Unveiling Sunlight Open Gov Events

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If you have been to any of our TransparencyCamp unconferences, the popular Labs Open House or happy hour  then you know that we organize great events. And just as much as you support our events, we equally enjoy supporting other events — especially when they involve bringing together a bunch of geeks like us who love cracking open code and making our government more transparent and open.

In that light, we are casting the net further by reviving our events platform to get you talking about your own event and assist you with sponsorship needs. For an idea about the kind of events that we are looking to engage in, here are a few that we have been a part of, so far:

Types of events we consider for sponsorship:

  • Hackathons
  • Tech Meetups
  • Tech Bar Camps
  • Datafests
  • CityCamps
  • Small tech conferences
  • Tech Happy hours

DSC_0058 DSC00811 Top Idea

Photos credit: Paul Schreiber, Howard Dy, dtraleigh.

By backing tech focused events, we give citizens the nod to create innovative ideas and tools that help them to hold their leaders accountable and ensure that both the public and government are brought into the conversation of moving their cities and states forward. Take an example of Sunlight-backed CityCamp Oakland. The first of it’s kind in Oakland, CA, CityCamp Oakland brought together some 100+ technology professionals, government staff and community members who recognized that there were some changes needed in their city. And because creating a transparent government is not a spectator sport, participants were involved and engaged in supporting their government staff and leaders to make those changes. This kind of interaction justifies why we believe in open government, enough to want to put our money where our mouth is.

Are you organizing an event on government transparency? Or maybe you are thinking of putting together a civic hackathon. We want to encourage you to share your event with us. You can also check out and download our events sponsorship toolkit for details on event sponsorship and data sets you can use at your event. In case you are wondering about the categories and levels of sponsorship, below is the breakdown:

Categories for Sponsorships:

  • CityCamps – $200-$500 (unless discussed otherwise)

  • Hackathons – $200-$500 (unless discussed otherwise)

  • Meetups – $100-$200 (unless discussed otherwise)

  • Small tech conferences – upto $1,000 (unless discussed otherwise)

It’s worth noting that for an event that requires from $500 upwards in sponsorship, we will require you to sign a contract (this may depend on the discretion of Sunlight and the event in question). Once you have your event up and running, you can signup for our APIs, get in touch with us for possible partnership opportunities and you just may be invited to guest blog about your event. You could also opt to include your event on our on OpenGov Crowdmap.

Groups that can consider our small events sponsorship include, meetup organizers, CityCamp organizers, small up and coming tech groups and established high profile tech groups.

Organizing a tech event on government transparency? Get in touch with us at events@sunlightfoundation.com