Article, Question & Kit

Hi Matthew,

Before going to a sponsor it's a good idea to sort out some stuff, since you want to make a match between the sponsor and your project/expedition:

At least be able to name the following about your own project/expedition:

- The socio-economic characteristics of the practitioners, enthusiasts and viewers of your project/expedition;

- The core value(s) of the image of your project/expedition;

- The characteristics of the expedition itself;

- The media-attention you can, or want to, create;

- All manners in which you can, or want to, create attention in others ways (for instance: events);

- The way you want a sponsor to help you, whether that's financially or with their products et cetera;

- Your costs;

To make a match, you need some info on your prospects. So, you want to know at least the following from your future sponsor:

- Their target audience;

- Their objectives;

- Their mission, vision and positioning statement(s);

- Their communication-strategy and -policy;

- The corporate culture;

- And last but not least, their budget.

Now, see if you can match your characteristics with those of your prospect. The bigger the match, the bigger the chance is they'll help you out. Next to creating an insight on your prospect, working with this "matching model" prepares you on questions you will get from your prospect about your expedition.

I know my comment doesn't answer your question entirely but I hope it helps you and others in the quest for sponsorship.

Kind regards,

Leon

We've been discussing, planning and writing some "Funding resources here at EC HQ for a while now. We will be publishing them really soon - and will let you know when we do.

Hi Matthew,

Some universities have expedition grants that they award on an annual basis, you should check if your university has one of these and apply. You could put together an expedition proposal containing the following and present it to the university (taken from my universities expedition society guidelines).

Proposals are invited setting out the Expedition title and:

1. Outline of the nature of the expedition, including

Dates

Location(s) to be visited

Nature of work/activity to be undertaken

Transport to be used - both to and within the country to be visited

Accommodation to be used

Sources of information regarding conditions in the areas to be visited

2. Statement of Aims and Objectives

3. Summary of latest Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice for countries to be visited.

4. Permissions required and how they will be obtained.

5. Medical precautions - vaccinations and other medical precautions which will be taken to ensure good health of expedition members. Please note that not all vaccinations are free on the NHS. Any costs associated with vaccinations should be included in the budget figures.

6. Casualty evacuation - how will expedition members be evacuated in a medical emergency to a location where they can receive appropriate medical treatment?

7. Risk assessment - a description of what are perceived to be the main sources of risk associated with the expedition and a summary of the measures which will be taken to minimise the risks.

8. Names of key group participants, including: Leader; Deputy Leader; Treasurer

9. Details of first aid training which will be undertaken prior to departure and which members of the expedition will obtain first aid qualifications.

10. The name of someone in the United Kingdom who will act as the “home agent” for the expedition and the name of a deputy. These people will act as the contact points in the UK in event members of the expedition experience difficulties while overseas. Explain how the expedition will communicate with the home agent.

11. The name of a staff member who will act as a contact to advise the team on the topic or location of the expedition. (if relevant)

12. Details of any individuals and organisations with whom the expedition is collaborating in the host country

13. Budget statement

14. Environmental policy (if appropriate)

There is also a number of funding bodies who help support independent expeditions such as yours. Which ones will sponsor you depends on the nature of your expedition, whether it's a scientific, exploratory, charity, mountaineering etc

hope this helps,

Justin Boylan-Toomey

Hi Emrys,

I completed that race in 2010, so if you have any questions i'd happily answer them. My email is lucyr_b@hotmail.com.

Lucy

Contact Bert Poffe at: http://www.facebook.com/Bert.Poffe and/or Ray Zahab at: impossible2Possible.com. By far the best sources I know.

Hi Debbie, EC members now get a 10% discount on all Be-Well Expedition Food. Used and endorsed by Sir Ran himself! http://www.explorersconnect.com/resource/global/multiple/-/10-discount-on-be-well-expedition-foods-13195/

That's great guys, thanks for the advice! The other half loves biltong, so I think I might need to acquire a taste for it - good idea as a lightweight and durable way of bringing extra protein! Thanks Cycle Jim.

Ash - we won't have the facility for getting food caches set up unfortunately, but that's a good one to bear in mind for future trips (we're hoping htis won't be the only time we do something self-sufficiently like this)

Thanks again guys!

Hi Mike!

Belinda's right on the money. It depends what you want out of it at the end and how much you want to put in?

If you're looking to not spend too much then a PlaySport would be ideal as its cheap, full HD and completely waterproof...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kodak-PlaySport-Waterproof-Dustproof-Shockproof/dp/tech-data/B004MMF7QO/ref=de_a_smtd/276-3742351-9656209

You could always get a couple of HD GoPro's for visuals, theyre great because they can do timelapses as well as HD footage. Aswell as this, the GoPro's are wide angle lenses usually so on a small boat you'll capture all the action. I also use a HedCam for my helmet because its less intrusive and more lightweight than a GoPro...http://hedcam.com/hedcamwide

Theres always the option of getting a waterproof housing for a DSLR. DSLR's are fast becoming the best things to shoot on because they offer a wide range of manual settings as well as having an array of lenses...http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/220962727318?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&cbt=y

The PlaySport does quite good sound but is Monoaural not stereo. Unfortunately water kills audio on it but you should be okay just on the Boat.

Most of the time spent making a movie like this is in the edit. I'd say get as much footage as you possibly can, and work it out in the edit suite. Some people will tell you different.

Hope that helps Mike! Best of luck with your adventure!

Huw

Short answer: there is no set way.

But my advice is: First step: get yourself on an expedition (and probably don't get paid) Second step get yourself on another expedition and so on and so on....one day you'll become an expert and you'll get paid for it (whether as a scientist, journalist, comms expert, photographer....depending on your skills)

There is probably an easier way though....any ideas....?