Looking for sponsorship

[Francis]

Hello,

I am looking for a sponsorship on my car(s) for my vacation I am planning to the Great US plains in May 2014. I am a storm chaser and slowly working my way in become professional at it, but I need your help to keep me on the roads! This year, we might be heading out with 2 cars so this would mean for you that you would get double.the exposure.

You gain major attention in my social medias, videos and possibly small films. Also, when major weather events arrise, this gets a lot of media attention, and if our car with your logo ever gets on TV, you will get a load of attention since major weather events will be diffused in almost all stations in the USA.

Last year, we followed a truck from The Weather Channel during the May Oklahoma outbreak (we were there during the Moore, OK tornado).

Also when we stop for gas or to eat all the way from Manitoba to Oklahoma , people ask us regularly what we're doing and if we can slip in a good word for you we will.

You gain an average of 30 000km road exposion for those 2-3 weeks alone. And that would be in oklahoma, kansas, north and south dakota, nebraska, texas, etc.

I will also be chasing near Winnipeg, MB all summer long so you gain another ~10 000km of road exposure in Canada.

In total, this summer you would average 40 000km in average of road exposure. And this isnt taken into account this winter's daily road exposure if i put it up now.


Think about it. I'm not a professional, and therefor you woudn't have to pay a lot to sponsor me. We would mutually benefit from this as you would get the exposure in both USA & Canada and this would help fund my trip.

Contact me if you're interested.

Francis

 

[Jenn Brindley]

..............................................................................................................................

 

[Stuart Wilson]

Well Francis

Firstly I commend your brass neck in making this request. As my Mum would say if you don't ask you don't get.

You state that you are trying to become a professional storm chaser yet your request is littered, and I mean really littered with spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos - This forum has spell checking for crying out loud!

You also said you followed a Weather Channel truck during the Oklahoma outbreak in May - I can't imagine anybody is going to sponsor somebody whose idea of a professional (and safe) chase is to follow a Weather Channel truck.

Finally, in your plea the words please or thank you do not feature.

If I wanted to buy commercial awareness in the Great Plains I can think of hundreds of avenues before I'd sponsor you and I live in England!

I hope you don't feel this is too harsh but really, couldn't you have spent 5 more minutes polishing this?

 

[Sean Ramsey]

It kind of stinks that you're going to soak up all the exposure from the other 500 chasers who didn't follow the Weather Channel truck.

 

[Rob H]

1. The concept of "professional" storm chasing is a myth. Very few people break even, let alone make a living. There are no internships because it's not a viable means of employment. It's an expensive hobby where the only rewards are witnessing amazing displays of weather. I would guess that 90-95% of chasers lose money every year chasing.

2. You're going to get yourself killed if you don't take this more seriously. Just a few months ago you were asking what the best times of the year would be to take a chasecation. If you're not well-versed in climatology of tornadoes, how successful are you going to be, and why would someone want their company's name associated with that level of competence?

3.

Last year, we followed a truck from The Weather Channel during the May Oklahoma outbreak

- not only are you following other chasers, but you're following chasers who are notorious for missing storms and now almost dying. If you're just going to follow other chasers, you should get off the roads because you're a danger to yourself and others.

4. The last thing chasing needs is inexperienced people looking to make a buck and promote chasing as some sort of glamorous profession. You're trying to pull a Reed Timmer without having any of experience, talent, and charisma that he has, and I'm actually concerned for your safety.

 

[Rob H]

5. For a post that is literally begging people for money, you should probably proof-read and spell-check before posting.

 

[Skip Talbot]

Hi Francis, although they may seem harsh, Rob makes several excellent points that I think you should take to heart. I think you're only going to find sharp criticism in this thread since this is a forum that caters to fellow hobbyist storm chasers, not people who could be potential sponsors for you. With very little exception, almost all of us fund our own storm chasing hobbies. You have to understand that asking for handouts on this forum is going to be off putting to many of the members here.

It's also a major breach of chaser etiquette to chase by following others. You need to be responsible for your own forecasting and positioning. As Rob already mentioned, this kind of chasing is not only rude to those you are following but also incredibly dangerous. The Weather Channel group was impacted by a violent tornado in May this year and one person in their group suffered serious injuries. If you happened to be blindly following them at the time, you could have been killed.

 

[Joey Ketcham]

Hello,
Last year, we followed a truck from The Weather Channel during the May Oklahoma outbreak (we were there during the Moore, OK tornado).

Well that is completely random. In the middle of discussing the exposure one would get for sponsoring you, we suddenly get "Oh yeah, we followed a truck". LOL.

If I were the one asking for a sponsor, I wouldn't be using "I follow other chasers" to convince a company to sponsor me. And if I were a CEO of a company looking to sponsor a storm chaser, I certainly wouldn't select a storm chaser who are following other storm chasers, that would be an instant deal breaker. I would imagine that if you could find a company that would sponsor you or any other storm chasers, they would want someone with good success rate in not just forecasting, but actual intercepts as well.

Also, a "professional" storm chaser wouldn't be following a crew from The Weather Channel.

 

[rdale]

Seems we had another poster on here just a few weeks ago saying he wanted to work as a professional storm chaser when he graduates college... I can't find the link now - maybe do a search and see if you two can join up and start the field off!

 

[Dan Robinson]

The replies to the thread may seem pretty harsh Francis, but words of wisdom well heeded.

Even seemingly successful chasers still either struggle to make ends meet or work second jobs to pay everyday bills, and any success in chasing is ultimately temporary. Chasing tornadoes is really a hobby. Think about it. There are dozens of us who are as hardcore chasers as you will ever see, and we all have to work normal day jobs. If there was a way to chase professionally, we'd be doing it.

I would caution anyone in putting too much stock in the lofty "follow your dreams, don't let anyone tell you it can't be done" mantra you always hear. Most of the time, this just cheers people on to make really bad financial and life decisions pursuing unrealistic goals. You are better suited putting time and energy into a career that can support you for a lifetime and allow you to chase now and then. Learning the hard way will leave you broke and many years behind in developing the realistic career path you should have been following.

 

[Francis]

1. The concept of "professional" storm chasing is a myth. Very few people break even, let alone make a living. There are no internships because it's not a viable means of employment. It's an expensive hobby where the only rewards are witnessing amazing displays of weather. I would guess that 90-95% of chasers lose money every year chasing.

2. You're going to get yourself killed if you don't take this more seriously. Just a few months ago you were asking what the best times of the year would be to take a chasecation. If you're not well-versed in climatology of tornadoes, how successful are you going to be, and why would someone want their company's name associated with that level of competence?

3. - not only are you following other chasers, but you're following chasers who are notorious for missing storms and now almost dying. If you're just going to follow other chasers, you should get off the roads because you're a danger to yourself and others.

4. The last thing chasing needs is inexperienced people looking to make a buck and promote chasing as some sort of glamorous profession. You're trying to pull a Reed Timmer without having any of experience, talent, and charisma that he has, and I'm actually concerned for your safety.

Default

1) I am well aware that storm chasing is not a profession, but you're wrong, you can be a professional storm chaser. You're also wrong, there are internships everywhere. In fact, I have already contacted a company of storm chasers that offers internships. Also, in my co-op option 3rd year at university, the teachers teach us how to storm chase safely, and this is actually worth credits towards your bachelor (6 credits I believe), check it out, U of Manitoba.

2) Although I'm fairly new to storm chasing, I take this very seriously even to the point of obsession. I chase every setup, anywhere. This doesn't mean I know everything, because I learn new things every time I head out, and thank God I do, because if it would just be the same old routine all the time, then this wouldn't be as fun as it is. The fact is, I am well-versed in tornadoes, I have been reading scientific books about them since I could learn to read. The fact remains that tornadoes are unpredictable and nobody can be 100% ready for them, no matter how much experience you have.

3) We actually just say them and we stopped to take pictures since they were looking at a nice tornado. Actually, initially we weren't following anybody (on May 18th start of the outbreak), but as we approached the storm, we saw a bunch of chasers going right near the storm and tornado and we followed them (were about 20 people) including a tour van from Extreme Tornado Tours, so we were by far the most careful out there due to lack of experience.

4) I'm not looking to make a buck, sponsorship doesn;t make me a millionaire.....it would only help me pay for this trip, that is my only interest here. And good if you think I'm trying to "pull a Reed Timmer", if he haden't done the things he did, he probably wouldn't be where he is today, don;t you think people exactly like YOU haven't turned him down on his dreams? Of course, my own dad sometimes does this, but if you want something, you got to go get it, and do whatever it takes to get it. And that sir, takes a load of CHARISMA and PASSION. As for experience, well you can;t get any experience without actually heading out there now can't you?

 

[Francis]

It kind of stinks that you're going to soak up all the exposure from the other 500 chasers who didn't follow the Weather Channel truck.

Why don't you get off this forum and try to get some exposure for yourself then lol? No disrespect, but nobody is stopping any chasers from getting exposure nor sponsorships...well except maybe you guys on this forum at the moment, hopefully you don;t do this to every new chasers that are trying to get out there.

 

[Francis]

Hi Francis, although they may seem harsh, Rob makes several excellent points that I think you should take to heart. I think you're only going to find sharp criticism in this thread since this is a forum that caters to fellow hobbyist storm chasers, not people who could be potential sponsors for you. With very little exception, almost all of us fund our own storm chasing hobbies. You have to understand that asking for handouts on this forum is going to be off putting to many of the members here.

It's also a major breach of chaser etiquette to chase by following others. You need to be responsible for your own forecasting and positioning. As Rob already mentioned, this kind of chasing is not only rude to those you are following but also incredibly dangerous. The Weather Channel group was impacted by a violent tornado in May this year and one person in their group suffered serious injuries. If you happened to be blindly following them at the time, you could have been killed.

No, we saw them heading into a core with baseball size hail and we broke off thinking they must be crazy lol!! In doing so, we saw beautiful twister funnels in the back of the sun in the sunset, was sick! Also, I didn't know there were "etiquette" to storm chasing? If so, please, tell me all about it.

 

[Francis]

Well that is completely random. In the middle of discussing the exposure one would get for sponsoring you, we suddenly get "Oh yeah, we followed a truck". LOL.

If I were the one asking for a sponsor, I wouldn't be using "I follow other chasers" to convince a company to sponsor me. And if I were a CEO of a company looking to sponsor a storm chaser, I certainly wouldn't select a storm chaser who are following other storm chasers, that would be an instant deal breaker. I would imagine that if you could find a company that would sponsor you or any other storm chasers, they would want someone with good success rate in not just forecasting, but actual intercepts as well.

Also, a "professional" storm chaser wouldn't be following a crew from The Weather Channel.

Why is it so hard to see the reference I am trying to make? If we were near the Weather Channel's crew in a big event and they were filming, then maybe if the car with the sponsorship on the car gets on TV, then it would gain a load of exposure....You guys with your unwritten rules, we barely followed them for 2mins, get over it, just trying to attract a sponsor by giving an example of how he could get major attention.

 

[Francis]

Seems we had another poster on here just a few weeks ago saying he wanted to work as a professional storm chaser when he graduates college... I can't find the link now - maybe do a search and see if you two can join up and start the field off!

Well maybe in 5 years he's going to be your boss, or maybe he actually is going to be the best storm chaser there is. You never know where life takes you. Who is stopping him? Nobody. You can do whatever you set your mind to and it's with this attitude that I intend to be the best at what I do. Thank you you guys for making me want to be the best I can be so that someday, maybe, I can change your attitude and make a positive change in this "industry" or "hobby" call it whatever you like, I call it my passion, my life, my profession. Ain't nobody on this forum going to convince me otherwise.