3 ways for your company to get involved in the tech scene

You know how to get involved in a local tech community as an individual, but what about your company?

Company sponsorships provide more incentives to groups by allowing them to
subsidize their costs, streamline signups and of course, host affordable events.

It’s also a chance for companies to get in front of possible IT talent to hire, share their mission with prospective customers and generally help support an ecosystem of innovation.

As a company, here are some ways you can help:

1. Volunteer your space: We’ve had a lot of great spaces for our workshops in Philadelphia, such as IndyHall and WHYY, but we are always looking for more to increase our options for hosting classes. Do you have a conference room you don’t use weeknights? A training room set up with a projector? Let the tech community know by leaving a comment or contacting those that are relevant to your interests.

2. Sponsor food: This is an easy one. Pick up the tab for pizza and drinks or send a check for a specific amount. Many groups allow 5 to 10 minutes for the sponsor to speak about their company or a position they want to fill. It’s the best
way to grab the attention of a bunch of developers in one room.

3. Make a donation to a group or event: Send the group organizer an email letting them you would be interested in sponsoring their next event. We usually have to track down companies to do this – anything you can do to make it easier would be vastly appreciated. Speaking of, we have to plug GDI’s brand new Scholarship Fund that helps unemployed women attend our programming classes.

Do you want to support multiple groups? Get them to work together!

1. They can promote each other’s events: Notice another event that your members may be interested in? Tweet it, share it on Facebook or even better – email your group about it. We’re not competing against each other; let’s spread the love.

2. Collaborate on sessions: Throw a joint-event or happy hour (something
we want to do more of). Think of some ways you can work together to reach a
bigger audience and host better events. After all, two groups can be better than
one…or something like that!