Be seen and engage at Abstractions

With Abstractions II fast approaching, there are a variety of sponsorship packages that we are offering to companies interested in a diversity-centered conference. Designed for speakers and attendees from all walks of life, Abstractions is passionate about bringing people together to support and learn from one another.

Click here to view the Abstractions II prospectus

Our current sponsors are listed on the front page.

FAQ

Who is attending Abstractions?

Abstractions will be hosting 2,000 professionals from the software development field. Our audience is intentionally cross-discipline to include people involved with design, back end engineering, front end development, management, QA, devops and more. The common theme of our audience is that they are involved with delivering software. Their role level within their companies varies, many are individual contributors but we attract a solid showing from management and executives, too. We attract some current and aspiring founders, too.

Do you have a prospectus?

Download the Abstractions II prospectus here. We have packages geared toward sales, recruiting, and community visibility with perks that include table or booth space, logo placement, attendee email outreach, speaking slots in the vendor track, and more.

What are the specifics of each perk?

Most of our perks are “what is says on the tin”. For more information, contact us directly.

I don’t need so many complimentary passes. Can I exchange them for another perk?

No, but you can donate them. The Code & Supply Scholarship Fund is a separate organization that manages conference scholarships, including those for Abstractions. To donate tickets that have been assigned already, please simply reassign them to scholarship@codeandsupply.co. CSSF will issue a donation receipt before the end of the year. This donation will be tax-deductible in the amount that you paid for the ticket.

You can also give them away as a prize in a social media contest or to employees’ family so they can attend Abstractions, too.

Do you provide an attendee list?

We respect our attendees’ privacy and do not provide attendee lists to any sponsors. Sponsors who want to collect attendees’ contact information at their booth are permitted to do so and are encouraged to incentivize attendees with a some kind of a giveaway.

Do you have a lead generation tool like a badge scanner?

We are debuting in 2019 our wristband scanner, complimentary in 2019 only for all sponsors who are exhibiting with a table or booth. All attendees have wristbands with an NFC chip that can be scanned. After the event, we’ll provide you with the information scanned attendees provided on their Event Profile.

We encourage you to collect information however you would otherwise, too, such as with a tablet with an online form or a business card bowl. Consider also running a giveaway contest in order to attract more attention to your exhibition.

Who are your current sponsors?

You can see the current sponsors on the front page here if they are not yet listed on this page.

Who are some of your previous sponsors?

Interested in sponsoring Abstractions? You’re in great company. Previous sponsors of Code & Supply events and events organized by its team include:

Is Abstractions a non-profit organization?

Code & Supply Co. LLC is the organization behind Abstractions. It is not technically a non-profit, but operates very similar to one. Sponsorships are thus not tax-deductible donations. You can read more about Code & Supply at www.codeandsupply.co or its Meetup page

Organizations looking for tax-deduction opportunities should look toward the Code & Supply Scholarship Fund, a separate, non-profit organization that manages conference scholarships, including those for Abstractions.

Where do I sign up? Who can answer my questions?

Send an email to our Sponsorship Director, Colin Dean, and his team at sponsorship@abstractions.io with your questions or what options you’d like to choose! Our sponsorship team can build a custom package for you, too, after a brief call to understand what your organization is looking to get out of conference sponsorship.

Sponsor logistics

Pre-event

What are the specifics for the logo I need to provide?

Please provide the logo that meets these requirements:

• SVG vector format
  • SVG is very strongly preferred but EPS or Adobe Illustrator are OK.
  • Ultra-high-resolution PNG that looks fine when scaled down is also acceptable.
• Aspect ratio should be square or 2:1.
• Background must be transparent if the logo does not fill the full area.
  • The logo will be displayed primarily on a dark background, please make sure that the logo looks good on a dark background.
  • Bonus points if you also provide a second version that looks good on light backgrounds, including on white paper, in case we need it.
  • If unsure, please send multiple versions.

When displayed on Abstractions.io, the logo will be 200 to 400 pixels wide and no more than 200 pixels tall. We request vector so we can scale as necessary and reuse the image for other purposes, including print media.

Can I provide multiple logos?

Sponsor logos may be used for a variety of purposes, including digital and print media. Therefore, it’s important that you tell us what logo image file should be used for what purpose if you send multiples. We recommend logotext or a wordmark unless your brand’s logo is sufficiently well-known among software professionals to be recognized without the company name nearby.

Where can I view sponsorship forms?

Some of our benefits require completion of a form in order to gather necessary information together outside of the many email threads we’re all on.

See our forms page.

How can I get additional tickets?

To order additional tickets after having paid your sponsorship invoice, please email operations@abstractions.io and include the number of tickets you want and what ticket level.

Do you offer booth-only tickets?

Yes. There are $175 and are exhibition-only: no T-shirt, no swag bag, no access to talks, etc. If you would like a booth-only ticket, say that when contacting our operations team with your ticket order.

Can sponsors representatives share tickets?

Some sponsors representatives may only be able to attend one or two days. We permit sharing of tickets for booth-only tickets only and only with pre-arrangement so that we can ensure that all present and all days are appropriately credentialed.

Our wristbands cannot be removed easily without cutting or destroying them. Such a wristband is replaceable only by the person to whom it was registered for a $50 replacement fee.

Someone who presents a destroyed wristband and is not able to demonstrate that they are the original registrant will not be given a new wristband and will be denied entry.

Does each ticket holder need a codeandsupply.co account?

Each person will need their own codeandsupply.co account in order to establish an event profile. We use the event profile to know who is allowed into the conference when they register their RFID wristbands to their profile. Attendees manage on their event profile important conference attendee facts like shirt size, dietary restrictions, accessibility needs, contact information, and more.

To what ticket levels does my 20% discount apply?

The 20% sponsor discount applies to the professional or general admission ticket levels at any time.

We strongly prefer that sponsors include their ticket purchases with the sponsorship purchase, but do not require it. For ticket purchases exceeding $2,000 after having already paid for a sponsorship, please read How can I get additional tickets?.

No discounts are offered for student tickets.

How can I get my discount code?

Generally, the discount code is intended to be used by employees who are purchasing tickets themselves, individually or on behalf of the company.

Email operations@abstractions.io for your code if you haven’t already received it.

How can I transfer tickets?

When tickets are created for sponsors or others who paid via invoice, the ticket is assigned to the contact person for that invoice. That person must log into their codeandsupply.co account and use the Reassign Tickets feature of their profile page to assign tickets to each individual who is to receive a ticket.

If you need to reassign a ticket and cannot access the codeandsupply.co account to which that ticket is assigned, e.g. because the assignee left the sponsor company, contact operations@abstractions.io.

By when must I deliver swag bag materials, and to what address should I send them?

If your package includes the perk of distributing materials to attendees in the attendee bag or at the registration table, please send us all materials in advance. Send all materials by August 7 to:

Code & Supply Co., LLC
5648 Friendship Ave Floor 3
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Materials received after bags are packed will be placed on a table in the conference area.

Can I include paper in the swag bag?

If you want to include printed information in the swag bag, we require that this collateral be a:

• half Letter-size page of light cardboard or heavy paper
• full Letter-size printed page pre-folded in half
• sturdy postcard (4 in × 6 in or 5 in × 7 in )
• tri-fold brochure
• business card

We’ve found no amount of care inserting or treatment of our drawstring swag bags delivers an unfolded Letter page into attendees’ hands without significant crumpling. Crumpling looks bad and we want you to look good!

Can I ship my exhibition space materials to the venue?

If you have materials for your exhibition space, please bring them day-of. If they are large and you don’t mind paying for it, you can ship them directly to the convention center:

David L. Lawrence Convention Center
ATT: Justin X. Reese
Code & Supply / Abstractions
1000 Ft. Duquesne Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA  15222

Items can be delivered there absolutely no earlier than one week before the event.

Here are the storage and delivery charges you could possibly incur:

For crates, please specify how it is sealed. Payment will be made directly to the venue via Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or Check. These prices are controlled by the venue and are subject to change.

Can I get a current expected attendee count?

We are planning for 2,000 attendees. We do not current actively limit the number of attendees, so it’s possible that we may exceed this number in the weeks before the event. Watch our social media for tweets of elation, should that happen!

We understand that sponsors want to provide giveaway items for many if not most attendees. We encourage sponsors to plan for at least half of our target attendance. As humans tend to be ultra-prepared or procrastinate to the last minute, our ticket sales graph is a U-shape. That is, we can move 30-50% of our total tickets in the four weeks before the event.

If you’d like current ballpark count, please email sponsorship@abstractions.io.

Exhibition Space

What are the exhibition hours?

Doors open at 8:00 a.m. daily and the event is ongoing until after the evening’s keynote. The exhibition runs all days of the conference.

See the Schedule for session schedules.

When can I show up to prepare my exhibition space?

If your package includes an exhibition table or booth, you can arrive at 7:00 a.m. on the first day of the conference to set up your table. If you need to prepare your booth each day, please show up no earlier than 7:30 a.m. on subsequent days.

Additionally, sponsors requiring a longer preparation time can schedule with the organizers for setup from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the conference.

What is included in the space?

The tables will all be topped and skirted and include chairs. The table can be redressed any way you’d like. You are encouraged to bring swag for your own table.

Sponsors exhibiting in boothes are responsible for their entire setup.

For both table and booth exhibitions, the venue will provide chairs and we can request how many during setup. The default is two chairs.

How do I get my stuff to my space?

If you can carry it in your arms or on a two-wheel dolly, you can take it yourself. Unfortunately, the venue has very strict rules about heavy objects and four-wheel carts: if you require a cart or more than one person to lift something, it must be handled by Teamsters.

If you expect to require this assistance, you must let us know three weeks ahead of the event so that we can schedule them. There is significant cost to this, but we can aggregate and absorb reasonable costs across all sponsors.

Is electricity available in the space?

Yes, if you’re just plugging into the wall sockets. These may be limited in certain locations. Let us know if you will require electricity and we will do our best to accomodate you. Please bring your own power strip and extension cable.

If you plan have more elaborate electrical needs than plugging in a mobile phones or laptop, the cost is $129.50 + tax per 20A drop. This is our cost and is subject to change by the venue.

Is Internet available in the space?

Yes, but it is the same Internet that the conference attendees will be using. Read: assume that it will be unreliable, slow, and generally frustrating. If you need Internet for your booth, please plan ahead and bring a mobile hotspot or copy your materials locally.

Abstractions itself may have its own internal WiFi network usable for emergencies only.

Can I leave my space? What is the exhibition space security?

We do not require that exhibitors be at their space at all times. While we expect that there will be venue staff or organizers in the exhibition space, we will not be actively monitoring sponsors’ areas. Do not leave valuables out where they can be seen and stolen. Venue security will be present at all hours at the conference entrances.

Abstractions is not responsible for theft from or damage to sponsor exhibits.

When must I dismantle my space?

We must be cleared out of the venue by midnight on Friday, Aug 23. We suggest that sponsors commence dismantling their exhibits no later than 4 pm that day.

You may do so at any time prior, but we ask that you do not disrupt any sessions with noise.

How big is my table or booth?

You will receive an 6-8 feet x ~30 inch table or a 10 foot x 10 foot area to set up a booth, depending on your package level. Table length is determined by the venue and has been 6 feet in past years.

Will it be carpeted?

Yes. The venue is carpeted. You are permitted to lay any flooring you typically use. Bring comfortable shoes!

Am I permitted to run giveaways or other contests?

Yes! Giveaways are strongly encouraged as a way of attracting attention to your exhibit, possibly collecting attendee information.

Sponsors in the past have conducted successfully giveaways when the prize(s) are meaningful and substantial in value. Video game consoles, drones and quadcopters, Raspberry Pi kits, connected home products, low-end computers like Chromebooks, keyboards and mice, and nice headphones tend to go over well. Commonly available and inexpensive things like Google Home, Amazon Echo Dot, or high-quality company-branded apparel can work for exhibition staff that are adept at attracting and capturing the attention of passers-by. Stationary, pens, and other inexpensive swag can attract some attendees.

We only ask that you tell us that you are conducting a giveaway if the prize is valuable. It need not be in writing and it is OK to tell us at the event. We want to ensure that your giveaway winner is able to collect their prize!

Am I permitted to collect attendee information at my exhibit?

Yes. Please do respect their privacy and inbox. Do not misuse the information that you collect.

Can I hang a banner on the wall or from the ceiling of my space?

Yes, if you want to pay the venue to hang it for you. This can be very costly. Instead, we recommend something on posts, like a backdrop wall that stands on its own.

Where is my space in in the exhibition area?

See our Exhibition Map.

Note that exhibition numbers are not communicated to attendees, so using them in messaging may not clearly convey your location. It’s best to say that you’re in the East Atrium (left side of the map) or the Gallery (right side of the map).

Your position may change up until August 20. We’ll notify you of this change.