What’s The Best Swag You’ve Walked Away With From An Event?

 I sometimes wonder why people go to events and trade shows. Some don’t have a choice. They have to go for work or to represent their company. Others tout the great networking opportunities, which I get, and agree with. But there’s a weird group that just seems to be event groupies. They take in every event, trade show and online seminar to do with topics like affiliate marketing or blogging, yet never seem to actually go anywhere themselves.

This go me to thinking about why people go to those events, and for some it has to be because of the free crap they can score. I used to be one of those people that would pick up every free piece of garbage that I could get my hands on. I’d come back with a suitcase overloaded full of useless junk that would just sit in the closet. Everything from coasters and customized pens to coffee mugs and frisbees. I’d take anything.

In the last few years, I’ve had a pretty big shift in what I’m willing to actually take. I don’t need another cheap t-shirt with some company’s logo on it for free. I actually want good stuff. This reminded me of some pictures from Shoemoney’s Elite Retreat 7 event last year. The swag is some of the best I’ve ever seen for a sub-$5,000 event. A picture of one of the tables is above (yep…every attendee got an iPad!). You can check out more pics on Shoe’s post here: Elite Retreat 7 Recap.

I could draw all sorts of valuable, thought provoking conclusions from this, but I’m more curious about what the best swag you’ve ever walked away with from an event was. Chime in via the comment section below.