Some sensible answers required please among the predictable "gram of Charlie / lapdancing nights"...

Various companies dish out little promotional freebies at conferences, the sort of stuff that costs a tenner or so.

In my experience, I'd propose that a company would do better to spend all its budget on 2-3 high quality items than providing a package of 10-15 items which all look like they were made in a dodgy plastics factory in the far east. Mouse mats, document bags, umbrellas, bic biros, badges, lanyards, watches, ties, "executive desk toys", etc etc...

I reckon a nice pen and perhaps a USB stick would be enough, maybe on a lanyard so as not to lose it.

What would you suggest (or what do you find useless)? What would you be happy to take home and keep for the next year or so?

 

we try and do giveaways that stay on desks, things like dairies and notepads or desk calenders. usb pen drives are good try an put a presenentation on them before you give them out, it wil be wiped anyway, but its getting your name in their heads isnt it

 

One of the girls from the lapdancing nights.

Seriously - USB stick sounds like a good idea. Construction industry freebies don't tend to be that useful / valuable though.

 

USB pens are always welcome. Maybe with a carbon 'wrap' finish on a lanyard .....

My wife had a wallet with a usb pen, small hub and usb extension cable at one of the conferences, went down well.

She also proudly presented me with a biro made from an enema nozzle ... but that's medical conferences for you

 

Make sure the usb stick is at least a gb, not much use otherwise

 

another nice thing is to pre load the pen with some useful information about the conference that can be deleted later, an easy thing to do but a nice touch especially if its useful info.

VW has recently done a similar thing we went to about their new tourag thing that parks itself, pen was 2gb iirc and its re-usable it was also idiot proof as it had an auto start program built in so when you plug it in it just played.

James

 

......pens, usb sticks, paaah!


You want to give a gift, give a decent cup.... people crave cups! well let's just say people resent 'buying' themselves a decent cup for the office and usually the typical office cup is always stained brown to almost a 'just add water' and you'll get coffee level.....

I've had pens, watches, usb sticks, sellotape holders, calanders.... and I end up giving them all away....

Give me a cup (and placemat) and I'll advertise your company on my desk all year!!

 

Cups, hadn't thought of that - ta Gene. Though our visitors normally arrive by plane, so might be a bit fragile.

I'd say USB stick has to be 2GB (a fiver these days!) and should be one-piece; I keep losing the caps off mine

 

Courier style bag with discreet logo and a mug inside it!

AKA Bags - London UK

 

Nice swiss army knife.Friend has given me a couple of these (including the Victorinox Swiss Card which I have had for ages now)

Nice to have quality rather than tat

 

Courier bags can really vary, I'd agree if it was a good one. Have seen some horrors in my time though.
Swiss army knife not really good for me as, as stated, most visitors come by plane, often only with hand luggage. I suppose we could just make 50 and keep collecting them from the airport for recycling

 

Memory sticks always handy!

BTW.....I have this page on Ebay.........

Ns04

 

Just give em cash instead so they can buy what they want.

 

Sorry to be a wet blanket - more and more companies are saying no to giving away USB sticks.

Its a corporate governance thing - ABC Corp USB found in cafe/bus/train with 500mb of child **** on it.

The possibility may be remote but it is scaring ABC Corp and his FTSE friends into a frenzy!

 

I picked up one of these at the last conference I attended.

Senz Stealth Umbrella

 

Things that I keep on my desk are mugs, mini footballs, rugby ***** and juggling *****. Anything stress related that I can throw is a winner.

Can't go wrong with a decent golfing brolly, but not plane friendly.

I also have a few cuddly toys on my shelves with either logos or printed t-shirts.

Bags are variable - a good one is OK - a cheap one goes in the bin.

I got a laser pointer once - that was cool but was eventually nicked - probably the best of the gifts though...

 

another vote for memory sticks, especially ones which glow blue

 

The best freebie I have ever had at a conference is..

a bouncy ball which when it hits the floor flashes

and a ickle treasure chest with a lump of fools gold in it...

 

A nice Parker roller ball pen with the company logo printed on the barrel. I have a couple of those but tend to dismantle and loose the cheap Biro's you normally get.

I also like the leatherette type A4 folios with the company name discretely embossed on the front.

Steve

 

A 32MB USB stick with a 31MB Powerpoint presentation. Yes please!!

 

We get our USB sticks from China, printed with the company logo and pre-load them with the presentation from that day.

Nice, gift plus they take away all the information from the presentation. We tell them at the start so they dont have to take notes and can focus on the presentation.

 

If you can afford to give out tat then your prices must be too high
That's my view on the freebie subject anyway !! Any corporate handouts I get I usually give to the kids anyway, unless its something really useful. Like alcohol.