Chat with a venue manager made me rethink my whole approach to swag

I was setting up for a conference in Cleveland last month and the venue manager pulls me aside. She says 'you know 90% of this stuff ends up in the trash before people even leave the parking lot.' She showed me a bin full of branded pens and keychains from the last event, still in their wrappers. Now I'm trying to figure out how to make giveaways that actually serve a purpose, like a phone wallet or a reusable tote someone would keep. Anyone found a swag item that people actually hold onto?

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reesea492mo ago

lol 90% in the trash sounds about right though. half the time I end up with some random branded koozie at a conference and I'm just like "cool, another thing to lose under my car seat." the phone wallet idea is solid but I swear people will still find a way to toss it if it has too much logo on it. honestly the only thing I ever kept was a really good quality power bank from a tech talk and I used that thing until it literally fell apart. everything else is just junk mail for your hands.

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ellis.mia2mo ago

junk mail for your hands" haha that's perfect. Actually had a buddy who went to some logistics conference and came back with this plastic water bottle that had a carabiner clip on it. He was like "finally, something useful." Then the clip snapped off on day 2 when he hooked it to his bag. He still used the bottle though, just without the clip, until his dog chewed the lid off. The funny part is he brought it home specifically to prove he could get one freebie that wasn't garbage.

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