IT360 Show April 30 - May 2, 2007

[Colin McGregor]

--- Christopher Browne <cbbrowne-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> 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???

I basically agree.

In the case of fliers it puts info. as to who we
are/how to find us in the hands of a group of people
that is most likely to join us (all in our quest for
global domination :-) ). Fliers are also dirt cheap to
do in mass quantities.

If a commercial firm is willing to give us some sort
of interesting swag item to give away (like the Ubuntu
disks last year), I am all ears. But I am not going to
hold my breath on that score... The free item would
have to meet the following characteristics:

- Would have to be something that would encourage
  people to stop at our booth to talk.
- No real work on our part (i.e.: just unpack 
  and put on display).
- Would have to be clearly Linux related.
- Would have to be fairly small/light (i.e.: no 
  moving hundreds of heavy boxes).

Other stuff, like the pin-back buttons, or candy, in
modest quantity, fairly cheap, and make a good show
volunteer "thank you". 

Beyond the fliers that we would like to plaster the
show with, some corporate goodies, and a modest
quantity of volunteer thank you items, that should be
it unless someone can make a VERY good (very hard to
make) exception case...

Colin.

> 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.
> -- 
>
http://linuxfinances.info/info/linuxdistributions.html
> "...  memory leaks  are  quite acceptable  in  many
> applications  ..."
> (Bjarne Stroustrup, The Design and Evolution of C++,
> page 220)
> --
> The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings:
> http://gtalug.org/
> TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text
> below 80 columns
> How to UNSUBSCRIBE:
> http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists
> 
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists