Special Event Sponsorship Request

The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority reviews special event funding requests once per year in the fall. Special Events that are eligible for funding are defined as: "An organized activity conducted by a person or group for a common or collective use, purpose or benefit to amuse, educate or entertain the participants and the general public. These events must help to attract overnight visitors to the destination and brand Reno-Tahoe as Americas Adventure Place. Types of events that qualify for this funding include, but are not limited to: fairs, festivals, community events, mass participation sports (such as marathons, running events and bicycles races or tours), and charitable events."

We are now accepting applications for events that occur in 2008. The Early Deadline for submission of applications is September 14, 2007. If you would like staff to review your application to make sure that it adheres to the requirements for special event funding, you MUST have your application in by the early deadline. The Final Deadline for submission of applications is September 28, 2007. All materials described below must be received by the Final Deadline of September 28, 2007 for your application to be considered by the Special Events Review Panel. Any applications that are missing required elements after the Final Deadline will not be considered for funding.

Funding Timeline:
Early Application Deadline: Friday September 14, 2007, 5:00pm
Final Application Deadline: Friday September 28, 2007, 5:00pm
Special Events Panel Review of Applications: October 15-26, 2007
Board Marketing & Sales Committee Meeting: November 13, 2007
Board of Directors Meeting: November 29, 2007
Contracts Prepared: December 2007
Grants awarded following contract agreement.

Step One:
Special event producers who are interested in forming sponsor partnerships with the RSCVA are required to:

	(A)	fill out the online application towards the bottom of this page,
		AND
	(B)	(B) Submit the following items* in order to be considered for special event funding. A request will not be considered unless ALL of the following materials are received by the Final Deadline of September 28, 2007 (see Rules of Submittal below). If you would like RSCVA staff to review your application ahead of time and consult you on what elements might be missing, your application must be received by the Early Deadline of September 14, 2007.

1. Event Overview and Goal: This document will provide a comprehensive description of your event, plans to grow your event, and any information that might be pertinent in making a funding recommendation for your event.
2. Previous Year's Financial Statement (Event P&L): Also known as a Profit & Loss statement, this document will show revenue received vs. total expenses resulting in an overall profit or loss for your event.
3. Previous Year's Budget vs. Actual Comparison: This document will show what your previous years budget was and how close your actual expenses were to that budget. This will also help show any financial anomalies that might have had an impact on your event.
4. Current Year's Event Budget: This is an estimate of how much money will be needed to host your upcoming event and how that money will be spent.
5. Current Year's Marketing Plan: This comprehensive document should outline all marketing and communications plans for the event including how much budget will be allocated for this plan. (Items that might be included are: Media Plan, Media Budget, Market analysis, Advertising/Marketing goals, SWOT Analysis, Competitive Analysis, and Site Location analysis).
6. 6. Current Years Out-of-Market Advertising Plan to include media and budget: This document will show how much of your budget will be spent in out-of-market media, what your goals are for out-of-market advertising, and an itemized list of your out-of-market media buy.
7. Current Year's PR Plan: This document will show what your communications plan is for the media and general public in-market as well as out-of-market.
8. Previous Years out-of-market PR clips and associated advertising equivalency value (only required if you are requesting consideration of Advertising Equivalency.): This documentation will include copies of the out-of-market news coverage along with a detailed valuation of that coverage. Valuation shall be determined by standard industry practices and can be provided by a third-party source or internal valuation that includes rate-cards and back-up documentation.
9. Event Staff/Board of Directors' Listing: This comprehensive list will show a listing of your Board of Directors and executive staff members.
10. Previous Years list of events top five (5) sponsors and sponsorship amounts, along with anticipated revenue from said sponsors for this years event: This sponsorship overview will show your top sponsors, their sponsorship amounts, and projected revenue for the upcoming event. You might also include the top 5 target sponsors for your upcoming event.
11. Information on event charitable donations and on any sister charitable foundation: This overview will describe in charitable organizations that will benefit from funds raised by your event. Please include an overview and description of the charity(s) affected.
12. Verification of Room-Night Utilization: This documentation could include a room-block report from participating hotels or a pick-up report from a housing bureau. Please note: organizations that are requesting over $1000 in funding must provide proof of room-night utilization at a minimum of two Washoe County properties.

* For groups requesting $2,500 or less in funding, they only need to submit items 1, 2, 4, 5, and 12. If these groups are also submitting PR/advertising equivalency in lieu of out-of-marketing advertising budget, item 8 must also be provided in addition to the other required items.

Rules of Sumbittal: Early Submittal: If you would like your application to be reviewed by staff to determine if all required elements are included, one copy of your application must be received: before 5:00 pm, September 14, 2007 in hard copy (print) delivered to: Rebecca Venis Special Events Manager RSCVA 4001 South Virginia Street, Suite "G" Reno, Nevada  89502-6019 Final Deadline: Your funding request will not be considered unless ALL items are received: before 5:00 pm, September 28, 2007 in hard copy (print) 10 copies delivered to: Rebecca Venis Special Events Manager RSCVA 4001 South Virginia Street, Suite "G" Reno, Nevada  89502-6019 If you have any questions regarding submittal rules or requirements, please contact Rebecca Venis, Special Events Manager at 775-827-7721 or rvenis@rscva.com.

Step Two:
Once the application materials are received, staff comments are added, and discussions are sometimes held with event producers. Following this, the materials are combined into one summary document for the Special Events Panel. If an event was funded in the prior year, the summary document will include an event recap provided by the RSCVA.

Step Three:
A panel of experts/stakeholders in the special events field will be assembled by staff to evaluate the special event applications prior to going to the Marketing and Sales Committee for recommended funding. We anticipate that this panel will meet once to review event applications, and there could possibly be one to two conference calls prior to and/or following the meeting.

1. The panel selected annually could consist of some of the following types of individuals:
1. Hotelier
2. RSCVA/City of Reno Facility Manager
3. Successful Event Producers (those who do not request funding from the RSCVA)
4. Special Event Colleague (those from another city/state organization who work with special events in his/her community)
5. Marketing and Sales Committee/Board of Directors' Member
6. City of Reno and/or City of Sparks Special Events Manager
7. RSCVA Executive Director of Marketing
8. RSCVA Special Events Manager

1. This panel will evaluate the special event applications looking at each event's submission package to make recommendations as to the events viability to generate room-nights and destination awareness.

RSCVA Funding Priorities:
RSCVA funding is for events that generate hotel room-nights and marketing visibility to increase awareness in the destination and propensity to visit Reno-Tahoe.

Special Event Funding Evaluation Criteria:
With the goal of generating room-nights and marketing awareness to increase the propensity to visit Reno-Tahoe, the special event funding request evaluation will include consideration of the following:

1. Room-nights generated in Washoe County. Events requesting funding over $1000 must have verified room blocks in at least two Washoe County hotels.
2. Branding consistent with America's Adventure Place
3. Television Broadcast
4. Use of RSCVA Facilities
5. Professional, turn-key management
6. Evaluation of financial status of event
7. Timing of event dates (shoulder season recommended)
8. Room-night bookings at more than one hotel within Washoe County

RSCVA Support Opportunities:
RSCVA will support the special event request in one or a combination of the following:

1. Cash Grant
2. In-Kind Marketing Support
3. RSCVA Facility or Equipment Rental Rate Consideration
4. Scholarships for event organizers to attend various Special Event Conferences and Training Seminars

Event Funding Requirements:
If/when a grant or other assistance is awarded, special event producers will receive 50% of the grant funding prior to the event and the final 50% after the post-evaluation is completed. Prior to initial funding, the following must be received from the special event producer:

1. Signed special event contract
2. Verification of all anticipated advertising/media buys
3. Verification of all anticipated hotel nights (via room blocks or housing bureau rate agreements)
4. If using an RSCVA facility, must have a signed agreement with the facility

The final 50% funding will be issued after the following has taken place, preferably within 30 to 45 days after the completion of the event:

1. Room-night verification
2. Advertising/marketing verification
3. All other benefits verification (benefits per the event contract)
4. If using an RSCVA facility, proof of completed payment

EVENT INFORMATION
1. Event Title:
2. Event Location:
3. Proposed Event Date(s):	Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2007 2008 2009
4. Will there be a charge to attend this event:	No Yes, how much: $
Event Description (this detailed description will be used to present your event sponsorship request to the Special Events Panel and RSCVA Board of Director's Marketing and Sales Committee and to list your event on www.visitrenotahoe.com):
5. Which of the following categories does this event fall under: The RSCVA generally deals with three (3) types of special event classifications.	New Event(s) A New Event is defined as any event that is in its first five years of existence. New events are critical to our destination and we encourage new events to thrive in Reno-Tahoe. Established Event(s) Events that have been in existence for 6 – 9 years. Over time these events should become self sufficient and grow to Legacy Event status. Legacy Event(s) A legacy event is a special event that has been in existence for a minimum of 10 years and generally has a total of at least 5,000 room nights.
6. Is this an annual event: Click here for more information.	No Yes, how many years has this        event been held:
7. Anticipated room nights and method of tracking: Click here for more information.
8. Anticipated event attendance:
9. Will this event be held in an RSCVA facility (Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center, Reno Events Center, National Bowling Stadium, Reno-Sparks Convention Center):	No Yes, please specify:
10. Would you consider holding the event at an RSCVA facility?	No Yes, please specify:
11. Will this event be televised:	No Yes
Coverage:	National TV Regional TV
Network:
Cable:
Air date:
Commercial inventory:
12. Does this event have any media partners:	No Yes, please list:
13. Will this event be soliciting additional sponsors: Click here for more information.	No Yes, please list:
14. RSCVA event sponsorship funding request(s): Click here for more information.
15. RSCVA funds to be used for:
16. Please list all event sponsorship benefits to RSCVA:
EVENT MANAGEMENT
Event Organizer/Host Organization/Applicant:
Contact Person:   *Denotes required field
Name:*
Address:*
City:*
State:*
Zip:*
Office phone:*
Fax:
Cell phone:
Website:
Email address:*
Event Director:
Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Office phone:
Fax:
Cell phone:
Website:
Email address:
What other events are or have been produced by this individual or group:
REQUIRED MATERIALS
Your event application and sponsorship request is not completed until all supporting documents have been received by the RSCVA according to the Rules of Submittal shown above. If you are unsure about your supporting documents, please submit your application by the Early Deadline of 5:00pm on September 14th, 2007, and staff will review your application and provide feedback to you in a timely fashion. It is the responsibility of the event organizer to make sure that both their online application and supporting documentation are complete and have been received by the RSCVA by the Final Deadline of 5:00pm on September 28, 2007 (see Rules of Submittal above). If you have any questions regarding the RSCVAs Special Event Funding Program or Application process, please contact: Rebecca Venis Special Events Manager 4001 S. Virginia Street, Suite "G" Reno, NV 89502-6019 Phone: 775-827-7721 Fax: 775-827-7781 Email: rvenis@rscva.com
Thank you.