Episode 22 - Vendor Spotlight + How We Market Vendors and Sponsors

Описание: Hey family, it’s Maria and Berry.

Welcome back to Vision to Venue, our weekday behind the scenes series where we show what it takes to take our vision for the 6th Annual Autism in Black Conference and bring it to the venue. The conference is April 17 to 19 and you can attend in person in West Palm Beach, Florida or virtually from anywhere. 

Before we jump in, quick reminder: we’re putting every episode on the Autism in Black YouTube channel and pushing to 1,000 subscribers by the end of this series. If you’ve been watching and haven’t subscribed yet, go handle that today. 

⸻

Register for the Autism in Black Conference

Get your ticket here:
https://funnel.autisminblack.org/conf...

Dates: April 17 to 19, 2026
Attend: In person in West Palm Beach, Florida or virtual from anywhere
Included: Lifetime access to conference recordings

⸻

Episode summary

This episode is a double up.

Our theme this week is vendors and sponsors, and today we’re doing two things:
1. Vendor Spotlight: We highlight one of our conference vendors, Shades of Me, founded by Dr. Christine, a licensed psychologist. Her products focus on helping kids and families identify and communicate emotions with culturally aligned resources, including bilingual options like English and Creole. 
2. Marketing: We break down how we attract aligned vendors and sponsors, and how we promote them once they’re in the ecosystem so the relationship is actually mutually beneficial. That includes lives like this, emails, social media, and this year we’re adding something new: a sponsor and vendor video that will play during conference breaks so even people who buy after the event still see and discover the businesses and organizations we support. 

We also talk about why alignment matters. We’re intentional about who we partner with, and we’re not compromising the mission for anyone’s comfort. 

⸻

Vendor Spotlight: Shades of Me
• Founder: Dr. Christine, licensed psychologist
• Brand: culturally aligned feelings tools and “melanated emotions” resources
• Bilingual options: English and Creole

Vendor website mentioned: shadesofme.store 

⸻

What you’ll hear in Episode 22
• Conference reminder and how to get tickets
• Our YouTube goal and why subscribing helps the series travel
• How our Monday through Thursday episodes work (prerecorded) and how Fridays are live Q and A
• Vendor Spotlight on Shades of Me and why the mission aligns
• How we attract vendors and sponsors through year round community building
• How we promote vendors once they’re confirmed (social, email, lives, and new vendor sponsor video during breaks)
• Why being a vendor can open doors beyond the conference
• Vendor info, sponsorship info, and how to reach support
• Hotel and travel reminders for in person attendees

⸻

Calls to action

1) Register for the conference

https://funnel.autisminblack.org/conf...

April 17 to 19, 2026
In person in West Palm Beach, Florida or virtual from anywhere
Lifetime access to recordings included

2) Want to be a vendor?

Go to the link hub and hit the vendor button to apply. Vendor spots are limited. 

3) Want sponsorship info?

Email [email protected] to request sponsorship packages. 

4) Subscribe to YouTube

Subscribe to the Autism in Black YouTube channel and hit the notification bell so you don’t miss the weekday drops. 

⸻

What’s coming next

We’ll be back live tomorrow at 6 PM Eastern for our Vision to Venue live show, and then we’re live again at 7 PM Eastern for the kickoff call for the Boys, Men, and Fathers Summit.