As someone who has also spent a decent amount of money out of pocket to promote Steem, I just want to say thank you for what you have been doing, as I know it’s not easy. This is pretty important imo and quite silly that we don’t have paid representation many places.. like every other platform.
I do think well thought out marketing efforts and representation at conferences is needed and yes the SPS could help with that.. possibly.
I have seen a few of your posts and I’m sorry that the support was just not there. I understand you are asking for advice and I guess my advice would be (if your goal is to get more attention/support from the community) to make those posts more appealing to the community.
A quick posts and photo that says you are somewhere may not grab their attention, but a post with photos of the event and a write up of your experience, will.
A pre event post could include - where you are going, what your message will be, what you hope to accomplish etc.
You might do a video or something there or a quick update post.
Then a post after the event could include what your overall experience was. How was the message received? What are your overall take aways? As well as some photos etc.
Just my advice on how to get more attention on those posts, as the community most definitely likes to feel like they were there or got to experience it and want to know how it went Etc.