October 17, 2017
Sound familiar? We all go to conferences at some point in our lives; they’re important and we care about what is in them because we care about our businesses, and because there are usually some conference goodies on offer.
You can’t escape conferences.
They’re also extremely useful, informative and great opportunities for business professionals to connect with each other in person. Any business worth its salt wouldn’t be without them. But sometimes they can leave us feeling a bit deflated. You walk in, select your seat and wait for it to begin; you don’t feel particularly special or inspired, and you should. Good thing there’s the goody bag then, right? Sifting through the brochures, badges and throwaway plastic branded pens (I’ve plumped for ‘throwaway’ over ‘giveaway’ because let’s face it, they’re going in the bin) it doesn’t take long to decide that no amount of conference goodies is going to help you. Nothing in that bag can take away the taste of lukewarm coffee which, rather depressingly, now looks like your only source of happiness for the next for six hours.
Conference goodies get results.
So, what if they’d handed you something a little better? What if you’d walked in empty-handed, and walked out the proud owner of something worth keeping; something more attractive, more functional – heavier, even! Perhaps a hardback, colourful leather effect notebook, one with a decent wodge of perfectly spaced lined pages? What about one without the flimsy wire spine? You know, ones that don’t attach themselves to the contents of your bag and end up causing an un-solvable ball-like tangle in there. One that keeps your notes intact, or one that makes you want to write notes in the first place. What if the conference goodies handed to you were so expertly branded that even you, the toughest of people to impress on a (probably) grey weekday morning, were impressed.
I bet you’d feel much more positive about the whole experience. It was definitely worth going this time, even if just for the great conference goodies because they show that, wow, these people must really value your time. You might even have listened to what was being said that little bit more intently. I can’t provide any evidence for this of course, but if you’re anything like me then this is highly probable. If you’re still reading, we should be singing from the same song sheet by now so I’m going to go for it – you’d take a photo of it and post it up on Instagram, wouldn’t you? It’s okay, no one here is going to judge you. We like people who photograph things that catch their eye because we’re in the business of eye-catching things. And we’re in this business because we understand their power over people’s feelings; conference goodies can be the difference between a good and bad first impression of a company or event. If you’ve invested your time and money to get to a conference – you want to see that they’ve made an effort in return, a bit like Sage UK did here.
Lead by example.
Showing people that they are valued isn’t always easy, but we think you’ll agree that conference goodies can go a long way to towards achieving this. So when it’s your turn to host and event or conference, give your attendees something they’ll use, something that will endure, something they will be happy to display on their desk, photograph next to their coffee and post online with the hashtag #bestconferenceever (it could happen).
After the conference.
It might not seem like it at the time, but conferences do come to an end, so when deciding on what to give attendees, think beyond the day. Think about how your selected conference goodies will reflect on your brand and how many more people you could reach with them. People are far more likely to talk about your company if they see it branded on a high quality notebook or pen, and will get in touch – that’s a great return on your investment! No-one with a conscience can throw away a foil printed Moleskine. No one.
Join us, and become a notebook snob – there’s no shame in liking good quality things!
