event marketing matchmaker

Digital love: How Sponsorfied perfectly matches well-funded brands withsponsor-seeking tastemakers

Baldwin Cunningham used to be the marketing director for a large company that works with major alcohol and clothing brands. He was sent to Austin with a single directive: Find events and sponsor them. Cunningham’s job was to seek out events that targeted his market — fun-loving 20-somethings with cash in their pocket and a craving for the latest trends — and basically sponsor said events in exchange for being able to plaster his company brands and logos all over the place.

Sounds simple, but the task ended up being quite arduous. It required a lot of networking, tons of guess work and good ol’ blind faith that all parties involved would hold up their end of the bargain.

After doing this for a couple of years, Cunningham decided there had to be a better way to go about event marketing matchmaking. Fortunately, he was in a city that is crawling with techies, creatives and entrepreneurial enthusiasts, all looking for a problem to solve or a great idea to support. He partnered with an entrepreneur, a developer and a designer to create a solution: Sponsorfied.

Sponsorfied is designed to serve as a marketplace for sponsorships. The goal of the organization is to simplify the sponsorship process by making it completely transparent.

Brands create profiles on Sponsorfied and identify their needs based upon desired demographics, available budget, target market, etc. Similarly, event coordinators can post their events, listing important information on their end such as budget and expected attendance.

From there, Sponsorfied takes over, reviewing the submissions, sorting out the riffraff and, finally, matching up the best brands with the right events.

However, we all know the best part of the party is the after-party, and this is where Sponsorfied really shines. Once an event is over, Sponsorfied can provide metrics on that event to help quantify the investment.

“Currently, sponsors have no real metrics to measure performance or the return on their investment,” says co-founder David Matthews. “We have built that into our back-end system to make it less of a guessing game.”

Sponsorfied launched at the beginning of 2012, and they couldn’t have come to the marketplace at a better time. With SXSW just around the corner, there are still tons of events looking for brand sponsorship, as well as companies wanting to put their name on a showcase or two.

If you fall into either of these two categories, head over to the Sponsorfied website and submit your brand/event. It’s completely free to do so, and don't worry, there’s no RSVP or wristband required.

unspecified

SKIN IN THE GAME

Renowned Hill Country tattoo artist inks new sacred geometry app

Photo courtesy of Dillon Forte

Dillion Forte at his "tattoo ranch" in the Texas Hill Country.

In the world of tattooing, there may seem to be few better rat traps left to build, but Dillon Forte aims to change that. In October, the renowned Wimberley-based tattoo artist and entrepreneur introduced a new iPadOS app to bring ancient symbology into the digital age.

Forte has made a worldwide name for his black dot work (a contemporary take on stick-and-poke techniques) and ambitious undertakings like tattooing underwater and opening a “tattoo ranch.” His ink appears on Usher, Chris Hemsworth, and Kehlani.

Still, he is most recognized for his sacred geometry designs, using patterns to convey various meanings. His interest led him to create the Sacred Geometry Drawing App, a convenient way for novices and experts to develop and export their creations.

The app grew out of his own practice. Over the past decade, he has used tablets and freehand techniques to achieve his highly symmetrical artwork but grew to realize existing tools were not always easy to use.

“The app is an attempt and fulfillment of my desire to make sacred geometry accessible and bring the ability to create into the fingertips of as many people as possible,” Forte tells CultureMap via email, adding a tagline: “symmetry made simply.”

He says he wished the app was available when developing his signature style as a tattoo artist, but it was designed with a broad range of users in mind. He hopes that designers, educators, and artists will find a use for it.

A short intro to the app's capabilities is available on YouTube. It looks like a standard drawing app, starting with a blank canvas and some tools like pens, pencils, colors, and of course, straight line and dot makers.

A "symmetry index" anchors the functionality and expands it to something between 2D art and 3D modeling. In addition to generating shapes like repeating patterns and spirals, the app also creates 3D shapes with grids, so that the artist can map their design in real space or even create sculptures. There is also an index for explaining the spiritual meaning of some standard designs.

“Geometry often prompts an intimidating feeling when it comes to making art,” Forte continues. “The fundamentally complex and often academic nature of math-based art can induce a sense of fear in the potential user instead of creating a sense of awe. The purpose of the sacred geometry app is to cultivate the latter."

Creatives interested in constructing their own geometric masterpieces can download the app at the App Store for free, and in-app purchases are available.

technology apps tattoos arts