SMUG Vendor Policy
For the purpose of establishing fee requirements, SMUG defines a vendor to be: any company that sells hardware, software, or training and any company outside of the greater Grand Rapids area that sells design related services. Local design service companies still have to pay for booth space, but they do not need to pay for presentation time.
There are 3 ways that a vendor can participate in a SMUG event; either as an exibitor, as a presenter/exhibitor, or as a meeting sponsor.
Fees
Exhibitor: The cost to rent a table is $200 worth of door prize(s).
Exhibitor/Presenter: The cost for 30-40 minutes of presentation time and a table is $300 worth of door prize(s).
Meeting Sponsor: Contact a SMUG officer for information on sponsoring a meeting.
SMUG is not setup to accept money, so vendors are instead charged a door prize(s). The door prizes are raffled off to the group at the end of each meeting. All door prizes must be approved in advance and a full description and its retail value must also be provided before a reservation will be guaranteed. Examples of previously approved door prizes include gift cards in $100 increments (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc), golf drivers, golf putters, game systems, DVD players, digital cameras, iPods, etc. A 2-4 hour workshop on an approved topic may also be used in lieu of a door prize. Logo wear or any promotional items bearing the vendor's logo, vendor software, or services are examples of items not approved for door prizes (see Fish Bowl Drawings).
If desired, vendors may display their door prize(s) on their table to help attract visitors. However, misleading signage (for example, "Enter to win a ______") is NOT permitted for rental fee door prizes because all registered SMUG members who sign in at the front door are eligible to win the door prizes.
Unless otherwise specified, we request all door prizes to be shipped to a SMUG officer one month in advance. Since they are used to promote SMUG meetings and boost attendance, door prizes are non-refundable in the event that vendor cannot attend (missed flight, illness, etc).
Presentations
All vendor presentations must be approved in advance and, unless otherwise specified, are strongly encouraged to be educational in nature. The presentation title and a short abstract should be provided as soon as possible. Additionally, please provide the speaker’s name, job title, and a short biography (written in 3rd person) that can be used for their introduction. Vendors may use the first 2 minutes and 2 slides of their presentation to provide background information about their company.
Sharing Tables
Upon request and for an additional $100 in door prize(s), up to two vendors may share a table. In order to qualify, the two vendors must have a known business relationship (technology partner, reseller, etc).
Attendee/Member Lists
Attendee and/or member lists are not shared with vendors. Vendors are, however, permitted to collect contact information from attendees who are interested in their products and services.
Fish Bowl Drawings
Fish bowl drawings (for an additional door prize) is an acceptable practice of collecting contact information. It must be an additional door prize, above and beyond the "rental fee" door prize. The vendor may provide any door prize of their choosing for the fish bowl drawing (this includes logo wear, promotional items, etc.) Promotional signage, for example, "Enter and win...." is permitted for fish bowl drawings. How and when the drawing occurs is up to each vendor, but it must occur by end of meeting.
Miscellaneous
Vendors are asked to arrive approximately one hour prior to advertised meeting/lunch commencement to allow time for booth setup, check hardware compatibility with A/V equipment, etc.
Please provide the name and cell phone number for at least 1 person who will be at your vendor table.
The Pinnacle Center (our most common venue) has a policy that nothing may be affixed to the walls. Their tables are approximately 6 feet long and 30 inches wide.