Have
you noticed at conference how much stuff (SWAG) is given away and
grabbed up quickly by some people. I am really wondering what is
done with some of this swag that people grab without thinking about
if they need or want it.
We
have been at some conferences and it is amazing to watch people when
they enter a vendor area. Some people will look around and see where
the best free items are and immediately head for those vendors. Once
they get there, they do not look up at the people are the booth but
look at the table and grab what they see as nice but never talking to
the people at the booth or even looking at them. In some cases these
items may never be used by the person that took them but given away
to someone else and in cases to someone that has no clue who the
vendor is or what the vendor does.
I
really want to know how many pens, canvas bags or even t-shirts do I
need with various vendors names or logos on them? I know that
vendors want to make sure you remember their name but enough is
enough. If I really want to learn about you have some info that I
can take away and look at. A pen doesn’t tell me what you do or
how you can benefit me.
The
other thing that gets me is now many vendors at shows have the prize
that they give away at the end of the day. OK, now you expect me to
spend the entire day at a show and in some cases I may not have the
opportunity as I also need to meet the needs of my clients. The
prize normally requires that you drop off your business card to enter
the draw. So now what you have done is given all the various vendors
your total contact information just because you have a small chance
to win a prize. For the vendors it is a great way to get a lot of
possible client info without doing anything. Now you are going to be
getting a lot of phone calls and/or emails from all the vendors where
you dropped off your business card.
OK,
I will admit that there is one piece of vendor giveaway that I like
and those are the journal books that some give away. Yes, I use
these books and normally have at least one of these books with me at
all times. The other thing I like that is sometimes given away are
the small books from the “Dummies series”.
So
when you are at conference next time just watch what some people are
grabbing and how full their bags are and think about where some of
that stuff will end up.
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