DrupalCampLA 2008 Still Needs Sponsors

Hi folks,

With DrupalCampLA drawing (very) close and a fantastic showing of attendees (225 as I write this), we are finding ourselves in a bit of a budget crunch.

We agreed to the offer to host DrupalCampLA at the LA Convention Center on the conditions that costs would be kept low and we would have wireless internet access available to us. We also had to give up the ability to serve food as we did last year.

Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding between our contact for the LACC and the city's contracted internet provider, the costs for providing internet access are much higher than budgeted for, which means we are left with the choice between exhausting (and overreaching) our budget in order to provide access or passing along more fees to our attendees.

We are trying to strike a balance by buying a smaller number of connected IPs and asking people to share them, not connect their iphones, and use their evdo cards, etc. wherever possible. People who want a dedicated connection (or are willing to buy one to spare the community block), can do so for $12.95/day. The costs currently look like this:

• 100 Connected Users: $2590 (plus tax)
• 125 Connected Users: $3237.50 (plus tax)
• 150 Connected Users: $3885 (plus tax)
• 200 Connected Users: $5180 (plus tax)

Our other camp expenses include:
* Insurance - $150
* General supplies (tape, name badges, pens) - $200
* Signage/Printing - $200

With the block of 125 IPs, that puts our overall camp budget at just over $4000. We are currently about $1000 short of this goal. If we can't meet this goal, we will be forced to lower what we can provide, but we are really hoping to keep this event as accessible as possible for everyone.

If you can possibly contribute, we would greatly appreciate it. We are also working on getting a custom splash page for the wireless connection at the event to recognize the sponsors who made it happen, in addition to our other signage.

Thanks All,
Crystal