Every time I return from a trade show, custom water bottles are consistently my favorite items. There are so many different varieties of water bottles out there, so it's such an easy item to customize.  No matter how many water bottles I receive, it's never enough.  I'm pretty passionate about these items for a few reasons.

1.  Custom water bottles help reduce pollution

Because they're reusable, promotional water bottles help reduce the amount of trash we create.  Instead of buying and tossing new water bottles every time we need a drink, we can keep a few high quality custom water bottles on hand and refill with our tap.  Some water bottles are even eco-friendly; these can be made from recycled material, biodegradable, or both! If you're interested in helping to cut down litter and waste, you're sure to appreciate custom water bottles. 

2.  Promotional water bottles help keep us hydrated

Keeping hydrated is super important.  In fact, many times when we think we feel hungry, it's actually because we're thirsty.  Keeping a custom water bottle on hand helps us to always make sure we've got enough liquids inside of us.  Water can help curb our appetites, keep us feeling energized, and ensures our body's filtration system works correctly. Awesome!

3.  They look cool

Many promotional water bottles just look cool.  From ones that look similar to popular coffee chain cups to collapsible water bottles, these items are really interestingly designed.  They allow you to put out a product that accurately reflects your organization's look and style.

So, go ahead.  Stock up on custom water bottles for your next promotional campaign or trade show.  If you're lucky enough, I'll be there picking out my favorites!

Whenever we shop for trade show handouts, we understandably are out to get the biggest bang for our buck. In today's economy, this is becoming increasingly more difficult. That's why many trade show giveaways are made affordable; everybody should have an equal shot at getting noticed at trade shows and other large events.

But there's only so much one can do with a limited budget. That's why distributing trade show contest prizes is a fantastic way to show that your organization means business at the next trade show. These larger and more expensive items (which are generally offered at lower minimums) will definitely impress attendees.

An item that makes a fantastic contest prize is a custom gift basket. These products are usually filled with delicious items that everyone is sure to want in his or her home. The gift baskets are made up of gourmet treats and will satisfy every craving. Everybody will be flocking to your booth for a chance to win one of these! 

Another crowd favorite is a fancy knife set. Everybody could use one of these high quality items, so they are sure to be highly sought after. If you make a sophisticated-looking knife set one of your contest giveaways, your booth will receive tons of attention. Those other booths won't even stand a chance! 

As you can see, through investing in a few trade show contest giveaways, you can bring your brand awareness to the next level. You don't need to spend a fortune preparing for the next trade show; purchase a couple of these high quality items and hold a trade show contest. Everybody will want to partake in your contest, and that's great exposure in itself!

It's officially summer, and that means that there are a lot of warm weather-oriented trade shows coming up soon. One such tradeshow is the Outdoor Retailer's Summer Market, scheduled for August 4 - 7 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Suppliers and vendors from all over will be competing for attention, so make sure you give away the best summer giveaways available. From sunblock to beach balls, you're sure to find the perfect products to stand out.

The trick to succeeding at any trade show is to give away promotional products that are relevant and for which people have a real use. The summer's all about fun, so make sure you give away brightly colored, exciting giveaways at any summer-themed trade show. A real crowd favorite is the custom imprinted crystal water gun (6"). Water guns epitomize that fun, fresh, summer vibe, so they're sure to be a hit. 

Another item that will undoubtedly be a favorite at any summer trade show is the custom imprinted herb garden. Everyone will love taking this home to spice up homemade foods throughout the warm summer months. Nothing tastes fresher than a home-grown herb. As they pick their fresh herbs, they'll always see your imprinted corporate name and logo and remember your organization fondly.

These are just a couple of the fantastic summer promo items you can give away at trade shows over the next few months. Remember:  Choose items that offer bright colors and designs for highlighting your logo, but also pick products that will help recipients enjoy their summers. Follow these guidelines, and your promotional products are sure to be hit at any warm weather tradeshow.

In the coming months, there are several scheduled cancer awareness symposiums and conferences. The main goal of these events is to address and discuss our society's battle with many different forms of cancer. Not all of us are doctors, and most of us aren't familiar with the latest research regarding cancer and popular treatments such as chemotherapy.

But even if you aren't a medical professional, you can contribute to these occasions and trade shows in your own way. There are tons of promotional products you can distribute in order to do your part and help raise awareness for several forms of cancer.

One upcoming cancer-related event is the 2011 Breast Cancer Symposium, scheduled from Thursday, September 8 through Saturday, September 10. This year's event, according to its official Web site, "will provide an in-depth focus of the current environment and how it may affect breast cancer care." You can help support this important cause by handing out breast cancer awareness promotional items. These trade show giveaways will be appreciated by all, and will allow attendees to take your message home.

While not all of us can provide medical advice or treatment to cancer patients, we can all help spread awareness in hopes of finding a cure. At the next trade show you attend, or at the next upcoming cancer convention or conference you plan on attending, consider handing out promotional products that will really make a difference. From bracelets to custom imprinted awareness ribbon magnets, you're sure to find items that will support an important cause.

Memorial Day was less than a month ago, Independence Day is just short of a month away, and Labor Day is just around the corner. That's why at any upcoming trade show, your promotional patriotic products will do extremely well! Let's take a look at some of these striped, starred, and red, white and blue items that are sure to inspire national pride.

If you're looking for a real crowd pleaser, then this first promotional product is one you're going to love. The custom imprinted USA pinwheel (4") is a patriotic-inspired pinwheel that can be imprinted with your corporate name and logo. These will do particularly well at outdoor tradeshows, because everyone will love seeing the brightly-colored pinwheels blowing in the wind.  Plus, recipients will take these home to decorate for the upcoming nationalistic holidays! 

Another crowd pleaser is the custom imprinted stars and stripes beach ball (16").  This beautiful beach ball will liven up even the gloomiest trade show.  Everybody loves tossing a ball around! Its vibrant pattern will attract all eyes to your company's information, so you'll love imprinting with your brand name and logo.  If you've got a trade show occurring days before the next big federal holiday, then these products will undoubtedly be used by recipients in the near future.

Give away this next set of patriotic promotional items to show trade show participants how cool your organization is. The custom imprinted foam superglider (5 1/2") looks awesome, is fun to play with, and has a large imprint area that will show off your company's logo in style. Hand this out at the next trade show, and your brand will be zooming all over town!  Nobody will want to throw out this exhilarating toy, so give it away for long-lasting brand exposure. 

These promotional products are perfect for trade shows over the next few months because everybody will be celebrating their national pride.  Therefore, handing out patriotic items is definitely a great way to be remembered! Remember to purchase items that accurately reflect your organization's look for an astounding level of brand awareness.

Trade shows are known for becoming quite hectic. With so many different suppliers dying to get noticed, everybody is bound to feel a bit stressed at times. How can you help to make your next trade show a stress-free situation? You can distribute promotional stress balls!

You might be thinking, "Stress balls? You mean those squishy round things?" Yes, they are squishy, and of course they are sometimes round, but there's so much more to these stress relievers than that. They are available in so many shapes and sizes; you can surely find promotional stress balls that will help your organization stand out at the next trade show.

Fun with Food

People love food, and the only thing more fun than eating it is playing with it. That's why if you hand out promotional food stressballs at the next trade show, your organization or company is sure to get noticed. For example, take a look at the custom imprinted ice cream cone stress reliever. Who doesn't love a beautiful ice cream cone? This product allows recipients to have their favorite dessert without all the calories. Just one squeeze will curb cravings for hours!

You're #1

Another thing people love is being told that they've done a good job. That's part of what makes these promotional recognition stressballs so successful. At the next trade show you attend, hand these out and people will be surrounding your booth. They'll love taking this item home for a nice pat on the back at all times.

Yo Yo, Man

No, we don't mean "Yo, what's up?" A yo yo is one of America's favorite toys. So when you invest in these custom yo yo stressballs, you'll be providing recipients with a great two-in-one product. They'll love having a stress ball that they can play fun games with all day. And, if at any point it becomes too anxiety-provoking, all they have to do is give their stress ball a good squeeze to feel relief.

There you have it! At the next trade show you attend, make it a stress-free situation by handing out one of these uniquely-shaped stress relievers. Everybody will appreciate having the ability to breathe a little easier after using one of these stress balls. What an innovative way to promote your organization!

Preparing for an outdoor trade show may be intimidating, but in reality it is nothing to fear. In fact, they present a unique opportunity to participants. While all of the other organizations at outdoor trade shows are sure to be giving away the usual trade show giveaways, you can opt to give away more venue-appropriate items. These items that are location-specific will help draw in the crowds to your booth or station, giving you a real edge. Let's take a look at some of the most outstanding outdoor trade show giveaways.

If your next outdoor trade show will be during the warm summer months, you're going to love these promotional products. Distributing promotional battery fans is a smart way to garner attention for your brand or business at hot outdoor tradeshows. Recipients of these battery-powered fans will be so appreciative to receive the giveaways, and will probably even put them to use immediately! The cooling items will help soften the blow of the burning hot sun, all the while also promoting your company or organization. Picture it now:  It's a 90 degree day, the sun is burning, and all of the other vendors are handing out pens, cups, and mugs. Those items won't do much good on a hot summer day! Your personal-sized, battery-operated fans, however, will be the talk of the trade show.

Another product that will do well at outdoor venues in the summer is promotional sunscreen. You can bet your bottom dollar that most attendees won't come prepared to handle the sun's harmful UV rays. So when they see your organization handing out custom sunscreen, they will be flocking to your booth. Your booth will be the busiest at the trade show. Better yet, everyone will instantly respect your brand for providing a product that is helping to preserve their health. It's a definite win-win!

However, not every outdoor trade show will take place in a warm climate or during the summer months. If you've got a trade show in New York in November, for example, sunblock and battery fans are not going to impress anyone. It's important to not only keep in mind your venue, but also possible weather conditions. For outdoor locations in cooler weather, you might want to hand out sweatshirts or hoodies. A favorite item that tends to do very well is this custom imprinted Hanes comfort blend hooded pullover sweatshirt. This product delivers a one-two punch; not only will recipients instantly associate your company with the well-known and highly respected Hanes brand, but they will also want to wear the product all day to stay warm.

So the next time you've got an outdoor trade show to attend, remember to purchase promotional products that will best suit the situation. Just take into consideration venue, weather conditions, and what your competition might bring to the table, and your booth is sure to be number one at the next outdoor trade show.

The key to success at any trade show is learning how to stand out. How do you differentiate yourself at a trade show? There are a number of components that come into play, from sending out enthusiastic representatives to displaying vibrant signage. But one way to really show your organization's unique character is to give out never-before-seen promotional products.

Let's take a look at some items that are sure to stand out!

Fun-shaped stress relievers

Stress balls are no strangers to trade shows. But what about fun-shaped stress balls? Take this bear stress reliever, for example. Its adorable shape is truly irressistable, and it features plenty of room for custom imprinting. This item will surely help build your organization's reputation!

Let them play with their food

Items such as these custom imprinted pizza pie 3Drasers will have all trade show attendees flocking to your booth. Who doesn't love playing with their food? This item is really unique, and will undoubtedly get you the type of attention you're looking for.

Inexpensive stuffed toys

At such an affordable price, you'd have to be crazy not to invest in adorable products like the Custom Imprinted WeeBeans Blue Bird Toy With Custom Tag.  These irresistable items will have all attendees at the next trade show spreading your brand message wherever they go. Who doesn't love taking home a cute stuffed toy?

Environmentally friendly products have become all the rage within the past five years. While this is great news for our Earth, it also has made it increasingly more difficult to come out with unique eco-friendly items. If you're planning on attending an eco-friendly trade show within the near future, you may feel overwhelmed by what the competition has to offer. No need to worry, though. Let's go over some of the latest and greatest environmentally friendly promotional items that are sure to get your organization noticed.

This promotional product is a real stand-out item. It's eco-friendly because it's made from naturally occurring materials. At the same time, it's ideal for trade shows because it can be preloaded with promotional materials to gain even more brand exposure. One great example of an environmentally friendly flash drive is the Custom Imprinted Forrester 512MB USB Flash Drive. It is sure to impress even the veterans at your next eco-friendly trade show.

Who doesn't love to wear a good hat on a sunny day? If your next eco-friendly trade show is at an outdoor venue, then this is an especially appropriate handout. Recipients will love that this useful item protects their faces from the sun's harmful UV rays. And these hats also offer eco-friendly advantages. For example, the Custom Imprinted Dri-Duck Wildlife Organic Hat is made from organic cotton, meaning that it was made with limited impact on our beautiful Earth. You will absolutely stand out with one of these fantastic items.

When you think "eco-friendly," electronics don't generally come to mind. That's what helps these items truly stand out at the next trade show you attend. While all of the other vendors are distributing recyclable cups and umbrellas made from recycled material, you'll be offering something nobody's ever seen before. Take the Custom Imprinted Leeds Hydro Water Powered Clock, for example. This fantastic item is an extremely unique giveaway that runs on liquid. Very eco-friendly! 

As you can see, although the eco-friendly craze is in full bloom, it's still possible to find those truly stand-out environmentally friendly promotional products. Selecting any of these items for your next promotional campaign will surely showcase your organization's dedication to going green. Everyone at the next eco-friendly trade show will be flocking to your booth when you hand out these gorgeous promotional products!