techfrederick Games 2024 Exceeds Every Goal — 37% Revenue Increase
Learn how Spark Studios helped techfrederick plan, coordinate, and execute their 2024 Games — revamping sponsorships, redesigning registration, and leading the event to its most successful year on record with their highest total income in nine years and 92 volunteers.
The Background
The techfrederick Games didn't start as a client project — it started as a passion project. The Spark Co.’s owner Ali Berger was one of the original creators of the techfrederick Games, launching the event in a volunteer capacity in its first year with a small founding team count and modest revenue. By year three, the event had grown significantly in both team participation and revenue. After stepping away, The Spark Co. was engaged for year nine of tech Games — to coordinate the Games and take them to the next level.
When Spark Studios re-engaged with techfrederick for the 2024 Games, the event had momentum — but the financials needed work. Sponsorships weren't generating enough profit and were largely just covering costs. The team needed a coordinator who could take full ownership of the event strategy, increase revenue, and deliver a seamless experience for the 191 players, 92 volunteers, and sponsoring organizations involved.
The Challenge
techfrederick needed a coordinator for their 2024 Games — and they needed to significantly increase event revenue. Their sponsorship structure wasn't generating meaningful profit above costs, and participation pricing hadn't kept pace with the event's growth and value.
Specific goals for 2024 included:
Significantly increase total event income
Grow to over 28 teams
Recruit and manage 70+ volunteers
Increase sponsorship dollars meaningfully above prior year
Increase net profit per player above prior year benchmark
The Tools
Jotform
Airtable
Google Sheets
Zapier
Mailchimp
The Process
We began by evaluating the event's sponsorship structure from the ground up. We assessed the true value of each sponsorship opportunity, identified gaps, and added new tiers and benefits — allowing techfrederick to sell sponsorships at higher price points with better ROI for sponsors.
We also increased the cost per team to participate, ensuring that revenue from direct team participation was meaningful — not just a break-even line item. These two changes alone had a significant impact on the event's profitability.
On the operations side, we built out a revamped registration process using Jotform, Airtable, Google Sheets, and Zapier to automate data flow and reduce manual entry — creating a cleaner, faster experience for participants and a more manageable workload for the team.
We re-introduced the Volunteer Meeting the week before the Games — a practice that had been dropped in previous years. Bringing it back created meaningful alignment among volunteers, gave them time to review roles and game rules, and made the day-of experience significantly smoother for everyone.
We also established Central Perk — the social hub of the event — centering it in the field and combining it with snacks and bye-period timing, which made it a genuine community gathering point throughout the day.
Committee management was a core part of our role — creating sub-committees with targeted areas of ownership, keeping the team focused and accountable through weekly scrums, and evaluating past participation data to drive targeted outreach to returning companies.
Social media was managed throughout the event cycle to build awareness, drive registrations, and increase brand recognition for the techfrederick Games in the Frederick tech community.
The Results
The 2024 techfrederick Games exceeded every single goal set at the beginning of the year — delivering the most successful Games in the event's history.
Additional highlights from the 2024 Games:
37% total revenue increase year-over-year
26.85% net profit increase year-over-year
Significant in-kind contributions secured from sponsors
Record player participation across 34 teams
Revamped registration process reducing manual data entry
Volunteer Meeting re-introduced — creating stronger alignment and a smoother day-of experience
Central Perk established as the social hub of the event
Raving fan feedback — multiple teams reported their companies love participating year after year
