanks alex

could anyone suggest some ideas for companies i could try?

any welcome but i was trying to focus on motors and batteries

thanks alex

if its only motors and batteries you need, then search round your local model shops etc. They can aften stock motors such as astroflights and very good batteries.

are astroflights a good make of motor and are they of use in a feather weight?

alex

Yes.

I use astroflight motors in Ploughbot, you will see how well it goes on saturday :) Gave a 70kg Raptor a good shunt and made it bounce ontop of my robot.

are they expensize?

yes they are, especially if your looking at having spares. This is why sponsorship would be a huge help!

does anyone have a website for them i could look at? or any other any info?

cheers

http://www.astroflight.com/e/env/0001mHftYfvxLnI9UU68598/index.html?link=/store/store-Robot.htmlhttp://www.astroflight.com/e/env/000...l?link=/store/ store-Robot.html

Problem I see Grant is that hobby shops are very unlikely to stock the larger robot models inc the 940.

Alexander if I were you building a bot for the first time (correct me if I am wrong on that one) I wouldnt go near astros. I am not a fan of them personally but thats besides the point. The toughest challenge with robots is to get a moving chassis. Once you have that then start throwing in the big motors etc.

It also looks better to potential sponsors if you can actually show them something working and show them exactly how they can help you.

Just my 2 cents.

Best get a few drills and find a sponsor for some decent batteries :wink:

he is looking at building a second robot for his dad i think!
James and I will be selling a large range of motors at the test day on saturday, along with chassis and complete drive trains so its worth looking when you get there.

well the motors would be for my second bot i.e. the teams third. so arent astroflight a good company to approach? and are they only in America?

thanks alex

by the way the wheels we are looking for they are for my dads

cheers

are astroflights not the best to approch for sponsorship? who would be better?

alex

I doubt Astroflight would be interested in sponsoring your robot. Youd be better off finding a local sponsoring you with the money to buy astros.

i have seen a few model shops with the smaller astro 25s, and they would be ideal for feathers also. A money sponsorship would be much harder to get, but if you can its worth it! otherwise, you dont nees astros, spped 900 motors and similar sorts will be very good. If you speak to a local model shop, and say what sort of power you want from a motor they should lead you in a good direction. And then ask for sponsorship :)

or perphaps try a different avenue, i.e. batteries? could someone suggest places to try?

alex

the same again really, all local model shops will stock items such as transmitters, high power Nihm packs, speed controllers, crystals etc etc. practically everything you will need can be bought from a model shop, or atleast especially ordered in!

are thes any good (batteries) the price in £s is £8-£9

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=70http://www.batteryspace.com/index.as...PROD&ProdID=70

I would assume that the Nicad packs from Technobots would be cheaper than these once P&P has been added to that price.

Alex I am currently using the Technobots packs 24V cost about £30, with two golds and an astroflight, they get hot and only last one fight but they are doing the job at the moment. Will probably get some better ones when I can afford to later in the year.

As for sponsorship, we emailed the Titanium.com UK branch and took the robot along one afternoon and they gave us quite a lot of Ti. So you never know how lucky you will be, ring, write or email as many local companies as you can. The more local the better as they are more likey to want to promote themselves locally. Try to avoid asking really big companies as with a feather they are unlikely to sponsor you, we know this from experience. Good Luck

(Message edited by geeza on August 11, 2006)

Oi, Ed, pls bring some Ti freebies to the RoboChallenge gig tomoz :)

i am sponsered titanium for Predator. Titanium Industries gave me loads including sheets for the armour and tail loads of bar and a nice billet for the head which ended up being just a tiny bit too small :sad: most of it was brand new off their shelves!

you just need to ask. but as many have said dont promise anything unless you can guarentuee it. Also if your in search of materials ask for off cuts as being for a feather they may have just what you want in the scrap bin.

I agree with James on that one. An offcut to them might be a piece of material 50cm by 50cm or larger! It all depends on the supplier.

Another avenue which i never fully explored as I never had to was bus shelter polycarbonate. When panels are replaced they have to go somewhere! Usually in the bin I believe but if you cover up the I love so and so etc and the burn marks from cigarettes they can make for some cheap easy armour panels. Just an idea.

Gary is right about the bus shelter PC, ive still got about 5 sheets left, got 15 a few years ago.

Ive been doing some thinking, as i will most probably have to slightly redesign psycho fling, and with this sponsorship thing ive come up with an idea. if i was to approach a metal company for their off cuts or what ever, and we could get a sponsorship deal they could cut the off cut bits to the right size (for redesign). As i will need some more side pannels and other things. i have done a preliminary drawing (see profile) which i think might work. so if anyone has any suggestions or needs a bigger pic please post.

thanks alex

getting off cuts is relatively easy Alex, getting labour isnt so easy (or so I have found)

Alex, if you needed any small parts making or machining I can do it as long as it isnt going to take hours. I get access to my works machines on a Friday afternoon when everyone else has gone. I probably can get some small off cuts as well. Let me know and I will try to help.

Ed
http://www.teamturbine.comhttp://www.teamturbine.com

What kind of stuff can you easily get access to Ed? I could do with pocketing some weight out of Vertigos main bulkheads, but havent access to anything suitable atm. Thanks.

Soz for thread hijack...

Wont have time to do anything before the champs, but speak to then and I can sort something out. Pockets in bulkheads shouldnt be a problem.