When I was involved with the business fraternity during my college years, we used to hold car washes to raise the money necessary for our annual trips to leadership conferences. Everybody won: people got their vehicles washed at discounted prices, and our fraternity got the funds necessary to interact with some of the most influential people in the community at the state and national events.
Fast forward a few years, and JaxDUG, the developers group in Jacksonville, FL needs a certain amount of money to cover the facility and food expenses for an upcoming free day of learning for the community--the Jacksonville Code Camp. While the car wash idea is still an option, common sense tells me that a bunch of geeks are no match for bikini-clad college students in the car washing arena.
Instead of doing a car wash, I am throwing this idea out to companies interested in getting a good deal on their development dollars: for every $25 you donate to the CodeCamp, I will devote 1 hour of my time to your development or training engagement. I feel that I have a decent grasp on web layout and development (check out a couple of freelance projects I completed within the last couple of months here and here), knowledge of what it takes to get a successful project off the ground, including business analysis and project management (you learn best in the line of fire), as well as enough understanding of .Net 3.0/3.5 and Silverlight technologies to teach an introductory session or two.
For $25/hour, it's hard to find a better deal even in the remote parts of this world (and I will even check the spelling and grammar on everything, on the same day!). In addition to getting a solid ROI, you will also be a part of something great that benefits the community at large--after all, Code Camp is the biggest developer-centric event in the Northeast Florida. It's also free for anyone who attends.
Here's how to proceed if interested: e-mail me at echuvyrov at msn dot com, and we'll make this a win-win for everyone. You can also check out CodeCamp website to get an idea about the event, as well as sponsorship levels available.
Limit 10 hours per customer. Not valid with any other offer. Must present this blog entry at checkout. Valid thru August 10, 2008. LOL.
Of course, sponsor contributions without asking me to do anything are open with open arms as well. I am looking forward to hearing from you!