Part of the reason we will not release all sponsorship plans at once is because we are still looking into prices of certain things and what types of sponsorship we will guarantee. There is no cut off point for the sponsorship and people/companies can be a tier 1 sponsor without being a tier 2 sponsor and visa versa (tier 2 without being tier 1). You could also sign up for tier 1 sponsorship a month before the conference and that wouldn't be a problem.
A very basic example of this is that, until we have the venue booked, we will not know the physical limitations (we may allow for displays) or limitations which the venue operator may have in place. There are also other similar variables we have to work out which will hopefully resolve themselves once we find a venue.