Swag
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Some shirts, pens, USB sticks are okay but you don't want to be overwhelmed with them. It really gets to be too much. Unique items are best. I really like Webroot and WD's multi-charger adapters, those are nice.
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@dashrender I love the coasters and similar "barware" idea. Doesn't have to be alcohol related (coasters are neutral) but everyone drinks (water, soda, coffee, alcohol) so that stuff is nice.
However, swag needs to be small and light or else it becomes a burden rather than a gift. I hate feeling like I have to accept stuff as vendors shove them into my hands and then have to carry it around all day.
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No cheese!
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If you remember a conference in London, there was bags full of swag even if you went and picked up nothing and both you (@Minion-Queen ) and I ended up dropping two full bags of swag in the trash because we didn't want to carry it to the airport! You don't want swag situations like that where the vendors spend a lot of money, the attendees never even look at it and it all gets thrown away. That's how most swag ends up which sucks. The attempt to have gobs of low cost swag so that everyone gets a ton causes it all to become worthless.
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Portable batteries to charge my phone. Shirts are only ok if they are really good and clever.
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Here is an idea, maybe a bad one: Have the vendors chip in on shipping boxes for swag. If you want to do swag, come up with a way to make it work. Most conferences have very little swag, but some are swag-centric. I know one where it has become one of the biggest foci of the conference and people talk about it long ahead of time and it is like a mad dash to collect the most. That, to me, is horrible. Loads and loads of blind, crappy swag.
But swag can be awesome. We all love, for example, AetherStore t-shirts and coffee mugs because they are really high quality. I love my HP bistro mugs. (None of these are from conferences, the best swag rarely is.) But as a smaller, very focused conference we have an opportunity for a lot "less" swag that is much better. Really nice products that are only for people who ask for them that get shipped home in a box. Cost more, sure, but designed for people to have a gift box of cool things they will really use. AetherStore knows that they get all of the mindshare in our kitchen because we drink our coffee from their mugs every day and guests see them and they show up in pictures (when we are not traveling.) Good t-shirts and polos actually get worn. Things like that.
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Shirts in IT sizes. Way too often there are no shirts for the larger IT guys, who are not a small segment of the IT population (pun half intended.) Lots of us can't get any shirts from the vendors as they have none in our sizes. This is pretty silly as they've known for years that 3X are all gone in seconds and mediums will be left untouched. And sizes need to be real, SW this year's t-shirts were two sizes off!!! So their 3X, which you had to pre-order, were just "large" XLs!! This does not work. People need to think about their audience.
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Yeah I really want to help the Vendors control the swag sprawl cause it gets a bit crazy and I throw so much out!
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In London I threw out so much stuff just from the bag for signing in! And I didn't get any swag from the vendors (well I got a candy bar but that was it).
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I have a SW drawer in my end table dedicated to all the swag I got from SpiceWorld the two years I've gone. It is basically packed to the brim with "stuff" I just can't bring myself to throw any of it out. I also have a second drawer that is for another conference I go to, this one isn't IT related though so some of this stuff is really cool. Not to say the IT stuff isn't cool...
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@Nic said:
Portable batteries to charge my phone. Shirts are only ok if they are really good and clever.
Yeah I like the batteries that Time Warner gave away this year. I gave mine to my wife - she liked it.
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One of my favourite items this year was the little inflatable beach balls from xByte.
Why are they awesome:
- Unique, I've never gotten these before.
- Tiny. It was so small and fit in my pocket but would inflate to be very useful and cool.
- Orange.
- Awesome for the kids. They love it. It actually is one of those very, very items that made the cut for traveling to Nicaragua with us. The kids have it as their one pool toy here in Granada. It was that good of a promotion idea.
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@Minion-Queen said:
Yeah I really want to help the Vendors control the swag sprawl cause it gets a bit crazy and I throw so much out!
Less money, better value
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Swag is so overdone. I like clever and unique items, such as the Hitchhiker's Guide themed towels that Scale gave out. I've become very picky about tshirts, and will only accept the super soft ones. I really covet the new Aetherstore shirt because it is a different color as well as being super soft. I do not like the heavy, stiff tshirts at all, and I don't wear them, so I don't even take them home anymore. Pens are overdone, but at least useful, as are notebooks. The multi-device charging cables win the most useful swag award this year. I actually like Scott's idea about small combined swag giftboxes shipped home (for those traveling by air).
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The gift boxes are a great idea!
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Another big winner for me was the "in flight sleep kit" from Webroot, Dominica and I each got one.
Why do I like it:
- Pretty small but inflates to be useful (there is a theme here).
- Unique, never gotten one of these before.
- Useful, like more conference attendees we travel by plane often and this is something we would like to have.
Like the beach ball, these actually made the cut for the trip to Central America this weekend. In fact, these little inflatable neck pillows replaced much larger and heavier neck pillows that we have been bringing with us in the past. So these ended up being quite a large win for us and will likely be a permanent part of our travel accouterments. Brilliant swag idea.
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Along the beach ball idea from Scott,
The fans that VNC had can be quite handy. They fold down and can typically fit in a pocket. They aren't real cheap unless you order at least 1000 of them, but for a vendor that's probably not an issue. My local Star Wars group looked at getting these made, but footing $1000 from what is mostly a poor group for give-aways killed it. -
WD charging cables from SW Austin and Webroot charging cables from SW London:
- Small and cute.
- Highly practical, things that we actively need regularly but never buy for ourselves.
Again, both items that made our cut for international travel! Hard to believe it but Webroot actually scored TWO items that are in our regular travel items list which is incredibly tight. That, to me, is a sign of a really great item. These aren't just things we are "willing to keep" but things we are happy to use and, except for the beach ball, replace inferior items from our normal lives!
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Some kid-focused items are really nice. Symantec has done giveaways of some really cool project kits for kids, high end electronic educational stuff. And several vendors have given away Legos - little tiny things perfect for kid and adults alike (@dominica enjoys doing Legos on her own, she likes themed kits.)
