By Erin Engstrom

BC HRMA is continually trying to find ways to have a lighter environmental footprint both in our daily office practices and at our events, including conference.  A hot topic for us these days is the value of swag.

Every year about 100 exhibitors participate in our conference tradeshow. It is a popular element of conference where delegates have an opportunity to learn about the latest and greatest products and services in the HR field.

I have to confess that six months ago I grabbed a branded plastic back scratcher from an exhibitor at a tradeshow.  Not only did I pick it up, but I fought through a crowd of people to scoop it up from a bin in a similar fury to how I collected candy from the floor after a birthday piñata as a kid.

Once I got back to my hotel room I wondered what possessed me to take this piece of plastic junk.  I felt too guilty to throw it away so I appeased my conscience by giving it to a colleague as a ‘gift’ from the show.  In my moment of weakness I contributed to a huge problem of environmental waste caused by branded plastic trinkets. On the flip side, the colourful post-it notes and pens that I picked up at the same show have been very useful.

What tradeshow swag have you picked up that was useful?

Do you have tips for exhibitors to draw people into their booths and help us remember their names without contributing to the landfill?

Do you have unexplainable moments of swag weakness and feel like we need to reduce (if not remove) the temptation from tradeshows?

Register for the 50^th Annual BC HRMA Conference & Tradeshow in Vancouver, April 25-27, 2012!

Erin Engstrom is the conference and events manager at BC HRMA. When Erin isn’t working, she can be found cooking for friends at an impromptu kitchen party or racing her kids between the pool, rink and pitch. Erin never stops—but that’s because she’s afraid that she would be too tired to jump back into the race of her wonderfully chaotic life. e.engstrom@bchrma.org