Breakout Sessions

The following are descriptions for our breakout sessions.

Leveraging Untapped Sponsorship Opportunities

Speaker: Bart Given

Explore the hidden potential in non-traditional sponsorship spaces—from airports and municipalities to mountains and women’s sport. Bart Given shares TTG’s approach to uncovering and elevating emerging opportunities, offering tools and tactics to help brands and organizations find value where others aren’t looking. Ideal for those seeking fresh perspectives and creative strategies in sponsorship marketing.

Selling with data: Demonstrating Your Property's Sponsorship Benefits

Speaker: Eddy Sidani

In this session, SponsorPulse's Eddy Sidani will walk through the best practices on how to use fan insights to communicate the strength and benefits of partnering with your property. With a spotlight on the Canadian sponsorship landscape, we’ll cover what you need to know to tell the most compelling narrative and maximize impact for your partners. Using a live case study, we’ll explore practical methods that top properties use in their go to market strategies to bring their sponsorship stories to life. Designed for those looking to up their sponsorship sales game by leveraging data and insights to tell their story.

The Art of Prospecting

Speaker: James O’Connor

Does your email outreach get ignored or go to spam? In 2025 connecting with new prospects can seem almost impossible. This session will explore:

·      Determining which companies/brands make the best prospects for your organization

·      How to engage the right contacts at a company or their agency

·      What makes a compelling pitch that actually gets read

·      Strategies to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of sponsorship sales   

The Hidden Numbers: 10 DIY Metrics That Land Sponsors


Speaker: Sarah Hillifer

Discover the overlooked metrics that make sponsors say yes —number-phobics welcome. Sponsorship pitches usually lead with a headcount: “We have 500 people at our event!” But sponsors are wondering, who are they? And more importantly, would they buy what we’re selling?
This session is all about finding the sponsor-worthy insights you already have, just waiting to be noticed. We’ll cover:

·      Handy info hiding in your registration forms and website clicks

·      What your parking lot, concession stand, and bathroom lines can reveal

·      Audience habits that suggest buying power and brand fit

Designed for anyone trying to land a sponsor without begging, bluffing, or breaking out pivot tables. Limited spreadsheets required.

The Pursuit of Wellbeing Through Sponsorship

Speaker: Carolyn Shaw

For as long as humans have been on this earth, we have been motivated by the pursuit of wellbeing. Though it has looked different throughout history, the inherent desire to live a life with less tension has moved humanity through every era of history. Join Carolyn Shaw, President and Chief Creative Officer from Humanity for a discussion on how sponsorship can drive this pursuit of wellbeing. In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn the basics of a behavioural science-based approach to sponsorship and how to leverage this understanding to create best-in-class activations.