This is a community event, but it wouldn't live on for long without companies sponsoring the events. Hence, sponsors are important to the health of the project. Thank you for sponsoring our events!
We'd like to remind everybody (especially speakers and sponsors) that these meetups are community events. We're here to discuss problems, ideas, solutions and technical challenges ahead to better understand each other and move forward together. We're not attending meetups to pitch or sell any products, to favor a specific company's solutions, or to talk badly about competitors. This is a good place to say that all our meetups follow the CNCF and The Linux Foundation Code of Conducts.
This is the most common form of sponsoring our events -- to open up your office to the community and let us be there for an evening. Venue sponsors get a 30 minute speaking slot for a suitable talk (if they want). It is expected that the venue sponsor also provides food and drinks to the meetup participants. If this can't be arranged, a dedicated food/drinks sponsor should be found instead, or some of the long-term sponsors will chime in. The only vendor-pitchy talk that is OK, is the dedicated 5 minute venue sponsor pitch. This talk may let the participants know what the company does, what they sell, or what kind of people they're hiring. The venue should have a good enough internet connection to host a Youtube livestream.
Long-term sponsor multiple meetups in a row for a period of time. They help with practical costs where needed (travel, stickers, etc.), as well as valuable equipment. They might also sponsor the meetup with valuable services, or people helping the meetup in various ways. The long-term sponsors will in some way be mentioned or visible at every applicable meetup.
Again, thank you for sponsoring our meetup!