Context: T3chFest is a non-profit technology event in Madrid organized by students and alumni. Tickets are free for people under 23, and the rest are 6€ that are donated to NGOs. Everything is paid by sponsorships and donations.
The event is happening in 4 days, so their logo and name is already printed in all the leaflets, graphics, merchandising... and of course it's been in the website for a long time.
The sponsorship quantity is probably less than 5K€, a small amount for Couchbase, but big for the volunteer organizers.
I worked for Microsoft back in 2018-2019 and I was in charge of choosing and sponsoring T3chFest. It was BY FAR the event with the highest engage metrics per euro invested.
It was crystal clear that they were a NGO because they did not enforce contracts and deadlines like a professional event organization. But we understood it and tried to help them to cross the corporate hurdles to close the sponsorship deal.
I don’t know what is happening, and I’m pretty sure this is peanuts for Couchbase. They should fix this mess just to avoid the impact in their reputation.
The event is happening in 4 days, so their logo and name is already printed in all the leaflets, graphics, merchandising... and of course it's been in the website for a long time.
The sponsorship quantity is probably less than 5K€, a small amount for Couchbase, but big for the volunteer organizers.
Sponsorship: https://t3chfest.es/2023/en/patrocinadores
Organizers: https://t3chfest.es/2023/en/organizacion/