The unfortunate part of not being here is that you miss out on the social aspect of the conferences. For me one of the biggest draws of these conferences is the chance to network and get to know people within the industry. (Plus, no one knows who I am so I can roam around fairly incognito without having to shave my head to do so.) Last night at SearchBash (from WebmasterRadio.fm - great party by the way!) I had several Pro members approach me to tell me how much they enjoy our tools and feedback. How much does that rock?! Yep. A lot.
But when it comes down to it, what is REALLY the most important part of coming to a conference? Is it the sessions or the excellent networking? Although both are extremely valuable, the one part of the events that seems to get overlooked is one of the most important (or at least the most fun) aspects of the conference. The Free stuff people! FREE stuff! If a company does it right, then they have hundreds (thousands?) of people walking around with their T-Shirt on, or sanitizing their hands with their branded sanitizer (heh, yep).
So let's take a walk through the SES San Jose Expo Hall to see who stands out...
I'm with Stupid T-Shirts from StupidSem.com
Do you like how I made sure to not stand with the finger pointing my way? Stupidsem.com is the clear winner in the awesome T-Shirt department. Today I'm walking around with 4 T-Shirts and I don't even wear T-Shirts! So I'll probably give them away to other people, who will prominently wear these shirts around town as a walking ad campaign for the company. Smart move, people.
Great giveaways from Website Magazine and Orange Soda
These were my two favorite giveaways. Most people might think that the iPhone was the true winner here, but really check out that bike! It's saweeeet, with the big bucket seat and well it's orange. Who doesn't want to ride around on a big orange bike that they had to pay $100 to ship back to their home town? :) Website Magazine was giving away the iPhone and Orange Soda had the great bike.
Fun Stickers from PixelSilk
Pixelsilk had various stickers with different names and roles on them. I noticed people stuck these all over the place. I saw them on backpacks, on people's clothes, on their head, their pants, on computers and anything else you can think of. This is such a fun way to get your name out there and have people take a double look at your site.
The Rest!
This is just a collection of the free giveaways I grabbed over the past couple days. I guarantee that many of my friends who are addicted to Facebook would LOVE to have a FB thumbdrive of their own. These freebies are excellent ways to get your brand out there and if you find the right product or niche you may just go viral. Heck one company was giving away free screwdrivers before noon, and I'm not talking about the kind you use to fix the hinge on your door. The ladies with the "I'm with Stupid" T-Shirts seemed as if everyone wanted their picture taken with them. It was obvious that they had hit the mark, the question really is whether it pays off in the end.
It's interesting here at SES San Jose, many people come to this conference every year and have the T-Shirts to show for it. Many people show their badges of honor by wearing past conference T-Shirts and talking about their favorite Yahoo! pen or that tiny mouse that PixelSilk gave away last year. Why do these products mean so much to us? Is it that it gives people bragging rights, or is it just plain old fun? What is your favorite freebie from a conference? And do you keep it in a conference box in the basement like one attendee confessed?
It's interesting here at SES San Jose, many people come to this conference every year and have the T-Shirts to show for it. Many people show their badges of honor by wearing past conference T-Shirts and talking about their favorite Yahoo! pen or that tiny mouse that PixelSilk gave away last year. Why do these products mean so much to us? Is it that it gives people bragging rights, or is it just plain old fun? What is your favorite freebie from a conference? And do you keep it in a conference box in the basement like one attendee confessed?
(By the way my husband is an amazing photographer and is going to KILL me for these horrible photos.)
If it's free, its for me!
Having worked in the tradeshow industry, I can honestly say that there are people who care more about the swag than the conference itself. Of course, no one beat my former client for swag: The All Candy Expo :)
My favorite conference freebies (so far): a paddle ball set (which has taken my office by storm) and a box of Sprinkles cupcakes.
Also, from career fairs in college: Disney beanie babies and a consulting firm's whiffle ball (and bat) set.
I love free stuff.
I don't like this post because I want to be there.
1) I'm in the UK...so it does not have the same meaning as u guys in the US.
2) If you are freelance or work for a small-medium company inhouse...they aint paying!
The final thing, everyone tweets snippets, but generally people will not dish the juice in blogs later. Maybe there is no real juice.
Really, someone thumbed this post down?? What the heck people... Jen is at SES alone, attending all the sessions & taking notes for the other mozzers, attending the events, and somewhere in there still managing to post to the blog.
So what if it's not the most in-depth coverage of the conference? 17,000 other sites are all posting the same "coverage" anyway. I think Jen deserves a big thumbs up for her efforts.
Edit: Also, I <3 swag. The end.
Imagine if the bike was stolen! great publicity and an interesting story.
No such thing as bad PR right?
You can't beat the swag, we all love it, I still have some from a Tradeshow two years ago. (The pen just never dies!!)
I keep waiting for someone to take the swag one more step by attaching a trackable online marketing campaign to their swag... to win more free stuff!
Either way, Great job on the conference I was checking out your posts each day.
holla!
I would think the best thing about a search conference is finding what you're searing for :)
Hi
Great information and the most important part of coming to a conference. The one part of the events that seems to get overlooked is one of the most important (or at least the most fun) aspects of the conference.
James Parker
Typically, I seek out some schwag for my kids. A few bouncy balls and maybe some stuffed animals...they always love it when I come home with toys.
But, seriously, it's not the schwag...it's the people. I was just at Gnomedex and wrote a blog post on this topic: https://scottporad.com/2009/08/24/gnomedex-recap-its-the-people/.
Scott
Glad you had fun at SearchBash, LeapFish was very proud to be a sponsor! Hopefully you caught one of the LeapFish beachballs flying through the air!
Hah! actually I didn't realize they were LeapFish balls. :) I'll be checking the site out soon!
lol, the shirt of stupidsem made my day.
Really nice work :D I really wish I could have chance to go there.
I think the nike would of been my favourite too, shipping or not! That is an amazing bike. Classic, retro and stylish! Great advertising technque on behalf of orange soda too i mean.. whether you like it or not, people are going to talk about it. And at worst, well, it was next to the free iPhone giveaway!
If Omniture is there, I suggest you check out their pens; I have several from the SES Chicago 2008 show and they are by far the best promotional pen I have seen. Lastly, I think the best part of SES is the Q/A after the sessions it's like a combination of networking and extreme learning.
we recently gave an ipod touch as a surprise gift to all attendees at our conference (to be fair only about 40 were invited - but you can bet that they will be queuing up next year round the block!)
I was at an industry conference in June and one company was giving out heavy wooden yoyo's just like Duncan used to make. The rest of the conference I was practicing with it and trying to make it "walk the dog". Everyone kept asking me where I got it so I wasn't the only one it hit a home run with.
Jennita I think your pictures look fine! You'll have to let us know if you win the free bike!
I guess the winner of the bike could save money on their airfare and cycle home...
Freebies are just great marketing, no doubting it.
Nice haul you got there... :)
All the freebie giveaways have certainly worked - look at all the free advertising they just got in this post. It's funny the effect something free has on us all, even if usually you wouldn't want one, you just gotta take it because it's free!
Thanks for the shout out!
Hope the show is going well - looks like there's a lot of fun stuff to pick up.
I have an old Novell cup that I got back after I earned my CNE. It's a real collectable now.