I work for a corporation (Ingersoll Rand) that could benefit from exposure to the visitors on this site. The company manufactures door hardware (Von Duprin panics, LCN closers, Schlage locks, etc.), electrified hardware and access control, as well as doors. As some of you already know, I lobbied for a new job that is officially more code-related, and a new position was created. I would like to do more to support the site, but just thinking as a corporation, the benefits of being seen here are somewhat intangible - we'd get some good will, "impressions", and maybe someone would come to me to ask a question, but there isn't a direct line between the investment and a sale. The cost is low enough that I think it would be well worth it, but that's how I roll...like the farmer spreading manure in a windstorm who said, "It will do some good wherever it lands."
I would expect that most corporate sponsors would be people who are involved with the site on some level already, and want to show their support. As a manufacturer, I'm not sure what the site presence should look like...if it's an ad, I think it should be visible to everyone (even sawhorses). I'm not sure that a forum dedicated to that corporation would get a lot of visitors. My situation is a little different from most corporations, because I would love to have an ad linking to my blog, and a forum where people could ask me door-related questions. That may also appeal to companies that do code-consulting, for example. But posting questions on the corporate forums means that they would not be in the regular forums, which isn't a good thing unless they are very specific questions for that company only.
I am happy to help figure out what this should look like, meanwhile, I will try to get approval for the funds for a corporate sponsorship. A budget hasn't been established for my new job yet, so that either means that I can spend whatever I want, or I have $0 to spend.
