devopsdays Chicago - Sponsor Information

Thank you for sponsoring DevOpsDays Chicago 2022! The organizing committee is excited and happy to welcome you as sponsors. This event could not exist without your support.

Contact

Email: [email protected]

Please use the above email address for all pre-event contact. One of the organizers will respond promptly.

Important Dates

September 5: Last day to register for the event and get badge with name printed

September 9: Last day to order A/V equipment

September 18: First day the venue will accept packages for the event

September 21-22: DevOpsDays Chicago 2022!

September 25: Last day to send outbound packages

Registration

All attendees, including sponsor exhibitors, are required to register for this event and wear the conference badge while in conference space. All sponsors should have received a coupon code that can be used to register your attendees. If you did not receive this code, please contact [email protected].

Ticket Donations

Please notify the conference organizers if you will not be using all of your allotted tickets. We will donate unused tickets to underrepresented and marginalized groups in technology through local organizations including Write/Speak/Code, Tech While Black, Chicago Women Developers, and Blacks In Technology. If you have a preference, please let us know. Any help and support would be greatly appreciated. 

Code of Conduct

Respect and empathy are core DevOps values. All sponsors and attendees are required to abide by the Code of Conduct listed on our website. If at any time a member of the organizing committee finds that any attendee (associated with a sponsor or not) has violated the Code of Conduct, the organizing committee has the sole discretion to take any appropriate action up to and including asking that attendee to leave without a refund.

Please ensure all marketing materials and swag are appropriate and in line with our Code of Conduct. Sponsors with handouts, prizes, or other swag that organizers find in violation of our Code of Conduct will be asked to remove those items immediately.

COVID Policy

Our COVID policy requires all participants (including all sponsor staff) to show proof of vaccination and wear a mask. Any person not complying with this policy will not be allowed admittance to the event. Please make sure you have confirmed this with all of your booth staff and participants.

Social Media

The conference Twitter hashtag will be #devopsdays. Please tweet, blog, and otherwise share what you learn with everyone who isn’t able to attend but could benefit from your experience!

Join us:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/devopsdaysChi

LinkedIn: https://www.devopsdayschi.org/linkedin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/devopsdayschi

There will be WiFi provided for the conference attendees. Remember, WiFi is a shared resource, so please be considerate of your fellow participants!

Note to sponsors about social media and Discord

Please note that sponsors are responsible for collecting their own leads and contact information for participants. If a sponsor abuses the social media and/or Discord at the event to harvest contact information, the organizers have the right to ban the organization from future events.

Venue

Isadore and Sadie Dorin Forum
725 West Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608
[email protected]
(312) 413-9875

Shipping

To the Event

Please address your boxes and materials to:

Attn: Damien Miller
DevOpsDays Chicago - < Company Name >
UIC Forum
725 W Roosevelt Rd.
Chicago, IL 60608

Items can arrive any time after September 18th. If you would like confirmation on the arrival of your packages, please contact Damien Miller ([email protected]).

From the Event

When shipping packages from the Forum the client is responsible for making arrangements for pickup with their chosen carrier. Packages should be left in the dock hallway with the appropriate postage and labeling. Please let the carrier know they can call the Forum’s cell phone number to gain access to the Forum and retrieve the package(s). (312) 459-6009. Arrangements for pickup have to be made within 3days after the event. Also, please convey to your Event Coordinator (Damien Miller - [email protected]) the arrangements that have been made

Internet

Sponsors will have access to the same free wireless access points as the attendees. No hardwire ethernet connections will be available. We strongly encourage local demos as we will be unable to guarantee speed or function. Login details will be given on the day of the conference.

Logo for Banners and Slideshow

We will be using the provided logos as shown on the conference website. If you would like any changes made please contact [email protected] 

Floor Plan

Click on the floorplan for a larger version

Gold Sponsors

Sponsors will be located in the foyer of the main ballroom (see the floor plan above). Coffee and snacks will be served in the sponsor area.

Table

  • Total “booth” space will be an 8’ x 6’ area.

  • Gold sponsors will be provided a 72" x 30" table with a black tablecloth, two chairs, and a power strip.

  • Setup will start at 7:00am on Tuesday, September 21.

  • Doors open at 8:00am for attendees; talks start at 9:00am.

  • Teardown must be complete by 5:45pm on Wednesday, September 22. 

A/V Equipment

Hartford Technology Rental is our recommended AV rental company. They will take care of equipment dropoff/pickup. If you’d like to rent a montor, please download this form and send it to [email protected] no later than Sept 9.

  • 24" tabletop monitor: $180/day + tax/credit card fee

  • 32" tabletop monitor: $240/day + tax/ credit card fee

  • 42" monitor w/ mobile floor stand: $520/day + tax/ credit card fee

All requests must be made by Friday, September 9th to ensure availability.

Each Gold Sponsor will have one minute to address the main hall and the listening audience during scheduled blocks between talks. Please ensure that the content of your pitch adheres to the Code of Conduct.

This is a simple verbal pitch. No slides, banners, or other materials. We will display your company logo on the main screen during your pitch. Most folks mention their job openings/company overview rather than a product pitch.  Here’s an example from 2017 (start at 1hr11min) : https://youtu.be/w1sZrtaSp4s?t=1h11m34s

Gold Sponsor Pitch Schedule

September 21
9:45 - 9:55
Teleport
Trilio
CircleCI
11:10 - 11:20
SUSE
Humio
GitLab
11:50 - 12:00
Solo.io
Spectro Cloud
Nirmata
13:30 - 13:40
Couchbase
Dynatrace
Pulumi

September 22
9:45 - 9:55
VMWare Tanzu
Observe
Quali
11:10 - 11:20
New Relic
Progress Chef
Seismic
11:50 - 12:00
Datadog
Harness
13:30 - 14:00
Sponsor Giveaways

Silver Sponsors

Sponsors will be located in the foyer of the main ballroom (see the floor plan above). Coffee and snacks will be served in the sponsor area.

Each sponsor will be provided half of a table on which to place printed materials, stickers, shirts, and other swag. Please refer to the Shipping section above. If you are not sending any representatives to attend, one of the DevOpsDays Chicago Organizers or Volunteers will organize your swag on the table to the best of their artistic ability.

Table

  • Silver sponsors will be provided half of a 72" x 30" table with black tablecloth and a power strip.

  • Setup will start at 7:00am on Tuesday, September 21.

  • Doors open at 8:00am for attendees; talks start at 9:00am.

  • Teardown should be complete by 5:45pm on Wednesday, September 22.

A/V Equipment

Hartford Technology Rental is our recommended AV rental company. They will take care of equipment dropoff/pickup. If you’d like to rent a montor, please download this form and send it to [email protected] no later than Sept 9.

  • 24" tabletop monitor: $180/day + tax/credit card fee

  • 32" tabletop monitor: $240/day + tax/ credit card fee

  • 42" monitor w/ mobile floor stand: $520/day + tax/ credit card fee

All requests must be made by Friday, September 9th to ensure availability.

Other FAQs

How many people will be attending the conference?

We are expecting 400-450 people at the conference. This year we are capping total attendance to allow for spacing out as needed.

What are the demographics of the attendees?

DevOpsDays conferences typically attract software, operations, infosec, QA, and build engineers, as well as architects and technology managers. From voluntary attendee data, 22% had VP or Director-level titles, 17% had senior level titles, and over 85% had technical roles.

These folks are attending to learn and to share learnings about the DevOps movement. They most appreciate sponsors who engage with them with that in mind.

Will sponsors get an email list of attendees? Do we get a dedicated email blast?

No, we will not be sending out a formalized list. 

Gold and Silver sponsors will have their logos in all conference emails to participants. We cannot send out emails on behalf of sponsors and will not share contact information or lists of attendee names.

When can we pick our booth spot?

Booths are assigned accordingly to sponsor level, then prioritized by when payment was received. We try not to place competitors next to each other and try to accommodate any requests.

What is the booth set up? Can we bring 1m roll-up as our back wall?

Booths are long tables ( 72" x 30") with a black tablecloth and power strip. Silver sponsors share half the table and 1 chair. Gold sponsors get a full table and 2 chairs. We recommend bringing/shipping: signage, handouts, pop-up banners, giveaways, etc. Banners must fit behind your booth.

A Gold sponsor table from 2019

How many scanners (and which type) do we get?

This is not your typical conference. The booth is a place to interact with people during breaks. Sponsors​ ​benefit​​ ​most​ ​when​ ​they actively​ ​participate​.

You are responsible for collecting any information in person. Raffles with a business card draw work well. Just let us know and we will give time on Day 2 to announce raffle winners between talks and lunch. We have seen that sponsors benefit the most when they bring engineers to the conference, attend talks, and actively participate in open space sessions with the other attendees.

What is the 20% off code for additional sponsorship tickets?

SPONSOR-2022-0QDQ

(Please note that that last portion has a zero in it, not an O.)

Who should staff the booth? What are expo hours?

If your goal is recruiting, consider sending engineering managers. If you are a vendor, send your sales engineers as well as your technical product marketing, and even some engineers. DevOpsDays are about quality, not quantity - it’s about active participation!

Can we do a giveaway on stage?

Yes. If you want to do a giveaway, you will need to collect your own information (e.g. business cards, entry slips, etc.) for whatever drawing mechanism you want to use. After the ignites on the second day, we will give you a short time slot on stage for your giveaway activity. Just let us know.

Can I sponsor a talk?

Absolutely not. Devopsdays does not sell conference speaking slots; sponsors’ employees are welcome to submit talk proposals.

Can I get a discount for sponsoring multiple DevOpsDays?

All DevOpsDays events are independently organized, so no multi-city sponsorships are available.

Who organizes DevOpsDays Chicago?

Your [../contact/](DevOpsDays Chicago organizers) are Chicago-based technology folks who volunteer their time for this event.

All money collected from sponsors goes towards the conference and its related expenses. We are not a non-profit, so sponsorships are not tax deductible. Contact us at [email protected]  to get our W9.

For any questions, email all of us at [email protected]