Keeping it Raw * a Seattle Natural Pet Expo,

About the event

The fresh food community is growing rapidly with more pet parents looking for alternatives to processed diets and traditional care for their dogs and cats. Pet parents want to learn ways to raise happier, healthier dogs and cats.

The Pacific Northwest is a mecca for pet lovers and holistic living, but we don’t have an educational event to support our pet parent population.  Until now! We are excited to announce the first annual Keeping it Raw*Seattle Natural Pet Expo, which will be held in Seattle, Washington on Saturday, August 1, 2020, with sessions that will appeal to dog and cat lovers.

We expect the 2020 event to be HUGE given the growing speaker line-up, which includes Rodney Habib of Planet Paws (the largest Facebook page appealing to pet parents), William Hoekman of Answers Pet Food, and The Two Crazy Cat Ladies, Jae Kennedy and Adrienne Lefebvre.

We anticipate over 200 attendees, more than 10 national and international speakers, and an exhibition hall of 20 booths. This is an invaluable opportunity to build awareness for your brand among an audience of people devoted to their pets around the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

We offer a wide range of sponsorship opportunities to suit your needs outlined in this prospectus. Highly sought after positions will sell out so we encourage you to get in quick.

On behalf of the entire Keeping it Raw*Seattle Natural Pet Expo team, I hope you’ll choose to partner with us for what’s shaping up to be an exciting event!

Why should you sponsor?

Our goal is to make this the largest pet event in the Pacific Northwest that is focused on natural alternatives for raising our dogs and cats.  But why should brands sponsor our event?

BRAND VISIBILITY

Keeping it Raw provides an opportunity to place your brand in front of a large targeted audience of pet parents who are interested in your business.  As we raise awareness of this event, you will see increased opportunities for press and social media mentions, which will occur before, during, and after this our event, all of which will service to boost brand recognition.

And, if you host promotional giveaways, like high quality tote bags for our events, the good press will continue long after August 1, 2020.

TARGETED MARKETING

This isn’t going to be your average pet expo.  We are actively promoting this event to pet parents interested in natural options when it comes to raising their dogs and cats.  And this event isn’t just about nutrition.  Pet parents will spend the day learning about training, behavior, and more.  This event will provide you with the opportunity to engage directly with the people who are looking for your products and services.

MAKING A LASTING IMPRESSION

When it comes to social media, pet parents are being sold ALL DAY LONG given the increased number of “sponsored” posts flying through our newsfeed.  As a business person, I understand how difficult it is to attract someone’s attention on a crowded and noisy social media page.  It’s challenging to form genuine connections with people online, however, we can make a lasting positive impression when we connect face-to-face.

I read that “in a 2016 survey, the Event Marketing Institute found that 74 percent of consumers are more likely to buy products after exposure to a branded event marketing experience.” Sponsoring our event will help you make create that positive experience with your consumer base.

QUALITY LEAD GENERATION & AUDIENCE INSIGHT

How much time and money do you spend building a quality mailing list?  Lead generation is much easier and creates more valuable results when we’re promoting our list to an audience of interested people.  That’s what you’ll get by sponsoring our event.  A targeted audience of pet parents who are interested in learning more from you long after the event is over.

And by attending our event in person, you gain an opportunity to learn more about your customers, promote your products, and build a quality mailing list for future use.  Our event is August 1 and the holiday season is a short time after.  This will give you a grand opportunity to promote your Black Friday/Cyber Monday specials to the perfect audience.

SUPPORTING THE PET LOVER COMMUNITY

One way to stand out from the crowd of the multi-billion dollar pet industry is by supporting the pet lover community and you can start by supporting our educational needs.  Pet parents are hungry for more information.  We want to raise healthier pets, we want to extend their lives, and we want to build a stronger relationship with our dogs can cats.  And you can help us get there by sponsoring this event. 

Pet parents love brands that care about spreading a positive message about our dogs and cats, especially when it’s about helping them live longer, healthier lives.  By sponsoring this event, you show your audience that you have the same priorities when it comes to the pets we love.  Your sponsorship also sets you apart by reminding our community that there are human beings (and animal lovers) behind the logo, which boosts interest and brand loyalty.

CONTENT STRATEGY

Do you need more content for your business blog and social media pages?  Keeping it Raw will provide that for you!  Together, we will work on a content calendar to help promote the event, your involvement and support of the event, the targeted pet parents attending the event, the speakers who are educating us for this special day, and more!

We’re excited to collaborate with sponsors by using the influence of the blog Keep the Tail Wagging® to promote a message of pet wellness while also sharing your brand with pet parents who are interested in your products and services.

We’ll be doing this through YouTube video interviews, blog posts, and social media posts.

A DAY OF FUN, EDUCATION, AND NETWORKING

And, finally, by sponsoring our event, you have an opportunity to connect with local pet parents, network with popular influencers in our community, and learn more about the dogs and cats we love (along with more about your customer base).

This is going to be a fun event that we plan to repeat annually because pet parents are demanding more information – please help us create an amazing day where we can meet their demand.

Kimberly Gauthier

About Keep the Tail Wagging®

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Keep the Tail Wagging® is an educational company with global reach dedicated to raising awareness of natural alternative canine care for curious pet parents looking to be well informed.  Keep the Tail Wagging® provides articles, books, videos, recipe cards, and online databases via our talented team of passionate pet parents who want to raise awareness of the value of feeding a fresh diet to their pets.

About Kimberly Gauthier

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I believe that my love of dogs is in my DNA, inherited from a father who loved animals and had an amazing connection with dogs.  My first dog, Jackson, a Sheltie, was fed whatever food was on sale or had a great commercial. We used flea collars, flea dips, chained him outside, and subjected him to regular vaccinations.  It’s amazing how times have changed.  

After years of having cats, I brought home a set of littermates after my boyfriend and I found our dream home.  Rodrigo and Sydney were the light of my life and I couldn’t have been happier to have these adorable beings to wake up to every day.  I had no way of knowing that they would become the origin story for a successful blog about raw feeding for dogs that would lead to two published books, speaking engagements, and more.

It started with diarrhea.  Rodrigo always had diarrhea and the vet told me not to worry, this is normal.  Then he started getting ear infections and the vet said that this was normal. And then the skin rashes, itchy skin, limping, and paw licking.  Again, the vet said that was normal. Rodrigo is a rescue, he said, and rescues are a mess and my dog probably wouldn’t live long after three and I should probably consider having his leg amputated.  What?!?!?!?!

Around the same time the veterinarian shared his advice, I began hearing about raw feeding.  Changing Rodrigo’s food from this kibble to that kibble wasn’t helping, the veterinarian didn’t have a viable solution, maybe this “raw feeding” thing will be the answer.  It was. In Spring 2013, I made a call to Darwin’s Natural Pet Products that would change my dog’s life (and my own). Within two weeks of feeding my dogs a partial raw diet (raw in the morning, kibble in the evening), I saw a huge difference in Rodrigo’s health.  Three months later, our dogs were 100% raw fed.

I began sharing my experience with my dogs and raw feeding a year later on my blog Keep the Tail Wagging®.  There was a tremendous amount of information out there, but it was confusing, contradictory, and the raw feeding groups were intimidating.  I wanted to be a positive voice that shared information without pressuring people to do it my way. Today, over 200,000 people visit my blog each month to read about my dogs.  And with four dogs on a raw diet and one cat on a partial raw diet, I have a lot to say. So much that my experience has inspired two books and I’m currently working on books three and four.

I hope you join Katrina and me as our raw journey continues.

About Katrina Ondracek

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Growing up in Nebraska, I had been around dogs and cats my entire life.  My parents got a golden retriever a few months before I was born. Sam, the golden was my nanny and best friend.  As a young person, I was drawn to animals much more than people. Many would say that is still the case today!

While in college, I consistently had a cat or two.  As I was graduating from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor’s degree and stepping into my master’s program in anthropology, I knew it was time to get another dog.  Sally, my boxer, came into my life, changing it forever! Sally had horrible food and environmental allergies. She is my “why.”

My raw journey began in 2002. After a divorce that left me struggling to pay $500 per month for Sally’s allergy shots, I knew I needed a better solution.  My research quickly led me to raw, but there wasn’t much to draw from. I ordered the first raw book I could find and never looked back….not even to see if I was doing it correctly.  I fed an unbalanced diet that consisted of chicken drumsticks or backs and occasionally I would add a veggie mix. That’s it – I did that for a decade. For years, I didn’t even use bowls, just handed out drumsticks. I was that uneducated raw feeder that veterinarians are so afraid of. I was incredibly lucky, my dogs didn’t have any health issues related to diet.  Sally lived to be 14 years old; bulldog, Jack, was nearly 12 years old when he passed; and lab, Myra, was 13 years old when she passed.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to welcome two Bengal cats into my home.  I again turned to the Internet for information. After finding a few good sites and recipes – I was off! I was able to convince the breeder to start my guys on raw before I brought them home.  It was really easy. There are few sounds that bring me more joy than hearing my little Bengal, Seymour chomping away on a chicken neck.  

Then, in 2014, after Jack and Sally had passed, it was finally time to get the breed that had always been my dream dog, a Great Dane! It had been more than a decade since I fed a raw diet to a puppy.  I knew I needed to do some research. This time around, my mind was blown with how much information there was. There were books, websites, commercial raw, supplements, co-ops. My mind was blown; it was like I was a newbie all over again!  And then, I found this blog and blogger. Keep the Tail Wagging and Kimberly landed in my life at the perfect time.

Today, I share my home with Mike my husband, Great Danes Mayer and Frankie; and Bengals Ichabod and Seymour.  When I’m not with my crew, I spend much of my time running a senior living community in Seattle.  I hope you join Kimberly and me as our raw journeys continues.

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