CWA Blog Archive-CWA Summit Session Spotlight Rethinking Event Sponsorship

CWA Summit Session Spotlight Rethinking Event Sponsorship

Pdf Summary

This session spotlight previews Chloe Mandell's 2022 CWA Summit talk on rethinking event sponsorship, framed against the Summit's own remarkable growth. In the more than a decade since the Summit began, it had never been projected to be this large, continuing to grow much like the indoor climbing industry itself, which makes event sponsorship a topical subject. Mandell, a professional event planner who has worked in the climbing industry for years and previously helped with the CWA Summit itself, brings directly relevant experience. Her session, Rethinking Event Sponsorship: How to Create Sustainable Partnerships, is aimed at program managers, gym owners, and anyone who interacts with the public at the gym, and promises to teach the fundamentals of modern event planning along with new tactics drawn from both inside and outside the indoor climbing industry. That inside-and-outside framing signals that Mandell brings a broader event-planning perspective to bear on climbing-specific challenges. In the interview excerpt, she shares her origin story: she started climbing in France at 15 while studying abroad at a French high school, where her host mother handed her a catalog of activities, an evocative introduction to a career that would blend event expertise with climbing. The throughline is that as gym events grow in scale and importance, alongside the industry and the Summit itself, operators need a more sophisticated, sustainable approach to sponsorship and event planning. Mandell's session promises to move beyond ad hoc event planning toward creating sustainable partnerships, applying professional event-planning fundamentals and cross-industry tactics to the climbing context. For program managers and owners who plan competitions, community events, and other gatherings, the preview positions the session as practical education in a maturing area of gym operations. The emphasis on sustainable partnerships suggests a shift from transactional, one-off sponsorships toward lasting relationships, reflecting the broader professionalization of an industry whose events keep growing in ambition and scale.

Asset Caption

A 2022 Summit session preview featuring event planner Chloe Mandell on rethinking event sponsorship. Framed against the Summit's own rapid growth, her session promises modern event-planning fundamentals and cross-industry tactics for creating sustainable partnerships, helping program managers and owners move from ad hoc, transactional sponsorships toward lasting relationships as gym events grow in scale.