Glaze of Glory
I don't know if the term has been used before but I call it "booth bait".
Much like a carnival midway, many tradeshow booths have tiers of conference swag ranging from branded ballpoints to custom plush ponies (yes really). And for traveling parents or casual packrats, these trinkets become attractive booth bait to otherwise uninterested conference attendees.
At our (Forward Networks') most recent event in Colorado Springs, where the temperatures stayed in the single digits for the duration of the show, we experienced a flurry of attendees, or shall I say 'swag hunters'. I watched our booth neighbor's generous pile of Cohesity's socks and sunshades disappear while Infoblox's pen stocks remained steady. We ourselves ran short on 4-in-1 charging cables within a few hours and thankfully the "hunters" that grabbed them were happy to hear about Forward Enterprise as well.
On Day 2, however, we were all out of booth bait so I had to quickly come up with a plan-b: 3 dozen donuts and a cardboard cupcake stand. I trudged through the snow on my donut side-quest, then outsourced the stand construction to the technical experts, Zack and Craig; I placed the donuts on it, and thought to myself "well, it's better than nothin'!"
But here's the twist: the donuts created more buzz than even the top-tier booth bait. Many people didn't even take one, but they wanted to talk about them. They were conversation starters and the otherwise ordinary carbohydrate-bombs allowed us to connect instantly with strangers. Our product isn't as straightforward as a donut, but Zack and Craig managed to exposition its [enormous value] to visitors before they swallowed their last bite.
I'll end this field report with my favorite unforeseen benefit to the 'tower of donuts,' (as one attendee shouted out, with fists raised): Visitors wanted to tell me their best-of-booth-bait tales! Here are the most memorable ones:
Beer on draft and slices of pizza 🍺🍕
"Validating" parking (i.e. giving away $15/person) 💵
A cat 🐈
How about you? What's the most unexpected swag/bait/collateral that you've seen at an event?