I just realized I hadn’t posted about InnoTech. I spent the entire day, from 7:30am until 4:30pm wandering around, and generally making conversation with vendors and visiting with friends old and new. I was on my feet for all but perhaps a total of two hours. My knees and feet were killing me by the end, but it was worth it.  I made some great contacts, more than I expected. I only attended one of the break out sessions, though.

My only complaint was that they had plastic bags to hand out, not more durable ones, so my bad was getting painfully heavy and cutting into my hand quickly into the event. A good variety of swag, though, and lots of interesting collateral to read. I have to say, I will not need to buy another pen for a few years at least, I have so many now, between InnoTech and PMI’s Job Fair.

I was only a day behind on follow up emails on all the new contacts, so not too bad. I also caught up with the PMI Job Fair followups, for which I was grossly behind.  Bad networker!!!  I had to attend a meeting Friday morning, and Thursday night I was too busy icing my knees and doing yoga postures to help recuperate. I was sleepy and sleep deprived when I got there, but apparently I didn’t appear to be, as three different people told me I was very energetic.

Being a chocoholic, I impressed myself with my ability to resist all the chocolate at the booths, and there was a lot of chocolate. I could not resist the pens, however.  I'm a dork, yes, but I like a good pen, and the quality of pen swag is far superior than it's been in years. The cheap, narrow ballpoint has gone away, replaced with the pens with the nice rubber grip that are much easier on your hands, and they write much more smoothly than the cheap pens.  I write, a lot, so I keep several pens on hand wherever I am.

Other swag was interesting, including a grape 'yoyo' that was essentially an octopussian type kush thingie, with a long 'string' and a grape scent.  It reminded me of a purple Sigmund the Seamonster (yes, I'm dating myself).  The pedometer was cool.  I liked the key ring flashlight.  The mints a much higher quality than those given out at the PMI job fair.

When thinking about swag as a vendor, think about quality.  If giving away candy of any sort, be sure it tastes good.  Chalky mints are nasty, and I'm talking taste like chalk, not just the texture. Cheap, stale, old chocolate is just plain wrong.  Swag, or take-aways are meant to make your company memorable; do not make choices that make that memory negative.  Cheap cups and bottles do not make it into my bag, but I do have some really nice ones.

At the PMI Job Fair, Freescale gave away metal business card holders.  I happen to have purchased one for Lotus back in my day of being a bit of a Lotus Notes guru, and for all I paid for it, the brass scratched very easily and tarnished as well, so it looks cheap and I rarely use it.  The Freescale one, for all it's thin, is holding up much better in the week I've been using it, and when people see it, they ask if I work(ed) at Freescale, so they're getting mileage out of it.

Among my favorite swag items at different conferences are the durable bags with multiple pockets, jump drives, business card holders, and of course, the pens.