Hosted in Toronto on November 2-4, OpenCon 2018 is designed to serve as a powerful catalyst for projects led by the next generation of scholars and researchers to advance Open Access, Open Education and Open Data. However, OpenCon is only possible with the support of established organizations and institutions with a commitment to openness in research and education.

OpenCon seeks to convene the most effective student and early career academic professional advocates—regardless of their ability to pay for travel costs. The majority of students and early career academic professionals who participate receive travel scholarships, enabling over 80 countries to be represented since 2014.

Whether its underwriting the meeting as a Leading Sponsor, hosting a coffee break, or simply sponsoring a student or early career participant to attend, your support and the support of other like-minded organizations are critical in ensuring OpenCon is a success.

Reserve your sponsorship and connect with the OpenCon organizers

Leading Sponsor

Level of support: $30,000+

Benefits

• Top-level placement of sponsoring organization’s logo at the top of the conference homepage, on any giveaways produced (e.g. t-shirt, tote bag), and on conference title slides
• Opportunity to address the full conference for up to 5 minutes
• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on the OpenCon-hosted websites for all satellite events (30 satellite events were hosted in 2015 with more than 1,500 participants in total)
• Opportunity to have two communications of up to 150 words included in two emails sent to all main conference participants, one before the meeting and one after
• Opportunity for a 5-minute presentation at the beginning of a required pre-conference webcasts
• Table and space provided for sponsoring organization’s collateral throughout the first two days of the meeting; placement of organization’s table near registration desk
• Three free conference registrations

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 Challenge Sponsor

Level of support: $20,000

Benefits

• Invitation to propose a challenge to be addressed during the do-a-thon by the next generation leaders from across the world participating in OpenCon. Example of potential challenges include: How do we increase compliance with our open access policy? How can we effectively engage the next generation to make research more reproducible while making it more open? How do we close the gap in openness between STEM and the Social Sciences & Humanities? Challenges must be relevant to OpenCon’s core issue areas and are accepted at the discretion of the organizers.
• In consultation with the sponsoring organization, the OpenCon organizing team will help to structure the challenge, determine potential outcomes during and following OpenCon, and identify any additional opportunities to engage with the challenge beyond the do-a-thon (e.g. panels, workshops).
• Selection of challenge co-leads, two individuals selected from OpenCon’s applicant pool who will chair the challenge working group during the do-a-thon and provide a written summary of progress made on the challenge. Co-leads will receive a full scholarship to attend OpenCon.
• Blog post detailing progress made on the challenge for the sponsoring organization to distribute in a venue of their choice (or on the OpenCon blog if preferred) and crediting the sponsoring organization for making the conversation possible. Blog post will be written by co-leads.
• Opportunity to engage the OpenCon community on the challenge following the conference. Challenge sponsors will have the option of working with the organizers to encourage engagement with the challenge after the meeting, including a targeted message to the broader OpenCon community inviting them to get involved.
• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on the conference homepage and on any giveaways produced (e.g. t-shirt, tote bag)
• Two free conference registrations
• Statement of thanks at the opening and closing of the meeting

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Supporting Sponsor

Level of support: $7,500

Benefits

• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on the conference homepage and on any giveaways produced (e.g. t-shirt, tote bag)
• Opportunity to address the full conference and online audience for up to 3 minutes during the first two days of the conference
• Inclusion in a statement of thanks at the opening and closing of the meeting
• Table and space provided for sponsoring organization’s collateral during all coffee breaks
• One free conference registration

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Lunch Sponsor

Number available: 3/3

Level of support: $6,000

Benefits

• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on a dedicated portion of the conference homepage
• Opportunity to address the assembled participants directly before sponsored lunch for up to 3 minutes (in-person or recorded message)
• Table and space provided for sponsoring organization’s collateral in close proximity to the lunch area
• One free conference registration

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Coffee Break Sponsor

Number available: 6/6

Level of support: $4,500

Benefits

• Table and space provided directly adjacent to coffee and refreshments during the sponsored break
• Statement of thanks directly before sponsored coffee break
• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on a dedicated portion of the conference website
• One free conference registration

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Selected Travel Scholarship

(includes selection of recipient)

Number available: Limited to a maximum of 40 scholarships per continent; subject to discretion of OpenCon Organizing Committee

Level of support: $1,500 - $3,000. See full details for pricing for each region.

Benefits

• Option to select one qualified student or early career academic professional per sponsorship to attend the meeting with a full scholarship (travel costs must not exceed sponsorship amount); scholarship includes travel, shared accommodations (2 participants per room), conference registration, and visa processing fees but excludes incidentals.
• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on a dedicated portion of the conference website for organizations sponsoring a student.
• Statement of thanks to the group of organizations which sponsor an attendee at the opening of the meeting with each organization’s logo displayed.

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Community Partner Sponsorship

Level of support: $4,000

Benefits

• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on a dedicated portion of the conference website.
• Email to targeted segment of the OpenCon community. Organizers will work with the sponsor to send a message of their choosing to a specific audience within the broader OpenCon community of ~28,000. Messages can be targeted by region, career stage, discipline, and other criteria.
• Statement of thanks at the beginning of the conference to the in-person and online audience
• One free conference registration

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Sponsor a General Scholarship

(awarded to a participant selected by the Organizing Committee)

Level of support: $2,250

Benefits

• Organizers will pair sponsors with a selected participant for each scholarship, if requested. Sponsoring organizations have the option to ask the selected participant to write a short blog post (approximately 500 words).
• Placement of sponsoring organization’s logo on a dedicated portion of the conference website for organizations sponsoring a student.
• General scholarship sponsors’ logos will be placed above selected scholarship sponsors. Organizations sponsoring more than one general scholarship will receive the most prominent placement.
• Statement of thanks to the group of organizations which sponsor a participant at the opening of the meeting with each organization’s logo displayed

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None of these work for you?

If you would like to support OpenCon but none of the above options work for your organization, please get in touch!

Who else has sponsored OpenCon?

OpenCon 2014 Sponsors
OpenCon 2015 Sponsors
OpenCon 2016 Sponsors
OpenCon 2017 Sponsors
OpenCon 2018 Sponsors