Sponsorship
Digital Be-In 14 is a collaboration between many groups including essential supporters and sponsors. Special thanks to Patrick Flanagan and Stephanie Sutton for their generous grant to Green Century Institute for development of the Planet Code Symposium.

Contact
Joseph B. Malki
tel: 1.828.236.0324 x123
fax: 1.828.254.4287
mobile: 1.828.216.5769

Sponsorship Information

Overview
Since 1988 the Digital Be-In has been a vital bellwether and catalyst of the new media world, contributing creativity and humanistic spirit to the development of the digital tools and networks that are transforming global culture. Now we are seeing the emergence of the next wave…the Green era is dawning now, just as the digital era did two decades ago: witness the many pioneering companies and institutions, breakthrough products and projects, and innovative civic agencies and communities that are defining and building a sustainable human civilization.

This unique, one-of-a-kind event represents a milestone in the evolution of the sustainable culture movement and the emergent green economy. Many of the groups involved in this Earth Day Be-In collaborated on the World Environment Day events in June 2005 in San Francisco. The San Francisco Bay Area region is the “mothership” of sustainability solutions with the world’s largest concentration of green start-ups and environmental non-profit groups, and a vital society whose values and innovations are leading the way to a thrivable future. A combination symposium, exhibition, rally, multimedia concert and dance party, the Digital Be-In’s cutting edge entertainment carries the message and content of the event to a wider demographic of progressive young people who are highly networked, digitally empowered and already living the values of a sustainable culture.

The Digital Be-In reaches over 1000 influential attendees and thousands more through its live netcast, social network discussions, multiple websites featuring content from the event going forward, and media impressions. This prestigious showcase event has been sponsored by leading technology companies, including Apple Computer, Microsoft, AT&T, Kodak, Adobe and Alexa Internet, as well as social enterprises such as the United Nations, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Rainforest Action Network and Whole Life.

The 2006 Earth Day Be-In offers outstanding sponsorship opportunities for companies and institutions seeking to reach and influence the trend-setting edge of digital technology and the emerging green economy. The Earth Day Be-In is designed to serve as a launching platform for SOLUTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE CULTURE.

Digital Be-In 14 offers a variety of opportunities for sponsors to reach opinion leaders, press and a receptive public interested in SOLUTIONS FOR A SUSTAINABLE CULTURE. All presentations and content associated with the EARTH DAY BE-IN will emphasize new projects and initiatives: actions! We encourage sponsors to use the Be-In as a launching platform for products and campaigns that are making a difference. Outreach via marketing messages, the Be-In website, associated organization websites, social networks and public relations will be designed to inform and connect the public with sustainable culture resources. 2006 is a vital year for shifting the tide of awareness and action toward sustainability and April 22, 2006 promises to be a pivotal date. Please contact Michael Gosney or Justin Weiner from GCI for details on sponsorship programs.

Digital Be-In attendees, at the event and via netcast, website, blogs, WIKIs and social networks, include opinion-leading and trend-setting:

Techno-visionaries
Digital Media/Computer Entrepreneurs
Media Producers
Social Activists
Multimedia Producers
Software Engineers
Content Producers
Publishing Experts
Internet Gurus
Event and Media Producers

This year’s Earth Day Be-In attendees also include:

Sustainable Culture Visionaries
Green Entrepreneurs
Community Experts
Conscious Consumers
Environmentally Conscious Media Representatives

Green Frontier Exhibition
Formerly known as the Digital Frontier, this edition of the Be-In will feature the “Green Frontier” – emphasizing the new initiatives, projects and products that are leading the way to a green economy and sustainable culture. In addition to paid sponsor exhibits, the Be-In each year invites a range of groups whose causes or products are worthy of broader exposure. The Green Frontier is a lively forum where leading technology creators can meet and exchange ideas with sophisticated users and professionals. It is also a place to expose forward-thinking ideas and initiatives to a community that is in the business of changing the world through evolutionary technology and social innovations. The Digital Be-In is well known as a catalyst to influence trends, spawn important ideas, create alliances, and showcase creative possibilities. The Green Frontier—at the event and on the ongoing Be-In websites—is where the tribes gather and connect.
Live Netcast

Since the 8th Be-In (when the Real Audio crew flew down from Seattle), the event has been beamed to a global audience via a state-of-the-art live netcast featuring streaming video and audio. In addition, the netcast exposure continues long after the event as visitors to the Be-In website explore a permanent archive of photos and stories from the event.

This year, the Digital Be-In is working in partnership with the successful social network Tribe.net, which will be featuring the event as the first to use Tribe’s new technical features to promote live events and provide ongoing forums on the event themes that can be presented on various websites as well as within the Tribe community. The live video netcast and on-the-fly photojournalism and blogging will extend the reach of the event’s content and messages via an archive of the event that will be accessed from multiple websites and well-exposed for months (and years) after April 22, 2006.

Action Links
Given the mission of the Earth Day Be-In to serve as a launching platform for projects and initiatives, all promotions for the event, which will include various magazine ads, email campaigns to many participating group lists, and social network listings - will include a dynamically updated “Action Links” module giving immediate access to sponsor messages and promotions right up front – in the email or ad or websites carrying the Action Link module feed. The outreach for the Be-In will optimize access to resources and solutions, providing vital information even if the prospect’s only exposure to the event is the promotional message. The live netcast of the event will be streamed to several of the participating groups’ websites and will further encourage access to the Action Links as well as other sponsor information on the Be-In and Tribe.net sites.
Media Coverage

Past Digital Be-Ins have generated far-reaching media coverage. This year, the Digital Be-In is working with several local and national publications on promotional exposure through ads and other tie-ins. Several web-based magazines and services will also cover the event, before, during and after April 22. Editorial coverage is already in place for Bay Area newspapers, with radio and television coverage expected as well. Green Century Institute is also working on television network opportunities for exposure.

The 9th Be-In was also featured on ZDTV’s The Site program on MSNBC with a reach of 22 million households, and featured as a live netcast on the Site website, referring thousands of its to the site. Yahoo! sponsored the 10th Anniversary event and drove thousands to the Be-In site with banner announcements rotating on several million pages. The Be-In has established itself as a high profile online event, and this year will be working with several media and social network partners to further expand the reach of the live event and associated content.

The Digital Be-In has been covered in many publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, the SF Weekly, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Microtimes, the Atlantic Monthly, Wired and other local and national publications. This year the event is working with several publications addressing the sustainable culture movement as well as technology, and local San Francisco press.