Put on your promotional trade show badge and join the techie parade at this weekend's SXSW Interactive in Texas. The event, held March 12-16, welcomes the brightest minds in technology to come together and share their knowledge. It's unique to the techno and trade show world, because this is no ordinary event; its' both a conference to share knowledge and a festival to celebrate music and entertainment. That's an event I'd love to check out!
         
It was only two years ago that Twitter made its claim to fame after being showcased at the event and now the talk is of what the next trend may be. There's one trend that I'm eager to follow; the SXSW trade show giveaways. Will promotional electronics be all the rage or will go green products take charge?

One item I'm interested in following is promotional stickers. Attendees bring their laptops to conferences and use their collected stickers to dress them up. It's a great way to show their support for particular companies they network with or learn from.

Throughout the packed conference room I can picture Twitter logos, Apple logos and beyond forming a massive collage over every laptop. But will promotional stickers be as successful this year? I don't believe so.

In the past year, the demand for and use of smartphones escalated. My guess is that many of the SXSW attendees will be smartphone clad and laptopless. With information at your fingertips, in the palm of your hand, laptops aren't as necessary. Infact, this years logo puts the focus on a smartphone- but no laptop is in sight. 
                                        
So what does this mean for stickers? Will they be no more? Perhaps we need to put them all in a shrinking machine. Maybe we'll see that invention at the 2011 SXSW.

The definition next to "toy" in the Merriam Webster dictionary says, "flirtatious or seductive behavior." But as much as I'd like to get cozy and snuggle up real close to the Snuffles bear- I'm going to focus on the third definition, "Something for a child to play with." At the 2010 Toy Fair, held last week in New York City, you can imagine the amount multitude of fun trade show giveaways.
     
Today, I'm going to focus on a couple products that share qualities with our own items. To start things off, let's get into our one-sie pajamas and sip some warm milk. Mom will be in for story time in a couple minutes and good ole Snuffles is wrapped in your arms. A teddy bear is a token item for every child. However, this teddy bear won't be spending any time in bed. It's strictly a "for the eyes only" kind of item. It's not that little Snuffles bites, or even that he's missing a button. Snuffles won't be making a child near you happy anytime soon because he costs $10,000.

Snuffles represented the Gund booth with class at the American International Toy Fair in New York and created a buzz for their booth without giving them out as samples or swag. Instead, Snuffles impressive white alpaca fur, black Tahitian pearl eyes and 10-carat diamond necklace with a white gold chain to draw in new clients. We recommend our adorable, lovable soft and snuggable, custom imprinted classic bear. He's not bedazzled with any diamonds or pearls, but he'll keep the boogie man away at night.

The other product that caught my attention is actually an entire line of products for the upcoming release of the children's film, "How to Train your Dragon." You'll find plush dragons and even some role-playing costumes. (Oh la la.) While I'm sure the kids will love this dragon movie, I'm not so sure it's the most educational of toys. Pretending to be a dragon trainer in a plastic cape doesn't sound like a real brain sensation.

Therefore, I'd suggest teaching kids some real responsibility and bringing more love into their lives at the same time. How? By buying a pet dragon. Scratch that, I mean by buying a family dog. This custom imprinted Pet Dog Owner's Maintenance log is a great way to stay involved in your child's life while teaching them valuable lessons. Fill out the book together and learn how to train an actual animal (not from make believe.)

I look forward to next years Toy Fair. I'll be showing off my dragon training skills with my plastic costume on, come on by for a visit.
 

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but what author would want to create a literary masterpiece only to be misrepresented by its front cover art work? While appearances aren't everything, making your trade show booth attractive and comfortable is essential to a successful showing. Some booth space can be as small as 6'X6' while bigger businesses pay for prime spots with a vast amount of space. No matter what amount of space you get, it's best to create an eye catching design that will draw in attendees and make them feel welcomed immediately.
                      
At last weeks PPAI Expo 2010, companies created comfortable spaces and elaborate displays. One outdoor supplier set up their very own outdoor paradise by building a tent and laying out the camping essentials. The attractive booth showcased their own products and invited passersby to really immerse themselves in their products. Another business decided to go for an attractive open aired booth. They left ample space between shelves to allow attendees to engage in business conversations casually. Large signs carefully labeled each section of this supplier's display and help to attract clients to their appropriate locations. They also incorporated carpeting - a very popular addition to any booth.
                    
Each day of the trade show, attendees will walk up and down the isles for miles upon miles. By carpeting your booth, clients will feel the cushion in each step and walk more comfortably. Likewise, for those with cramping feet, a chair is always a safe haven. Some meetings are scheduled ahead of time to help businesses to connect and one company decided to take their meetings to the next level - literally. They got the smart idea to build up and maximized their booth space by creating a sitting area on the top level of their booth.
                             
By making attendees feel comfortable in your trade show space, you'll help to make them feel secure in your hands. Adding a special homelike feel to your booth will make people want to stick around longer, leading to secure business relations. Clearly, this business knew that the masses flocking to Vegas would be in need of their own home away from home - so they gave it to them. Be smart with your design and decor and remember that you can always spice it up with trade show giveaways.
                       

Trade show giveaways are huge at the PPAI Expo in Vegas- literally. One supplier worked the trade show floor (or shall I say ceiling) by hanging gigantic promotional products above their booth. Incorporating eye catching and desirable trade show giveaways is imperative to drawing in new customers and satisfying the needs of your loyal customers. While business relationships can't live on trade show swag alone, they sure can be enhanced by them.
                              
Zig-zagging through hundreds of trade show booths the past two days has opened my eyes to the best giveaways. Take for instance these promotional bumper stickers. Who doesn't love a good laugh? By imprinted comical phrases and silly slurs this company got noticed. The assortment of giveaways were displayed right in the middle of the booth which made helped to herd the attendees. The cool stickers also gave everyone something to talk about. By breaking the ice over a few laughs, company representatives were able to naturally direct the conversation and network successfully.
                       
Another cool trade show giveaway were these fun custom coloring books with crayons. Their perky display caught my eye and once I saw that crayons were included I couldn't say no. Because of the interactive nature of a coloring book, it's hard to get the real feel for the innovative company by coloring inside the lines for themselves. This company understands the value of using fun trade show giveaways to excite attendees.
                 
My absolute favorite trade show giveaways so far are the cleverly designed and absolutely savory promotional snack bags. The cute and attractive snack packs were filled with tasty trail mix that helped curve some trade show hunger. Each label was vibrantly imprinted with fireworks and the words, "New Year's Resolution Mix, A Healthy Start to 2010!" With losing weigh on the top of the list of most people's New Year's resolutions, this was a super smart idea. So much so that when I make it back to the expo, I may just go grab another.

Some trade shows stick to business. Only serious potential clients are catered to and more elite and exclusive trade show giveaways are selected. Major companies attend and competition is spewing out from every booth as one amazing product is one upped after another. However, other trade shows depend on the general public to fuel sales. It is known that trade shows can make or break the local economy. Similiarly, some trade shows work to gain new clients from the local people. A great example of this is "Family Day" at the upcoming January 24th Motorsports 2010 trade show.
                         
The third and final day of the huge speedway trade show invites families to come and enjoy in some Motorsports fun. This year marks the 25th Big Wheels race for children in age groups ranging from 3 years old to nine years old. All children are free to attend the Family day and adult admission is only $10. The coolest part of this day is clealy the awesome promotional products.

Race car drivers with photo cards are asked to autograph throughout the day and all speedways, race teams and any other sponsor is asked to contribute their own promotional swag that was previously used during the trade show. It's a pretty awesome idea considering that it's the last day of the trade show and that their may be a surplus of trade show giveaways.
                                 
Family Day at the Motorsports 2010 trade show hopes to instill a great spirit of excitement for the industry among visitors. Like in years past, officials suspect that families, unattached to racing sports will come and end up falling in love with the sport.

What's the one thing you want to take home from a trade show? New business? Sure. New colleagues? Absolutely. But the most important thing that everyone takes home from a trade show is the swag. Far too often trade show giveaways get tossed into trade show bags and lay there, unused for the rest of their days. If it's a clever item, it might be shown off to coworkers or family members. It may even be passed along, but after you've worked so hard on your trade show appearance, don't you want people to really remember you?

That's where promotional calendars come in. Given that it's the calendar time of year, these promotional calendars are practically flying off our shelves anyway, but we think they deserve to land on your trade show booth tables. Why? Well that's easy. Promotional calendars are simple and easy ways to get people to remember your name. Unlike other giveaways, these items won't lay useless in trade show bags, They'll be hung up, they'll be marked with red pens, they'll be utilized and all the while your logo will be shown off.

A recent study done by Norwood, a leading manuafacturer of promotional calendars revealed some interesting facts.

• People look at calendars approximately 12 times a day.
• 28% of calendars used in homes and 15% of calendars used in businesses were actually purchased as opposed to received as gifts or promotions.
• 83% of individuals who receieved calendars at their homes did business with the advertiser.

With these facts proven by statistics, it's clear that promotional calendars are good (if not the best) branding opportunities. Choosing to give them out at your trade show will ensure that people not only remember your business but that they see your logo 24/7 365.

Autodesk, a leader in engineering and entertainment software, has successfully completed their latest trade show promotion. The growing business had over 9 million professionals using their products and continues to create innovative ideas to draw more customers.

At the Autodesk University trade show in Las Vegas last December, subscribers were welcomed into an all Autodesk event. To help promote the value of each of their services, subscription customers were greeted with special packages upon check-in. Included were some awesome promotional t-shirts imprinted with, "Experts Subscribe," and each member was welcomed into a very special raffle.

Many businesses will hold raffles to boost traffic around their booths, in the same way that trade show giveaways draw more attendees your way. With this in mind, Autodesk invited every subscriber to their subscription booth and hanged them promotional writing pads which they called "Free Idea Pads." Recipients were then asked to design a fun and smart 2 gig USB flash drive.
        
From the submissions, twelve were chosen, created, and mailed out to their respective designers. This is an amazing spin on using promotional flash drives as trade show giveaways. Senior manager of the global subscription marketing at Autodesk, Sarah O'Rourke said, "...we thought about how to make design a part of the drawing. It was all about getting back to the core competencies of Autodesk, to stimulate, visualize and use the innovation of our products."

Among the winning designs were a human shaped thumb, to put a fun spin on the term, "thumb drive," a leaping dolphin and even a space ship. While the awesome USB drives were created with a limited number set, you can order bulk after bulk amounts of our custom USB flash drives. There are even options to fully customize your USB flash drive, just like the Autodesk promotion. They're the perfect trade show products pre-loaded with your business's information or with free space for your recipient's pleasure.