IT360 Show April 30 - May 2, 2007

[Matt]

Something to consider: while I'm sure those who will volunteer to man
the booth will do so out of good will, their time is still valuable.
Some may take time off from their jobs, sacrificing either pay or future
vacation time, to assist.  In that vein, I suggest that the "swag" given
to the volunteers should either be something "cool" or something
practical.  I'm pretty sure that most people don't need yet another
t-shirt, and even USB flash drives are becoming somewhat old as a
freebie.  Perhaps something along the lines of a set of those extendable
cables, or a set of a loopback & crossover adapters (like the ones they
sell on ThinkGeek).

Just my two cents.

On Mon, 2007-01-22 at 18:13 +0000, Christopher Browne wrote:
> On 1/22/07, Colin McGregor <colinmc151-bJEeYj9oJeDQT0dZR+AlfA at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > On the question of swag I have already been hearing
> > suggestions for big/fancy/expensive swag items (like
> > custom T-shirts), which I am going to do my best to
> > veto. Bottom line on swag items is that the stuff has
> > to be cost effective, namely if we spend $500 to
> > attract say $200 worth of new members then the show is
> > not worth our time/effort.
> 
> Let me suggest a different tack...  (By the way, I'm in a position to
> veto the fancy/expensive stuff, too, and I certainly will...)
> 
> The question to ask about any would-be idea about swag is
>   What good does it really do us???
> 
> The reason why companies give things out at shows, and indeed, why
> commerce takes place in the first place, is that people value whatever
> it is that they're getting *more* than they value whatever it is that
> they're trading for it.
> 
> We're already intending to do that in the sense that GTALUG folk
> intend to spend time at the booth spending their (more or less
> valuable) time speaking with people that happen by.
> 
> I expect the benefits seen to mostly be of an intangible nature; in
> view that most of the costs are also intangible, that seems a good
> trade :-).
> 
> I don't see that giving out T-shirts, which would presumably go to
> mostly NON-members, who, if they value things properly, would *MORE*
> value a 1/2h conversation that provided useful ideas, is a
> particularly good deal for either us or for the recipients.
> 
> Arguments can be made to the effect that we should be giving some
> things out; I'm happy to listen to and consider *good* arguments that
> present *good* reasons to do so.  Time is short enough that *poor*
> reasons should be quickly dropped.
> 
> - "Because it's cool" is a poor reason.
> - "Because I like swag" is a poor reason.
> 
> Good reasons do not necessarily need benefits that have dollar signs
> beside them, but there does need to be a clear expectation of some
> kind of benefit.

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