Are you ready to kick your sponsorship program up a notch? To pitch your project to some of Canada's most active sponsors? Then you might be ready for the Five Minute Pitch^TM at the Western Sponsorship Congress (October 25 and 26, 2011).

And The Partnership Group - Sponsorship Specialists and Hilborn eNEWS are ready to get you there.

Tell us in 400 words maximum about the greatest sponsorship you've ever helped arrange. Why was it special? What did it do for your charity? How did the sponsor gauge its success?

The prize package

If you send in the best example of effective sponsorship, The Partnership Group - Sponsorship Specialists and Hilborn eNEWS will give you a full registration to the Western Sponsorship Congress, two nights' accommodation and approved return travel costs to Calgary.

And there's even more in this prize package - the last remaining spot on the Five Minute Pitch^TM, where you'll present your pitch to a panel of corporate decision-makers while Congress delegates cheer you on. Previous participants have built on those five-minute impressions to cultivate real sponsorships down the road, using the same strategies you'll learn during Congress.

To get a sense of what the Five Minute Pitch experience is like, check this website on June 4 for a new article, "Practice makes perfect..."

Bonus prizes

The first runner-up in the competition will receive a complimentary full registration to the Western Sponsorship Congress. All other entrants will be eligible for the early bird rate if they register at any time before Congress.

Here's what we need from you. Send that 400-word sponsorship story to Janet Gadeski, janet@hilborn.com, by July 15. Staff from The Partnership Group - Sponsorship Specialists and Hilborn will review all submissions and notify the winners in the week of July 25. The winning submission and the first runner-up will be published in Hilborn eNEWS.